Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night
Calcutta, 1926. The Doctor and his companions join an expedition to locate the fabled emerald tiger – a legendary marvel shrouded in myth and mystery. They must journey to an unexplored lost world filled with wonder and wickedness.
But at the centre of this terra incognita, something is stirring. Something with emerald eyes, diamond-sharp claws and a heart of darkness.
THE EMERALD TIGER
The 2012 release year continued with the third trilogy featuring the fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan, and Turlough. The first two trilogies were somewhat underwhelming, but this one gets off to a fine start with writer-director Barnaby Edwards’ “The Emerald Tiger.” Edwards, a long-time Big Finish director possibly best known as a Dalek operator in the television series, has quietly become one of the most reliable writers in the Big Finish stable and demonstrates that again here.
Admittedly, if you’re looking for something revolutionary or groundbreaking, you won’t find it in “The Emerald Tiger,” which gleefully thieves from a number of sources and amalgamates them into a greater whole. Set in India near the end of the British Raj, there are scenes with overbearing colonials, hot air balloon chases, runaway trains, and even a hidden valley with previously unseen animal species and a lost child raised by the wilderness. Talking tigers, deadly scarab beetles – it’s like Edwards took every adventure serial he’d ever seen and mashed them all together. The script takes itself just seriously enough – at no point does Edwards lampoon his own source material, but this particular TARDIS crew is sarcastic enough to lighten the mood considerably.
Perhaps the highlight of the play is Edwards supposedly killing Tegan off. Of course, she’s going to survive, but while the script provides an easy, sensible explanation for her survival, it does a fantastic job portraying the reactions of the TARDIS crew in the interim. The Doctor is audibly shaken, and his relationship with Turlough immediately strains. Davison and Strickson are both fantastic here, as even this tragedy cannot dent Turlough’s instincts for self-preservation. Sarah Sutton doesn’t get as much of a chance to react, but as her character is also dealing with possession by a tiger spirit, it’s somewhat forgivable. It is a testament to Edwards’ ability that this death – which the listener knows isn’t real – still manages to be more emotionally affecting than the actual death of Adric in “Earthshock.”
Even apart from that sequence, the story never fails to entertain. The action moves breathlessly from location to location, constantly presenting new threats for the Doctor and companions to negotiate, and happily disposing of old threats like Haggard (Neil Stacy) as soon as they become inconvenient. The supporting cast is fantastic across the board: Sam Dastor is delightful as Narayan, Vineeta Rishi is suitably mysterious as talking tiger Dawon, and Vincent Ebrahim positively rattles the brain with his threatening tones in the form of Shardul Khan. Best of all, though, is Cherie Lunghi, who takes what could have been an unremarkable mother-seeking-child role and helps turn it into a rounded, strong portrayal. As mentioned before, Edwards draws heavily on stereotype, but writes his characters on the right side of the line – it would be easy for a story like this to contain questionable material but, to my ear, no such borders were crossed.
If there’s a flaw in the script, it’s the insistence on not only providing an explanation for the Emerald Tiger itself but also belaboring that point with extensive technobabble details. It jars with the overtly fantasy-oriented script, which would certainly not be ruined by embracing its nature. This is a minor complaint, however.
The production is fantastic – Edwards has always been one of Big Finish’s best directors, and he brings his own material to the ear with aplomb. Howard Carter’s sound design and score are predictably excellent – and talk about an appropriate name for a story like this! Overall, “The Emerald Tiger” is a strong success. It may not be remembered as a classic, but it’s the sort of story Big Finish produces when they’re clicking on all cylinders.
Highly recommended.
8/10