Thursday 28 May 2071: the day the Anglo-Indian Salvage 2 rocket launches. Its mission: to clean up space; to remove from Earth’s orbit over a century’s worth of man-made junk…
From the viewing window of a nearby space station, the Doctor and Flip have a unique view of Salvage 2 as it sets about its essential task – and of the disaster that unfolds when Salvage 2 encounters something it’s not been programmed to deal with. Something not of human manufacture…
Back on Earth, the Doctor fights to save Flip from becoming part of a 500-year tragedy being played out in orbit, hundreds of miles above. And millions will die if he fails.
SCAVENGER
The first trilogy of Big Finish Doctor Who adventures in the monthly range for 2014 comes to a conclusion with William Gallagher’s “Scavenger,” a landmark episode in the relationship between the sixth Doctor and audio companion Flip. And while it improves in some ways over Gallagher’s previous audio stories, it still falls down through its focus on technology and its characterization.
Without going back over my previous review, “Wirrn Isle” was something of a mess, with questionable characterization and what seemed like half its running time discussing the fictional mechanics of transmat technology. “Scavenger,” a story about a machine run amok, thankfully avoids the excesses of its predecessor, but the same mistakes still exist at its heart. I admit my own bias here, in that I am generally not a fan of the “hard sci-fi” style: certainly you don’t see true examples of it in Doctor Who, but technological explanations have the same appeal to me as excessively detailed plot mechanics. Scavenger itself isn’t evil or even misguided: it’s simply programmed incorrectly, and it’s up to the characters to find a way to overcome that programming. Doctor Who is melodramatic at its core; “Scavenger” relies too much upon characters keying commands into consoles or yelling commands into communicators to excel in that department. Indeed, it relies so much upon this that it drags through much of the second half. The Atlantis subplot is wholly unnecessary, for example.
Fortunately, even a story that doesn’t focus on those elements I prefer can still improve itself with a focus on its characters. And in terms of the regulars, “Scavenger” certainly does this, especially in the case of Flip, who gets a story seriously devoted to her for the first time. This is somewhat ironic given the ending, but it’s nice to see her as more than a generic companion cipher for the first time. I’ve also criticized her in the past for her lack of intelligence – not education, intelligence – but here she actually puts her brain to use and seems genuinely appealing for the first time. Her reckless nature never really pays off, though; even in this story her rash decisions don’t carry negative consequences, and the conclusion is so open-ended it’s impossible to read any permanence into it. The Doctor is also at his most proactive in this story, and Gallagher actually has him using the TARDIS as a tool instead of a plot device – plus, if you’re going to have a Doctor yelling commands into a communicator, it might as well be Colin Baker. Unfortunately, the other characters aren’t served nearly as well: Jessica Allaway (Kate McEwen), in particular, is a two-dimensional, imperialist racist. Yes, she’s redeemed slightly by the end of the story, but she’s so paper-thin that it doesn’t ring true. Salim (Tariq Bhatti), meanwhile, is a fairly effective if generic character – until he turns out to be several hundred years old! This revelation is plot convenient, but hardly justified in the story – there’s not nearly enough here to convince of his age and experience. Finally, there’s Jyoti (Anjli Mohindra, crossing over from The Sarah Jane Adventures), who’s fun and appealing with a great relationship with Flip, but ultimately not very significant.
The production is solid, with effective sound design from Neil Gardner, a solid score from Howard Carter, and Nicholas Briggs’ direction keeps things pacey despite the oft-plodding script. Overall, though, “Scavenger” isn’t especially great. It functions adequately, but there’s not enough to hold the interest over the running time. Still, it’s an improvement over Gallagher’s previous efforts – but in the ongoing monthly range, it’s another unimpressive release.
6/10