An anthology of four tales on the theme of perception.
Breaking Bubbles by LM Myles
The Doctor and Peri find themselves in the palatial gardens of the deposed Empress Safira Valtris where nothing is ever quite what it seems.
Of Chaos Time The by Mark Ravenhill
Cast adrift in his own chronology, the Doctor must avert the consequences of a catastrophic experiment in using time as a weapon of war.
An Eye For Murder by Una McCormack
The year is 1939, and a case of poison pen letters at St Ursula’s College threatens to change the course of the Second World War. Fortunately thriller writer Miss Sarah Perry is on hand to investigate…
The Curious Incident of the Doctor in the Night-Time by Nev Fountain
Michael is a young boy who likes to solve mysteries, such as the mystery of the missing gnome, the mystery of the absent father, and the mystery of the strange man in yellow trousers at the bottom of the garden.
BREAKING BUBBLES AND OTHER STORIES
For the 2014 anthology release, Big Finish reunited Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant, who hadn’t been heard together in the monthly range since “1963: The Space Race” and before that since 2011. “Breaking Bubbles and Other Stories,” an anthology engaging with the theme of perception, is quite successful, and while there’s nothing game-changing here, all four stories are worthwhile listens with refreshingly mature attitudes. On to the capsule reviews!
BREAKING BUBBLES
The first story, “Breaking Bubbles” by LM Myles, really sets the tone for the anthology. It strongly engages with the theme, as multiple layers of perception are peeled away both from the setting and the primary guest star. It would have been easy to tell the story of the seemingly harmless woman in the garden turning out to be a one-dimensional, cackling villain, but instead Myles writes Valtris (Jemma Churchill) with appropriate degrees of subtlety. Is she a war criminal? Is she a person who did the best she could? Or is she simply caught in the middle, someone who made hard choices and made lifelong enemies in the process? We don’t get a definitive answer, nor do we require one – and it’s great to have a story that recognizes this. This is what “Last of the Colophon” should have been, in other words.
Very good start.
7/10
OF CHAOS TIME THE
Mark Ravenhill’s “Of Chaos Time The” is the weak point in the anthology, largely because there’s really nothing to it. Did you notice that the title has rearranged the words in “The Time of Chaos” and presents them out of order? Hooray, you understand the story! Fortunately, I really liked the presentation: Colin Baker is particularly good, and I enjoyed the scenes where he narrated over events as he observed them. There’s also a fantastic line about everyone who uses the word “traitor” being an idiot, which is a glib but rather wise political observation. But while the out-of-order format engages with the “perception” theme by definition, Ravenhill doesn’t go beyond that, leaving the story feeling too slight. “Creatures of Beauty” is the gold standard for Doctor Who stories like this, and “Of Chaos Time The” isn’t really in the same league. As weak points go, though, this one’s still fairly strong.
6/10
AN EYE FOR MURDER
“An Eye for Murder,” Una McCormack’s entry in the anthology, is a fantastic listen simply because we just don’t get Doctor Who stories like it. Yes, it’s Agatha Christie in format, but it’s set in a women’s college immediately before the start of World War II and it’s overtly political without ever becoming polemical. It’s a credit to the author that she wrote a WWII-era story featuring a communist and a Nazi without ever resorting to crude stereotypes, especially in an environment like Doctor Who that so often veers toward the melodramatic. And let’s not overlook this: apart from a brief appearance by a policeman, the only male character in this story is the Doctor! For a company that struggles mightily with female representation in its Doctor Who ranges, stories like this are more than welcome. And I haven’t even mentioned the elegant plotting or the wonderful sound design. We need more stories like this.
9/10
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOCTOR IN THE NIGHT-TIME
Despite a recent negative review of his Companion Chronicle, I’m a big fan of Nev Fountain’s Doctor Who work, and “The Curious Incident of the Doctor in the Night-Time” is a perfect example of why. Hilarious and touching in equal measure, it manages to tell a Doctor Who story through the eyes of an autistic youth without ever feeling patronizing or clichéd. In the hands of a lesser writer, this could feel cloying or obvious, but the comparisons Fountain draws between Michael (Johnny Gibbon, brilliant) and the Doctor are unexpected yet perfectly understandable. The way the Doctor relates death and the past is beautiful, too. Michael is a genuinely funny character, too, and yet never in a way that mocks or belittles his condition. Oh, and there’s a ridiculous band of violent space gnomes running amok, in case you were wondering. We also need more stories like this.
Great stuff.
9/10
Overall, “Breaking Bubbles and Other Stories” is a very strong anthology release. If there’s a word to describe it, it’s “mature” – these are four authors with specific stories to tell who don’t feel constrained by the usual Doctor Who clichés. We used to get writing like this all the time from the monthly range; hopefully this is a step back in that direction. Highly recommended.
Average score: 7.75, rounded up to 8/10