Some crucial problems with the TARDIS linger on for rather too long in this latest batch of adventure, mystery and emotional bereavement. The TARDIS crew, their new ally the Squire, and Abslom Daak all fail to get an easy ride. Potential enlightenment may be the silver lining to the cloud, however.

Alice and the Squire are trying to cope with an uncooperative and arguably perilous TARDIS in a state of flux. Former Dalek killer Daak eventually comes into proceedings, and is still mightily frustrated over a lack of answers as to where his wife's body has been hidden. The TARDIS' long-lived pilot could resolve some of these issues, but he is nowhere to be found.

The Doctor is seemingly facing a judicial enquiry over the actions of the one past self he tries to shun completely. There is no way out of the law process that the Doctor had tried to avoid (in the preceding two-parter), and he feels there is little reason to deny what he may have been capable of. Whilst his abilities to recall everything that happened are affected by issues with the fabric of time itself, he still is prepared to confess every action that does enter his head..

 

The story does well to give regular readers more insight into why the War Doctor stepped in to ensure the removal of the Cyclors, and thus cause major seismic shifts in the Overcast society from that point onwards. The reveal of who the Doctor is actually talking to is also done well, and whilst not unprecedented in Doctor Who comics, is still a fine bit of (welcome) revelation.

The bold decision to use the front door panel layout of the TARDIS Police Box with which to arrange the storytelling is laudable for its ambition. At times the panels are consequently small and some of the bigger 'event' moments feel short-changed. But we also have some more conventional pages without this framework, most often for the storyline with the Doctor answering for his past, so a compromise of sorts is reached.

Otherwise though, Fraser manages to get back his overall creative vision and produce artwork as good as any he has done in the past for the Eleventh Doctor range. The overall story may have a somewhat thin plot, but it has some quite deep emotional depths to plough, and so justifies the overall arc in taking a somewhat side trip approach for this third issue.

I have always enjoyed a work of fiction that explores the reliability of memory, and also the sheer importance most individuals bestow on those past recollections. Each of Alice, the Squire and Daak has to contend with the ghosts of yesteryear, and this is brought to full life, given the overall simple nature of the story. Those of us who grew up with Daak as the 'backup' comic strip in (what is the present day) Doctor Who Magazine cannot begrudge a very similar visual portrayal of the tragic end that Daak's other half Taiyin suffered.

In summary, this is a decent one-off that passes a reader's time pleasantly, but may not be one to keep reflecting upon to the same extent, that the opening multi-parter to Year Two had the quality of in spades.

 

Bonus Humour Strip

Gunpowder, Time Lord, And Plot is a tale which harkens back to the major celebration that all British people know and love - 'Guyfawks Night'. A two page entry, this has ample space for a bit of time travel and for Fawkes himself to assist with the powerful fireworks one would require for holding a private display at home. The Ponds and the Doctor almost get more than they had bargained for, but nothing too vital ends up blown to smithereens, come the last panel.

This new start - for a slimmed down TARDIS team of the Doctor and Alice  - takes the journey of a long, long lifetime into new playing fields. It also, however, acknowledge the richness of the Doctor's past, and in particular the Time War.

A splendid cover  - with the image of a confident Matt Smith - belies the actual demeanour of his alter-ego for the story itself. The Doctor is firmly on the back-foot and has to try and show some resemblance of self-belief and ability to conjure a plan on the fly. In this case, he really struggles, and can only begin to reconstruct what is the reason for the leaders of the Overcast race to capture him, and declare he faces sentence for his crimes. It is Alice who is able to show more outright heroism - especially given her paucity of experience and knowledge, in comparison to her alien co-traveller.

A previously unseen ally (and from long ago in the Doctor's past) also lends a helping hand or two. Despite being somewhat eccentric, the dedicated Squire shows herself to be more than ready to stand tall in the face of danger.

 

It will not escape a loyal follower's notice that the unmistakably grey-haired and bearded John Hurt version is also on the front cover. And we do get a fair amount of material with the War Doctor. In the primary flashback he is accompanied by a tiny figure. When questioned by this unknown companion over what he is going to do, he replies "What I Have To", and is grasping a formidable gun with both hands. Further recalls of this deliberately sidelined  - yet long-lived -incarnation are interspersed later on in the story. The ultimate intent is that the current Doctor has a reminder that he is the same man as he always was, and he must take responsibility for what he has done.

But perhaps the writers are trying to make us think of quite an uncertain debate here. The Overcast blame the Doctor, in that he deprived them of the outsiders with powers that gave them so much prosperity. Soon after, they were vulnerable to a much more Malignant visitor to their planet. However, the War Doctor may still have been arguably balancing the scales in the right direction, so as to save the wider universe, and time itself. The specifics are not mentioned here, and may not be in the concluding issue to come, but the Doctor has every right to be a bit flippant when stating how he is in a courtroom just one more time out of a "Bazillion".

Of course, the theme of a fair portion of Matt Smith's tenure - Series' 5 finale and Series 6 in particular - was all about his accountability for actions that left a mark or two on those it directly affected. So, it feels quite natural to pursue this fascinating topic now, after much of Year One concerned itself with Serve You Inc's soullessness, and the resilience of one dogged enemy in particular.

I found the visual aspects of this season opener equivalent to be pretty good. Simon Fraser uses a deliberately gaudy style, that certainly leaves an impression for some time, after readers put their paperback editions down, or exit the reading app they prefer. The artwork consistency is pretty robust, and there are thus no glaring peaks and troughs. Much of the story is set in darkness or shadows, and this suits the rather grim subject matter of a once-bustling civilisation of pioneers now reduced to - effectively - scavengers crammed into a feeble space station complex. There is also a well-done 'symbolic' image of a brace of Doctor regenerations that reminds us of the brilliant Tom Baker cameo in The Day Of The Doctor, and what exactly it may actually be alluding to.

The monster introduced here is known by precisely the same title as the story proper. This creature is a resonant and brilliant example of Doctor Who showcasing creative talent. A truly fertile imagination sparked the TV show, and that aspiration grew manifold in the hearts of viewers and fans, as well as the minds of countless professional contributors, over time. The effect this powerful foe has on the Doctor and his companion is disturbing, yet quite, quite fascinating too.

 

The icing on the cake, however, is the re-introduction of one of the very best characters to join the Doctor Who universe in the early 1980s.

A man who has done some unspeakable crimes. A man who offered to try and atone for his sins. But still a man whose morals are questionable. 

He obsessed over a prospective girlfriend dying in his arms from a Dalek ray, before even a first date could be granted to them.

He died in a huge explosion. Then he was brought back through time, for yet another showdown with his lifelong nemeses. 

Yes, Abslom Daak is back into the fray, and ready for some visceral mayhem. Everyone had better hold on tight.

 

EXTRAS:

A humour strip and three alternative covers feature.

New Year. New Who is once more an example of Marc Ellerby wrong-footing readers. It devotes a lengthy set-up to suggest a most critical course of action by the Doctor, where he will re-assert his authority over an adversary or six. (In fact he is dealing with a very domestic problem, which serves to frustrate all three of Amy, Rory and River Song).

Two of the variant covers are done in the humour strip style. One of these is a very sharp parody of the Doctor facing all his enemies, whilst trapped in the TARDIS, by Ellerby. 

Events that involved the very first meeting of the Doctor and Alice are suddenly happening all over again and the solution to this dilemma is not immediately forthcoming. Having no access to his beloved TARDIS also makes the Doctor's plan of action somewhat fraught. But a bit of determination and lateral thinking go a long way, and having a further two assistants to call upon (who have literally become more than the sum of their parts) will turn out to be crucial. The Time Lord realises he must take responsibility for his past actions, once and for all. Will the plan he devises work though?

 

Themes and characterisation are the order of the day here, with the story and plot really not being terribly important in terms of what the creative team are trying to accomplish. And this is fine. This closing second part functions as a nice 'coda' after a series finale, something that is rarely done with televisual form of Doctor Who.

As I have reiterated many times Alice is the core companion of this run of comic- or to put it another way the 'heart and soul' of these adventures. Her belief in the Doctor, as much as her own unique skillset proves vital when all appears to be giving way to chaos and agents of destruction. Just as the Doctor needs someone by his side, so do the people that end up with him need his unique abilities and complex persona(s) to give them some proper progression in their lives.

 

It is also good. that as in Part One of this story there is far more significant development for Jones and Arc, whether we count them as one entity or two. It is a brave move by Ewing and Williams to have such a non-communicative and barely humanoid third companion as ARC and they also know when to quit while ahead so that he does not become an impediment for telling certain kinds of stories.

As much as I like K9, and enjoy a good number of the stories to feature the dog-shaped computer genius, there is little objective dispute that he often made things too easy for the protagonists. Thus having an especially powerful form of Jones/ARC would only push this problem to the forefront in any future stories. So a decisive but also poetic solution is achieved in this story's narrative.

All the same, there are none of the mistakes made with the sadly catastrophic Kameleon character that is often forgotten when fans look back at the Peter Davison era. Many issues with the Master's 'on-off' servant were owing to ambition far exceeding resources, but there was precious little characterisation as well. I feel that in a number of months ARC has certainly been pulled off to a good level. But now is the time for either a traditional Doctor and one companion pairing, or finding someone very different to spark off Alice, who may not necessarily be her kind of person.

 

Jones does in many ways come full circle this issue, but having had the 'trip of a lifetime' and then some - to put it mildly - and now being ready to make his mark in pop culture in Western society. Even more pleasing is the chance to finally see the real grandmother of Alice and without needing flashbacks, albeit at a time when she is herself youthful and attending a gig featuring Jones. This is a great example of the writers being on song as they tie one character's emotional journey to another.

Less positively, I did get frustrated over the immediate backtracking whereby the mysterious Time Lady was no such being, but just another temporal 'crossing  of wires', with the Talent Scout doggedly pursuing the TARDIS crew in all of time and space. We had had a really nice hook from the end of issue 14. and it just seems to be all thrown away. The Doctor's mother supposedly showing up in the final official 10th Doctor story was arguably more intrigue and fan-service than substance. Now this time it is similarly shallow but now also a complete red herring.

On the other hand, where the story takes the reader is still quite fascinating. We have a memorable end to the Talent Scout's story in that he is conclusively defeated, and yet in his own way ends up a winner. It did remind me ever so slightly of the far more disturbing end that befell the evil Astrolabus in the classic Sixth Doctor Voyager. Glancing back at my well-thumbed edition of the epic story, I do note just how similar in looks and demeanour Astrolabus is to the Talent Scout's 'default' form. It would not be inconceivable that this groundbreaking effort from Steve Parkhouse and John Ridgway played some part in giving root to the story arc we have had for much of 2014-2015. Doctor Who should never shy from reprising past glories, so long as there is some new observation process involved.

 

So onto a final summary of the these colourful tales for one of the most effervescent incarnations of our favourite Gallifreyan. Matt Smith certainly set a template for any writers wishing to take his Doctor to unchartered territory and with various unprecedented characters to join him. Month in and month out there has been drama, comedy, and even a bit of slapstick. Also good forward planning and authentic portrayals of individuals have also been on display. Year One was a veritable success. Year Two could be even more groundbreaking and impressive.

 

BONUS STORY - Take A Bow Tie:

The humorous one-page effort from Marc Ellerby features the Doctor on an errand or two for significant other River Song. He has his work cut out with Weeping Angels, Cybermen, Silence, and other races that sometimes favour him and sometimes not. He comes through this trial relatively unscathed.. or at least until River has another demanding request for him. The charm of the Doctor is that his greatest obstacles are for us mere Earthlings a great deal easier to overcome. 

Merely a week after the ExCel Centre in East London had hosted the Doctor Who Festival, the show was on the road again, over 17,000 kilometres away -€“ this time at the Hordern Pavilion and Royal Hall of Industries, in Sydney, Australia.

While the numbers who rolled through the Pavilion on the weekend of 21 and 22 November probably did not rival the attendance of UK fans at the ExCel Centre the week before, you certainly could not fault the passion and the exuberance of the Aussie fans. The bulk of the attendees would have been locals from Sydney but there were many fans (this Melbourne-based writer included) who made the trek from all parts of the continent, from as far away as Cairns (a good 2500km north) to as far west as Perth (a mere 4000km away) and as deep south as Tasmania to see the Doctor Who circus roll into old Sydney town.

It really was as much an Australian event as it was a Sydney-based one, illustrating just how universally loved Doctor Who is in this former colonial outpost. Australians and the ABC, the Australian public broadcaster, have traditionally been great supporters of Doctor Who over its 52 years, and the series has never been more popular amongst younger and older Australian fans alike. Indeed, whether it was deliberately planned or otherwise, the timing of the Australian Doctor Who Festival could not have been better -€“ 2015 is, after all, the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who first airing in Australia.

Indeed, BBC Worldwide should be commended for going all out in its organisation of this event and not taking Doctor Who'€™s Australian fan base for granted. Not only did we get an impressive line-up of guests, spearheaded by the current Doctor Peter Capaldi (Capaldi is the first incumbent in three decades to visit Australia in an authorised capacity; before that, you'€™d have to go way back to the early 1980s when Peter Davison did a promotional tour), but BBC Worldwide spoiled us even more by putting on display costumes and props from the just completed latest season of the program, including a Mire trooper'€™s armour (The Girl Who Died), the towering Fisher King (Before the Flood), the Sandman King (Sleep No More) and a Zygon (The Zygon Invasion/Inversion). There was even a miniature of the Dalek city on Skaro (as seen in series opener The Magician'€™s Apprentice/The Witch'€™s Familiar). This well and truly exceeded my expectations; while I expected to see props and costumes on display, I was expecting them to be from years well past.

In addition to Capaldi, the guests for the weekend also included executive producer Steven Moffat, series writer Mark Gatiss, Ingrid Oliver (Osgood), who stepped in at the last minute when Billie Piper pulled out due to filming commitments, and Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy. Dan Starkey (Strax) and monster artiste Jon Davey (who has played Daleks and Cybermen in the modern TV series) also participated in live shows in which they demonstrated to fans what it was like to walk like a Sontaran or to operate a Dalek. Another highlight of the weekend was the visual effects show hosted by Danny Hargreaves and his Real SFX team in which he wowed the audience by triggering charges on a Dalek and a Cyberman on stage and discussed the challenges of working in pyrotechnics (including setting up the charges that unveiled the impressive "€œNO MORE"€ banner blasted by the War Doctor in The Day of the Doctor). Fans also had the opportunity to line up for photos at the Real SFX team'€™s booth with a Dalek, a Christmas tree and polystyrene snow!

In addition, there were various other panels occurring contemporaneously within the Festival hall, eg The Science of Doctor Who (which has previously toured Australia), the writers'€™ masterclass (with Mark Gatiss), the Production Village (with questions answered by series director Daniel Nettheim) and the Doctor Who Pub Quiz.

Meet and greet

The Q&A sessions with Hargreaves, McCoy and Capaldi, Oliver and Moffat in the main theatre were hosted and moderated by local ABC radio identity Adam Spencer. Sylvester McCoy, as always, proved to be the consummate entertainer, preferring to get up close and personal with the fans rather than staying still on the couch on-stage. Sylvester is no stranger to the Doctor Who convention circuit in Australasia; he's been here numerous times since the mid-2000s, including filming in New Zealand for The Hobbit film trilogy, and while he often regales us with some very familiar stories (eg the female artiste in 1989'€™s Survival who stripped herself naked from her Cheetah Person costume after overheating and was last seen running up some sand dunes in a thong!), he nevertheless knows how to keep an audience entertained. He also remains ever so spritely, despite being in his seventies and hobbling around with a cane (thanks to, as he put it, so many "€œcomedy injuries"€ sustained during his time as a stuntman and performer on the Ken Campbell Roadshow).

McCoy had fans rolling around in the aisles with his Sean Connery impersonation when discussing why David Tennant chose not to use his Scottish accent during his tenure as the Tenth Doctor. He also amused everyone with his recollection of the regeneration scene in the 1996 TV movie; he described himself and Paul McGann as having "€œrubber faces"€ and proceeded to pull all manner of strange expressions when explaining that he and McGann had to screw up their features for the CGI team to complete the regeneration effect. He also clearly enjoyed ribbing his predecessors and successors, eg describing Colin Baker as having a "€œgreat costume"€ and McGann as a "€œrather ugly Liverpudlian"€.

While Sylvester was as comedic as ever, the real stars (at least as far as the fans were concerned) were Peter Capaldi and Ingrid Oliver who spent the bulk of the weekend patiently and industriously meeting, greeting and posing with fans for a succession of photos. It is all too easy to just herd fans through, snap their photos and usher them on (as often happens at fan-run conventions). It is to BBC Worldwide'€™s credit that as much effort as possible was made to personalise the experience for fans by having the minders introduce each and every person by name to Capaldi or Oliver who would then acknowledge them. The actors were also quite happy to do fun poses with the fans, including Capaldi'€™s (now) signature finger pointing as the Doctor.

Capaldi himself acknowledged just how much hard work it was during one of four live panels that he attended over the weekend, along with Oliver and showrunner Moffat. "€œI can'€™t speak,"€ he started a little breathlessly at one point, "€œbecause I'€™ve just been doing 180 photographs and saying '€˜Hello, how are you? I love you too, goodbye!'"€ However, he qualified that initiatives such as the Doctor Who Festival and also last year'€™s World Tour are great things to do because "€œit'€™s very easy to forget, when you'€™re in a bubble making the program, what the constituency of the audience is, and when you see that and when you get to meet youngsters, five-year olds, six-year olds, ten-year olds, teenagers, hipsters, baby boomers, middle-aged people, old people, it'€™s great for us to be reminded of the audience because you are the people we are making the show for!"€ (He naturally received a round of applause for these remarks.)

Capaldi further got brownie points with the Aussie audience for saying that he didn'€™t truly realise the extent of what it was like to be the Doctor until he saw Australian fans "€œen masse"€ at the Sydney Opera House during the World Tour. At that time, he had just finished making his first series but it had not gone out and so he did not know what the reaction would be to his performance. Similarly, he recalled feeling a little left out during the 50th anniversary celebrations in November 2013; he had been announced as the new Doctor at that point but was not invited to participate in the celebrations with his predecessors. This led Moffat to jokingly tease Capaldi for just being the classic grumpy Glaswegian!

t didn'€™t take long though for Moffat to do a little grizzling himself when Spencer asked him how the touring party had coped with the heat wave the day before, as Sydney'€™s mercury exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (or 108 degrees Fahrenheit, which Sylvester McCoy said sounded more impressive!). Moffat remarked that the heat, coupled with the northerly winds, made him feel like he was being assaulted by a giant hair dryer! He was also astounded to see Australian business people wearing suits in the heat. "€œWhy aren'€™t you dying?"€ he quipped.

Ingrid Oliver was not as unfamiliar with Australian conditions, having previously toured in a sketch show based on her BBC2 comedy series Watson & Oliver (with fellow comedienne Lorna Watson). Oliver stated that she knew she was truly in a Doctor Who episode (2013'€™s The Day of the Doctor) when she was required to put on her "€œbest Doctor Who acting"€ -“ at the moment Osgood realises that the Zygons are hiding under shrouds in the Under Gallery. (Capaldi helpfully described this as "€œpenny drops"€ acting, which subsequently led both actors to playfully put on their best "€œpenny drops"€ expressions for the benefit of the fans.) The Day of the Doctor also proved to be something of a homecoming for Oliver, as location filming was done around the Tower of London - where her first job after drama school was to dress up in period costume to entertain American tourists!

Like Capaldi, Oliver also didn'€™t realise just how much the part of Osgood had cut through with fans until she started to meet lookalikes that were dressing as Osgood (including moderator Spencer'€™s daughter who greeted her backstage by inhaling an asthma pump!). She also talked about just how gut-wrenching it was when she realised Osgood was to be killed off in Death in Heaven but was elated when she was invited back to reprise the role this year.

Guitars and homaging the Beatles

Capaldi similarly expressed elation when he discussed the 12th Doctor'€™s guitar. He recalled that he had made the suggestion to Moffat about the Doctor playing an electric guitar in passing between seasons, promptly forgot about it and was then delighted to find it had been taken up by the script writers. He then accompanied the production team to a vintage guitar shop in Soho where he chose a guitar that reminded him -€“ "€œthis is really for guitar geeks"€ -“ of a home-made version of a Fender Stratocaster. Capaldi subsequently complimented a fan in the audience who came dressed as his character, complete with Fender Stratocaster!

Spencer also asked Capaldi about the publicity photo taken in September to promote the return of Doctor Who in which he, Jenna Coleman and two Daleks paid homage to the album cover for the Beatles'€™ album Abbey Road. Capaldi stated that the photo was taken in "€œ30 seconds, a minute tops"€ (because Abbey Road is open to traffic) but they practised in a nearby car park with the Daleks before doing the shot.

Capaldi also recalled how excited he was to originally play Caecilius in the 2008 Doctor Who episode The Fires of Pompeii alongside his predecessor David Tennant. As he was a huge fan of the TV series and never expected to have any further involvement with Doctor Who, he was very easily tempted to accept the offer without even reading the script before his wife urged him to be "€œprofessional"€ about it. He invoked plenty of laughter in the audience when he joked that there was a little part of him that wanted to be the monster that could kill Tennant!

When it came to eventually being offered the part of the Doctor, Capaldi stated, "€œThere was a part of me that said I had to be realistic and consider how my life would change ... I knew that my visibility would change and I would be famous in a way that I hadn'€™t been before. I don'€™t think being famous is a natural condition, it'€™s quite anxiety-making and odd. So I had to seriously think about that, even though I was prepared to take the risk ..."€ Interestingly, he later said that while he enjoys playing the role, he still doesn'€™t really think of himself as a "€œDoctor Who"€, "€œmay be when it'€™s all over"€.

That said, he added that while he finds the part physically exhausting, thanks to doing minor stunts and running up and down corridors, he nevertheless finds the part keeps him "€œhealthy, spritely and spry"€.

Childhood heroes

Capaldi was also asked about the actors that inspired him growing up. He cited John Hurt, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, as well as the first four "€œDoctor Whos"€, as actors that had impressed him. He recalled how he met Peter Cushing as a child and got his autograph and because the two of them shared the same initials, he styled his signature after Cushing'€™s autograph, which he described as a "€œvery elegant and considered signature"€.

Moffat also recalled how John Hurt came to be cast in The Day of the Doctor. "€œWe had this situation where we managed to accumulate two Doctors for this special and I had the idea that maybe there was one more Doctor than we knew about, the Doctor who fought during the abominable hiatus of all those years, 16 years without Doctor Who ... When I wrote the ending to the script for The Name of the Doctor, I had it written that a famous actor turns around. It had to be a famous actor, someone you would have cast back then as the Doctor. I remember saying somebody like John Hurt, whom we regarded as completely inaccessible.

"€œWe were weeks out from shooting, we were so close, I could barely stop crying and so we sent the script to John Hurt. And in an incredibly short space of time, he read it and said '€˜Yes'€™, which was astonishing to us! And the question that came through via John Hurt'€™s agent: '€˜John wants to know, he actually is a '€˜Doctor Who'€™ now, he wants to know ..'€™ I told him, '€˜It'€™s not a trick, he is a proper '˜Doctor Who''€™. He got the benefit, you see, he worked three weeks in Cardiff and he'€™s an official '€˜Doctor Who'€™."€ Moffat added Hurt'€™s casting was such a huge relief, considering at one point neither Matt Smith nor David Tennant were contracted and he was faced with the possibility of writing a 50th anniversary special with just Jenna Coleman!

A legend without end
To close, Moffat was asked his opinion of Doctor Who'€™s expanded universe (eg the comic strips, the novels, the Big Finish audios). He said what he loved about the expanded universe was that the "€œpast is still growing, there are still more episodes of David Tennant or William Hartnell that we never saw. It means that the future for Doctor Who extends in both directions, all of them are still alive, all of them are vibrant. You have Big Finish, the comics and the books making new stories. It feels unstoppable. It'€™s not just growing into the future, the stuff that'€™s supposedly over is still growing and I think that is the mark of a legend that can never end"€.

There's no doubt events like the Doctor Who Festival further enrich the legend for fans. The Australian Festival was a well organised, memorable and fantastic event. If the exercise is repeated in future -€“ whether that is in the UK, Australia or indeed in Doctor Who'€™s other traditional markets such as North America -€“ I encourage all fans to attend. While the price of entry may seem hefty (almost $AUD200), the experience is more than rewarding.

 

This latest stop over in the tour of time and space finds the Seventh Doctor and Ace somewhere on what appears to be the North Atlantic with the devastating  Second World War in full force. The duo soon realise they have got abroad HMS Thunder, and have to try and assist a struggling crew as best they can. Later Ace plays her part in trying to see the safe return of certain missing persons who are suffering from some form of after-shock.

The main issue however arises, as to the Web of Time. Can history be altered, and will anyone originally on board have a happy ending?

 

I personally never tire of this wonderful Doctor/companion team. Whilst my no means the best actors the show ever had, their unique chemistry made the pairing unforgettable and helps any spin off material have a figurative 'head start'. Ace has a large role to play here with the Sylvester McCoy Doctor mostly confined to the background. We do still wonder how much of his trademark planning and awareness of events around him are going to play out, and how he decides to act in the closing stages of the story are slightly different than perhaps most would expect. Ace on the other hand provides the emotional heart to the story, and her concern for the fates of gallant Commander Fitzgerald and down-to-earth Jimmy is likely to be matched by any listener who has even a passing interest in the terrible events that took place during the 20th century.

 

With Sophie Aldred as the sole vocal contributor this story hinges on her ability to convey different voices, personas and emotions. And needless to say her Ace comes to full life, almost as if she is playing the role in a proper full cast Big Finish production. Aldred will always be primarily associate with Ace, and commendably that enthusiasm for the character shines as bright as it did when Dragonfire first hit TV screens in the late 1980s.

Her Seventh Doctor voice here is charming, with the Scottish burr that was such a distinctive feature until the Capaldi Doctor became known to viewers.

The play is very concise, and this sees it have a rapid pace and a memorable hook, and also leave heavier, more character-focused work to longer plays. That direction of effort works quite well and the production seems settled within its own confines, i.e. having the small 'setting' of the boat(s) and the immediate sea area. The elegantly efficient exposition also is as good as can be hoped for.

Having a main character to present the story to us, and one we have come to know well through books, audio and comics as much as TV episodes (from 1987 to 1989) is a fine way to get us to connect with unfamiliar supporting players. The downbeat ending also works very well and does seem to fit the mood of a number of the Seventh Doctor stories from his second and third seasons.

 

There are some flaws though. The Doctor more or less takes a cameo role despite his solitary presence on the official cover, and also lacks many memorable lines that we normally expect. The lack of any other female characters in the story, (which is understandable given the maritime context), is a somewhat problematic allocation for the one female voice artist. Some of the more passive or nervous characters are served better by Aldred's feminine voice, whereas the tougher ones just do not feel quite authentic enough.

And were we to really ask for some Doctor Who that pushes the bounds then perhaps this is not the best exhibit. It is set quite early on in their relationship and does not have the edge of the New Adventures book line, or even the BBC books. It simply gives us insight into one of the many conflicts fought in the Atlantic and how much pressure was being felt by these brave men. The very ending though is so beautifully poetic and haunting that much of that 'traditional' leaning is forgivable.

Sound effects and music are as reliable as ever in making the play breathe properly but not so as to impede the flow of the narration. This story ultimately stands up well and will encourage both newcomers and the 'old guard' of fans to try and sample more Short Trips as well as the more epic adventures that feature Ace, her Doctor and various other regular protagonists.

Sydney has always been known as a warm and sunny city, but on the day before the Doctor Who Festival took over the Horden Pavilion and Royal Hall of Industries (RHI) for the weekend, it surpassed itself. Flying in from Melbourne on Friday, where it had been a cool 15 degrees Celsius, it was 41 degrees on arrival in Sydney. That’s 108 degrees Fahrenheit – which, as Sylvester McCoy said, sounds much more dramatic.

Happily though for both attendees and the team from the UK, a cool change swept through Friday evening, so the next morning, everyone was queuing under a cloudy sky and in a much more respectable 20 degrees. Which is just as well, because dealing with the queues outside the Horden Pavilion, a venue known for hosting concerts and the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras party, for 45 minutes would have been unbearable in the previous day’s heat.

Yes, in true British tradition, the day started with polite queuing. Four lines, apparently: the Dalek TARDIS ticketholders, the Dalek General Admission, the Cybermen TARDIS ticketholders and the Cybermen General Admission. Not much in the way of visible signs and directions however, so harried security personnel were constantly asked which line was which, and many people realised they were in the wrong line. Still, it gave everyone the chance to check out a healthy number of cosplayers, dressed in various versions of the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor costumes, a handful of Weeping Angels, homemade Cybermen, priestesses from ‘The Fires of Pompeii’, River Song, an occasional Captain Jack, and quite a few Osgoods.

As a rule, there wasn’t much complaining though, and I made it in – with the Cybermen stream and a Press Pass – into the main theatre for the first event, the Real SFX Show with Danny Hargreaves. He joined host Adam Spencer on stage, blowing up a Dalek casing and talking about his effects work on the show over the past ten years. He spoke about how different actors dealt with his explosions (Matt Smith squealed and jumped, Peter Capaldi apparently met one over-exuberant explosion with a steely gaze directed at Danny), and then demonstrated, with the help of a couple of volunteers, set off a charge in a rogue Cyberman’s chest. It was a fun and colourful start to the day, and the audience were enthusiastic and appreciative. It made a normally unreachable element of Doctor Who that much more real.

That would continue, as we then streamed into the RHI, where the rest of the Festival was set up:  stalls, merchandise, props, costumes, a Pub Quiz and three separate areas for further discussions with those who work behind the scenes. First up was Mark Gatiss on the Dropbox Stage, chatting informally with local comedian and host Rob Lloyd about writing for Doctor Who. He was intelligent, articulate and considered with his answers, with a large focus on his most recent episode, Sleep No More, inspired apparently by his 3am insomniac state and rubbing the sleep out of his eye. It was also his first ‘future’ story, a satire on capitalism, and he spoke about enjoying creating a whole new world in the way Robert Holmes had.

He also spoke about lesser known things, such as the Doctor Who reboot pitch he, Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman took to the BBC in 2001 or 2002, which involved an English village and a strange man in the antiques store, who would be revealed as the Doctor. And the idea he tossed around of adapting his New Adventures novel, Nightshade, for the 2013 TV season, but with Ian Chesterton as an old man imagining the Zarbi and the Voord.

Gatiss also spoke of the strong female characters and presence in the series now, how he’s really a frustrated casting director, the fact that there’s no way an Ice Warrior in full armour could actually fit in a Soviet submarine, and how much he enjoyed working in references to old stories, like DVD Easter eggs.

Joining Lloyd on the stage next was Millennium FX’s Charlie Bluett, who took us through the creation of the Sandmen from Sleep No More, which included one of said Sandmen lumbering into the audience and onto the stage to be unmasked – literally. Fun facts taken from this session: KY Jelly is used to make monsters glisten, and the old Classic monsters are the hardest ones to create.

The Science of Doctor Who was the next session on this stage, and Lloyd, with Dr Martin White, presented a lively and cheeky exploration of scientific concepts, such as relative dimensions and regeneration, with the help of a Whiteboard, complete with its own minions, at one point. Fun fact: there are more than four dimensions in the universe – it’s more like 12!

Time then for more queuing – for food and coffee, to buy merchandise, to see the costumes and props, which included a great model of the Dalek City from this year’s season opener, The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar, a Zygon, the Fisher King and a Mire, and to try and get a photo with a Dalek and Christmas tree in a fake snowstorm. This last one proved very popular, and even though I queued up more than once for this, I didn’t get the photo opportunity because I had other events to get to.

Such as the Sylvester McCoy session back in the Theatre. Hosted again by Spencer, McCoy was in great form, starting off on the stage with Spencer, talking about ferrets down his trousers, hammering nails into his nose (and how that is done without dying), playing the spoons on Kate O'Mara’s chest, which was very bouncy, apparently, but soon, with microphone in hand, he was down in the audience, answering questions and wandering around talking about all manner of things and jumping from story to story. His musings were illustrated with images quickly sourced online by the mixing desk crew and flashed on the screen as McCoy’s stories unfolded, which added an extra layer of context and visual reference.

Fun facts taken from this session: McCoy’s favourite story to work on was Survival (he attributes this to the actress who couldn’t deal with her cat costumes and stripped it off and ran into the desert wearing just a thong…); his favourite new monsters are the Weeping Angels; he got lost in Colin Baker’s costume and the Harpo Marx wig when filming his regeneration scene; and both he and Paul McGann have rubbery faces which worked well in their regeneration scene. All this made for an entertaining 45 minutes, and he was clearly a hit with the children and many others who may not have seen any of his work as the Seventh Doctor.

Then it was time for the session everyone was waiting for – Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat and Ingrid Oliver – a last-minute addition after Billie Piper cancelled during the week. She may have been last-minute, but she was a welcome addition, and the three of them on stage together, moderated again by Spencer, had an engaging banter and rapport. Oliver spoke about her audition and getting her ‘penny-dropping moment’ look just right – which she and Capaldi then demonstrated, to rapturous applause and laughter. She also told of her first acting job, playing Shakespearean roles for American tourists at the Tower of London, and how her first scene for Doctor Who was there, so had a nice synergy for her.

Capaldi, at the end of an exhausting day, still had energy to talk about sitting at home alone watching the 50th anniversary special, having not been invited to anything, and how excited he’d been to work on The Fires of Pompeii, but said he’d loved to have played a monster covered in latex and killing David Tennant. He also spoke about having lunch with Matt Smith before starting the role, and Smith was on crutches. He and Moffat also enjoyed some dry and dour Scottish repartee, which the audience loved, and Moffat explained that writing the 50th anniversary special was the hardest thing he’s done – especially since he started out with no Doctors under contract at all, just Jenna Coleman. He also mentioned that while he may have suggested someone like John Hurt for the War Doctor, he never thought they would actually get him.

Spencer had asked the audience beforehand to think of questions beyond the obvious stuff that you could find the answer to by googling, and they did. Apart from a question about a Doctor Who/Sherlock crossover, which Moffat quickly shut down, there were some thoughtful and left-of-centre questions. Capaldi was caught out by one fan asking about his 80’s pop band, The Dream Boys, and a potential film about them. That started a whole conversation about the name sounding like The Chippendales, or a calendar – which then inspired a comment about the Women of UNIT sounding like a calendar and how Capaldi would like to see that calendar. As anyone would.

The final question was about the panel’s thoughts on the expanded Who Universe, such as novels, comics and audio plays, and Moffat took the talking stick and spoke about how he loved the fact that the past is still growing, and that it feels unstoppable. And that, he said, is the mark of a legend that can never end.

Enough time then, to head back into the RHI and a couple of final sessions in the Arena area. Hosted by comedian David Innes (who, with Rob Lloyd, form the comedy duo Innes Lloyd) was the Fan Challenge, or as Innes called it, the Game of Rassilon, where participants play in a series of physical trivia challenges to win the award. A mixture of easy, difficult and almost impossible questions from all eras of the show, it demonstrated exactly how much fans know, regardless of their age.

After that, it was time to meet the monsters. Strax performer Dan Starkey and Dalek operator and monster actor Jon Davey explained and demonstrated how to walk and speak like a Sontaran, how to make the foam rubber Mire costume stomp like a heavy metal robot, and how to get in and out of a Dalek casing. Both performers were relaxed and entertaining – especially Davey mincing around in a headless Mire costume, and seeing inside a Dalek, and it was a fun and lightweight way to finish a very intense and overloading day.

Yes, it was a long day, but for the attendees, who had travelled from all across Australia, from Perth and Brisbane and other cities, it was a unique look into the workings behind a much-loved show. Hopefully this isn’t a once-in-a-lifetime event, because despite the queuing, it was a great success, and the guests were very impressed with Australian fans’ love, devotion and dedication to Doctor Who. So, can we have more, please?