In script and work print form, Listen plays tremendously on artistic and emotional levels. Alas, I‘d also argue that the multiple stories driving this tale are a tad diffuse, featuring many strong elements which struggle to congeal into a unified whole, but are instead left to orbit tantalizingly around a cohesion they never quite find. I can’t see that this can or will change significantly between developmental and transmit version - the issue dwells at a base level. In some regards, Listen feels like the story lines for several episodes awkwardly cohabiting one adventure. It also feels like it is, perhaps, one draft away from truly ‘knocking it out of the park.’
This said, Listen may well end up offering some of the best DOCTOR WHOish drama we’ve seen in some time. It is elegant and even powerful on more than a few occasions, and look for a not-so-subtle…but strangely affecting… use of the word ‘silence’ at one point. This episode’s…additions…to DW mythology are impossible to discuss herein without dipping into significant spoilers. Some will applaud the decisions and implications advanced here - others may object to them vehemently. This insallment also represents Peter Capaldi’s best showing as the Doctor to date.
So, presuming the whole shebang doesn’t derail completely in its journey from developmental to transmitted form (which can easily happen, and sometimes does), there’s a lot to love about Listen, some material which may alienate, and viewers may end up scratching their heads on a few occasions. There should be some interesting discussions on the Docback this weekend…
DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE - DID YOU KNOW...??
I’m a big fan of Britain’s DOCTOR WHO magazine, but have always stopped short of subscribing due to the logistics of having issues shipped to the States, the costs of subscriptions, etc.
For some unexplained reason, I was compelled to input ‘Doctor Who Magazine’ into the App Store on my iPad last night, and was surprised to learn that UK’s DOCTOR WHO Magazine is now available electronically, and (if I’m doing my currency conversions correctly) at a considerably reduced price when compared to physical copies/subscriptions.
This may well be ‘old news,’ but for some reason this is the first I’ve heard of it, so I thought I’d pass it along to those of you who haunt Barnes & Noble, or wherever, to find your copies here in the US. Or wait endlessly for your issues to arrive in the mail. Or didn’t know the magazine existed. Or shared by distrust of an overseas subscription.
DOCTOR WHO Magazine’s purchase/portal App can be found HERE at iTunes, or by inputing ‘Doctor Who magazine’ into the App Store on your iPad or iPhone.
BBC’S OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS FOR THE CARETAKER (S08E06), TRANSMITTING SEPTEMBER 27
The terrifying Skovox Blitzer is ready to destroy all humanity – but worse, and any second now, Danny Pink and the Doctor are going to meet.
When terrifying events threaten Coal Hill school, the Doctor decides to go undercover.
Fourth Doctor Adventures 3.08 Zygon Hunt Written By: Nicholas Briggs
The last of the current “season” of Fourth Doctor Adventures (it’s amazing we have already had three seasons of Tom Baker adventures for Big Finish), Zygon Hunt does not feel like the end of any particular season, but rather, a story which could happen anywhere within it. Having become accustomed to spectacular finales in both the monthly Big Finish range and in New Who, this might feel out of place, yet, if we take away such finale expectations and let the story be true to itself, we have yet another good (though not exceptional) Fourth Doctor and Leela story for our listening enjoyment. In this way, it is a more traditional ending, and feels more like a classical adventure (save for the fact it is shorter).
Earth Forces Knight Commander in Chief, Greg Saraton (played by Michael Maloney), the man who has been given the task to protect the Earth’s solar system from alien invasion (with a clear hatred for anything non-human), has organized a private hunt on the planet Garros. He has his secretarial aid, Mina (whose presence he enjoys for more than secretarial reasons) and several other Knights of the Solar System with him. There is a large prey on the planet, allowing him to engage some of his natural impulses in a form of sport.
Unknown to Saraton, the Zygons are also on the planet, and they have a plan of their own, one which requires them to capture Saraton and use him to their own benefit. While he is hunting, he is also the hunted, and because of the way the Zygons work, he might have been an easy prey save for the fact that the Doctor and Leela landed on the planet.
Saraton believes the Doctor and Leela are assassins sent to kill him, so he does not trust them. Mina seems to form a bond with them, appreciating their compassionate nature (Leela, who has no problem hunting out of necessity, dislikes it when it is done out of sport, and this serves as the foundation for Mina’s approval of the Doctor and Leela).
It is only at the end of the first “episode” that the Doctor learns of the Zygon presence. Because of it, what seemed like an insignificant adventure has become something more, requiring his personal intervention. But how successful can he be when the Zygons and the Knight Commander both have the Doctor in their crossfires?
The first half of this story was not too encouraging. Though the presence of the Zygons can be felt early on, their actual appearance and purpose makes itself truly known in the second half of the story. The first half sets more the conflict between the Doctor and Commander Saraton. Here, we have someone who certainly loves the power and authority he has like the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robot of Sherwood, and so Maloney has to play him the typical approach given to power-mad authorities in Doctor Who. Yet, unlike the Sheriff, there is still an element of humanity and goodness left within Saraton so that he is not a complete villain. He holds a legitimate and needful position in the security of the Earth, and so serves a legitimate need which benefits others and not just himself. The reason for his hate for alien life is made known through the story, so that even if he is excessive in his actions and he certainly takes too much pride in himself, we can see how he got his position and that it was not all out of a lust for power. There is, in the core, someone who desired some good, but let it become corrupted as he did. Michael Maloney plays this role exceptionally well.
Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are not given as much as I had wished for them, yet both the Doctor and Leela have been given integral roles to the story, providing a counter-balance for Saraton. Leela is, in many ways, similar to Saraton, a warrior at heart, but she is a warrior who not only has a heart, but has kept it front and center. She has been given the moral upbringing which Saraton did not have. This reflection, this difference, is important because of how it provides for the resolution of the story. The Doctor, though an alien, is still treated alongside Leela as a counter-example of what humanity can be like, but here, though he is treated as a human, it is Leela more than the Doctor that I believe serves as the catalyst for the solution. Thus, while Louise Jameson might not have been given as much to do in this, what she does have is significant and makes up for that lack (sometimes, less is more, and that is the case here).
I really enjoyed the conflict in the second half of the story, the conflict based upon the relationship between Saraton and humanity and how and why he does and does not reflect the best and worst of the human spirit. While cruel, while self-serving, he is not without an ability to love. In others, that love, when not corrupted, is able to produce great things; in Saraton, it becomes defensive, but he still has done great things out of his love for humanity, a love which the Zygons can appreciate as they seek for the wellbeing of their own people, a people seeking the survival of their own race. Leela shows that love does not have to be cruel, malicious, or destructive: it fights when necessary, but it is honorable. With honor, that love is justified.
I give this story a 7/10, but this is because I average the 6/10 for part one with the 8/10 I give for part two. It’s a good story. It’s a nice use of the Zygons, indeed, far better than in Day of the Doctor. However, Big Finish have already shown they can do that with the Eighth Doctor Adventures. Hopefully New Who will learn something here, and use it to explain the confused and rushed ending of the Zygon menace in Day.
1) a Docback should be about completely open and free discourse regarding all things WHO with, obviously, some variation on subject matter from time to time - the real world intervenes, discussions of other shows are inevitable, etc....
2) converse, agree, disagree, and question as much as you want - but the freedom to do so is NOT a license to be rude, crass, disrespectful, or uncivilized in any way. Not remaining courteous and civil, as well as TROLLING or undertaking sensational efforts to ignite controversy, will result in banning. Lack of courtesy may receive one (1) warning before a ban is instigated. Obvious Trolling or Spamming will result in summary banning with no warning.
