No Companion Left Behind

Librarian in the TARDIS, Bonus Review #1

Title: Tales from the Vault
Written by: Jonathan Morris
Featuring: Captain Ruth Matheson, Warrant Officer Charlie Sato, Jo Grant, Zoe Heriot, Romana I, Steven Taylor
Adversary: Kali Carash
Originally Released: July 2011
Range and Number: Companion Chronicles 6.01

Synopsis (from TARDIS Wikia) -

Welcome to the Vault — jokingly known as "the Museum of Terrors" — a high security establishment where UNIT keeps all of its alien artefacts.

New recruit Warrant Officer Charlie Sato is given a guided tour by Captain Ruth Matheson, and the archive reveals some dark secrets. An army jacket, a painting, crystal and a wax cylinder all hold a grave significance, and their stories are told by the Doctor's companions: Steven Taylor, Zoe Heriot, Jo Grant and Romana...

My Review:
Okay, okay - I know I said I was done with Big Finish. Turns out the Doctor’s Rule #1 is also my Rule #1 (as far as springing surprises on my readership goes, anyway).

One thing that I've appreciated about this blogging project is the opportunity to revisit Doctors and companions that I've grown to love and highlight why I love them so much. Another thing I've enjoyed is the chance to take another look at other characters that I might not have given a fair chance to, or that I've never encountered before. I wanted to give as many companions their due as I could but because of the format I chose, I ended up ignoring a few companions that I wanted to talk about. And the fact that I was flying by the seat of my pants in the very beginning and hadn’t settled on a firm system - I kind of feel like I gave short shrift to the First and Second Doctors’ eras and those are stories that I want to revisit at a later date (just not quite sure how to do it yet).

Conversely, when I learned that Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso had indeed done a Companion Chronicle for Big Finish - though not as Grace Holloway or Chang Lee - I was very intrigued. When I learned that Companion Chronicle also featured four companions from the Classic Series - several of whom I adore but didn't get to talk about in Librarian in the TARDIS - I resolved to review it and give them at least some kind of due.

What I didn't count on was how Grace and Lee would invade my headcanon when I listened to this. Even though Daphne and Yee Jee are playing different characters (as Big Finish does not have the rights to anything from the TV Movie, other than the Eighth Doctor), I kept hearing Grace and Lee in their performances, so I thought that maybe Ruth and Charlie were really Grace and Lee. In Grace’s case, I had no problem imagining that the American division of UNIT contacted a well-connected heart surgeon who’d been involved with a certain San Francisco Incident that, rumor had it, also involved the Doctor. Chang Lee would be a little more difficult to pin down - but I imagine that he finally got out of the gang scene and joined the military because he thought it would be a good way to improve his life. UNIT, being UNIT, eventually realizes that Lee was involved in the same incident that brought Grace to them and they approach Lee with an offer to join UNIT. Maybe Lee feels a twinge of regret at not having taken the Doctor up on his original offer to travel and this is the next best thing (who knows? The Doctor’s worked with UNIT before, maybe he’d come back again!) And the name changes? Witness protection. Standard operating procedure for UNIT (hell, they have the power to issue international gagging orders, so why not?)

Anyway, I know this is a cracked idea, but it works for me. No fanfic will come of it (trust me - you don’t want me writing fanfic), but it’s fun to play around with these theories. Besides, every time I watch the TV Movie, I keep wanting more and more of Grace's and Lee’s backstories and since I never got it out of official channels, I can make it up myself. It’s not any better or worse than what anyone else would come up with, is it?

The beauty behind “Tales from the Vault” is the idea of archiving stories for others to hear about and enjoy (or, in the case of UNIT Secret Ops, to hide and cover up). On one level, if you listen to enough Companion Chronicles, you start to feel like these companions are actually telling the stories to an audience - maybe the grandkids have come round for tea and another one of Gran’s or Gramps’s fantastic stories of traveling with the Doctor. Some of the Chronicles actually have the audience written into the story, such as Polly holding a press conference in “The Forbidden Time” or Liz writing to her mother in “The Last Post.” So, for UNIT to actually take parts of these stories and put them in archive is kind of a commentary on what the Companion Chronicles actually do.

Also - and this is a theme that creeps up in Doctor Who a lot, especially in New Who - how important stories are. How keenly you feel it when you know there are pieces missing (which Who fans are all too aware of). All of the stories in “Tales from the Vault” are just pieces of the story of Kali Carash - pieces that Ruth and Charlie work to put together to complete the whole (well, it’s more out of Charlie’s curiosity than anything).

Talking briefly about each companion in turn - I've already reviewed a Jo Grant story, but it’s so great to have a recording of her doing day-to-day UNIT stuff. Also, that Charlie calls her “a legend” is really neat too - then Ruth starts the tape. The joke that she would leave the tape recorder running while she made tea is absolutely charming. Jo’s part of the story - about a jacket that is possessed by an entity who takes over whoever touches it - is what gets the overarching narrative going, even though you don’t really think about it at the time.

The next companion to be featured is Romana I (played by Mary Tamm). Her part is actually from one of Captain Matheson’s first missions for UNIT Special Ops, so Ruth is heard interviewing Romana after an incident with a painting that shows the viewer the exact nature of their death, which in turn leads to the viewer going mad. The painting is held in the UNIT vault with instructions to only use it as a last resort - but at least it’s locked up in the vault. This Romana is very much a young, inexperienced Romana who hasn't quite found the appeal of Earth people and she has that haughty air about her that would be condescending in anyone else, but is positively glamorous in Mary Tamm’s portrayal of the character (Romana I has always been my favorite Romana and sometimes I wish there was more of her outside of the Key to Time season).

Zoe Heriot’s (played by Wendy Padbury) involvement in this story is quite unique. A copy of her mind has been transferred into a crystal that was used to wipe people’s memories (it didn't actually wipe Zoe’s memory - this is just a copy. But it’s an interesting choice by the producers of this audio, considering what ultimately happens to Zoe in the TV show). Using Zoe’s voice, the crystal tells the story of when the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe got involved with an investigation of bank robberies in which the victims never remembered how they were robbed. The Doctor figures out that the robbers were using the crystal, stops the robbers from using it anymore, and gives the crystal to UNIT for safekeeping. This crystal is a big reason why UNIT Special Ops can cover up a lot of big alien invasion-type events and Ruth even says so (which was a dangling plot thread that I didn't even realize was dangling to begin with).

As Ruth and Charlie are leaving the vault, an alarm goes off on a time capsule with a wax phonograph recorder. Turns out, the time capsule was set to open at this exact time and this recording is of Steven Taylor with a warning that only gets half communicated (apparently, wax doesn't last very long). Steven was the companion I was most excited to hear from in this audio. I felt like an absolute dope when I realized I hadn't reviewed any Steven stories when I covered the First Doctor’s era (to be fair, I could hardly pass up the chance to fangirl flail over “The Rocket Men” - which is another review that I want to revisit later. And “The Keys of Marinus” is just way too good. You know - I think I should do a First Doctor rewatch... hm... I'll add it to the schedule).  As wonderful as Ian and Barbara are and as much as I adore Vicki and Susan - Steven is the real heartbreaker of the Hartnell era. Partially because most of his stories are missing (sad face), but also because his character is just so compelling. It’s hard to pin down my favorite Steven story because watching him find his time-traveling feet in “The Time Meddler” is just lovely, his relationships with the Doctor, Katarina and Sara Kingdom in “The Dalek Master Plan” are so tragic, he’ll tear your heart out in “The Massacre,” and he’s so cute in “The Gunfighters” and “The Celestial Toymaker” (if anyone wants my top list of missing stories to find, my answer would be anything with Steven). Meeting Peter Purves at Gallifrey One last February didn't hurt my enthusiasm for the character, either.

So, yeah, Steven Taylor - love him to pieces. And his segment in this audio is great too (sort of wish he got more time in this story, but I can listen to his other Companion Chronicles because they’re amazing!)

What’s fun about this entire story is how each of the different companions’ stories seem to be disconnected, but end up working together to resolve the problem. I won’t go into the resolution because it’s a great ending to a wonderful story and it’d be nice for you, Dear Reader, to have some surprises going into this audio.

Other things I loved:
- “You should see the security kitchen.” Loved that nod to “The Ark”
- UNIT Special Ops was involved in covering up the events of the millennium in San Francisco (Even more fun that Ruth was the one talking about it).
- Wondering what that “giant” thing was that the Doctor fought with UNIT that neither Ruth nor Charlie told the whole story about.

To conclude - this may be part of the Companion Chronicles range, but the deviation from the usual formula is a special treat for the listener. This story makes it feel like the Doctor’s lives are interconnected, even though you typically only deal with one incarnation at a time (special multi-Doctor episodes excluded). And it’s cool to remember that the Doctor’s companions are always a part of his life, even though he may not actively refer to them all the time. I love getting multi-companion stories and I only hope we get to see more, not to mention more with Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso. I think my third big wish - apart from finding a shedload of missing episodes and getting Paul McGann a spin-off Eighth Doctor miniseries is that the rights to Grace Holloway and Chang Lee could be resolved and we could see their stories played out in Big Finish or some other medium. But for now, I’ll take my headcanon of Ruth Matheson and Charlie Sato being pseudonyms for Grace and Lee and that they went to work for UNIT.

(Hey, if Ace can go to the Academy on Gallifrey to become a Time Lord, anything is possible).

***
Next time, on Librarian in the TARDIS -
Review 9.01 - The modern world started with “Rose” - but this is the episode that sold me on Doctor Who

Previously -
Review 8.03 - “What Are You Going To Do Next?” “I’m Going... Somewhere Without Copyright Infringement”

The Doctor's Family UNIT

Librarian in the TARDIS, Review 3.03

Title: Last of the Gaderene
Author: Mark Gatiss
Team TARDIS: Third Doctor, Jo Grant, the UNIT boys
Adversary: The Master, The Gaderene
Originally Released: January 2000
Range and Number: Past Doctor Adventures #28

Synopsis (from TARDIS Wikia) -

2000 BBC Books Edition -
"My name is Bliss," said the newcomer, "and I bring great news for you all!"
The new owners of a Second World War aerodrome promise a golden dawn of prosperity for the East Anglian village of Culverton. The population rejoices - with one or two exceptions. Former Spitfire pilot Alec Whistler knows the aerodrome of old, having found a strange, jade-coloured crystal there years before...
When black-shirted troops appear on the streets, Whistler takes his suspicions to his old friend Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The Doctor and Jo are sent to investigate and soon discover that all is not well in the seemingly idyllic village.
What are the black coffin-like objects being unloaded at the aerodrome? What horror lies behind Legion International's impeccable facade? And what is the monstrous creature growing and mutating in the marsh?
As Culverton gears up for its summer fete, the Doctor finds himself involved in a race against time to prevent a massive colonisation of Earth. For the last of the Gaderene are on their way...

2013 BBC Books Edition -
The aerodrome in Culverton has new owners, and they promise an era of prosperity for the idyllic village. But former Spitfire pilot Alex Whistler is suspicious – when black-shirted troops appear on the streets, he contacts his 
old friend Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart at UNIT. The Third Doctor is sent to investigate – and soon uncovers a sinister plot to colonise the Earth. The Gaderene are on their way...

My Review:
The last couple of Pertwee stories I’ve reviewed have departed a bit from the norm of the Third Doctor’s era. “The Curse of Peladon” - while certainly one of my favorites - don’t employ any of the usual tropes of this era. “The Last Post” involves UNIT and much of Season 7, but it’s Liz Shaw rather than Jo Grant as the companion (not to take anything away from Liz because I think she’s one of the best, even if she gets overshadowed by what comes later). But I felt good about highlighting these other aspects of this era because the book chosen to be part of the 50th Anniversary reprints for the Third Doctor has everything that the Third Doctor is associated with - this is the salad days of UNIT. In fact, this story has a distinct “The Daemons” vibe - they aren't really at UNIT HQ, everyone’s scattered around the area, the Master is playing second-fiddle to the real bad guy of the piece, but the Master is still making his presence felt (not to mention a classic Doctor-Master barb-trading session in which each insults the other’s Time Lord cred, friends and... maybe their mothers come up. I’m not too hip to Gallifreyan slang, but I think it happened in there somewhere).  Basically, if Jon Pertwee is your Doctor or if UNIT fries your bacon, you will love this story.

(Oh - and Spitfires. Can’t forget the Spitfires. I wonder if Mark Gatiss had that in mind when he wrote “Victory of the Daleks.” For me, Mark Gatiss and Spitfires go together like peanut butter and jelly.  Sort of a strange connection, but there you are).

Really, the stars of this story are the Doctor, Jo and UNIT.  There are a requisite number of one-off characters, but they only serve to make the main players look good.  Yes, you're going to say "But that's what the one-offs are supposed to do!"  Well, they did their job very well because I don't remember them very much.  But I do remember all the wonderful scenes between the Doctor and Jo, the Doctor and the Brigadier, and anything with Sergeant Benton.  Just for good measure, there's a scene where the Doctor makes his own nitrous oxide out of fertilizer, iron filings and a kitchen sink.  Definitely something I could imagine Three doing in a televised story (Jon Pertwee: The Original Mythbuster).

Not to spoil anything (oh, who am I kidding? This is a Spoiler-and-a-Half) - this may even possibly be where the Master regenerates. At least, the Master mentions that he’s going to miss this body - that it had flair and style (something along those lines). We never actually see it happen because we’re too worried if the Doctor is going to make it out of the Deadly Column of Light, but it is nice to see the Master’s regeneration alluded to in a Pertwee-era story. Particularly since Roger Delgado never did get a proper send-off in the TV show (understandably - and tragically - so). Maybe that’s just as well, and why in all the incarnations of the Master, the character may be dead and dusted, but he always manages to come back in some capacity. It’s yet to be seen if the New Series will ever bring him back again, but he has been known to return from worse... okay, maybe there’s never been anything worse than being time-locked with Gallifrey and the Time Lords... but still - he’s a wily old fellow.

To wrap up: This was a very fun story.  I enjoy UNIT immensely and I was glad that this book came into to represent that element of Doctor Who for this project since I also wanted to highlight other lesser-attended-to aspects of Three's run.  It's hard to let everyone have their say in a project like this, even though that's what I want to do.

And if I had a hard time letting all of Three's friends and villains have their moment in the sun, just think how much more difficult it's going to be in the next round? (Spoilers, sweetie!)

***
Next Time, on Librarian in the TARDIS -
Review 4.01 - Rod Serling Does Who (or Philip Hinchcliffe Does The Twilight Zone - take your pick)

Previously -
Review 3.02 - The Following Takes Place Between "Spearhead from Space" and "Inferno"

Those Best Suited to Rule

Librarian in the TARDIS, Review 3.01

Title: The Curse of Peladon
Team TARDIS: Third Doctor, Jo Grant
Adversary: High Priest Hepesh, Arcturus (Spoilers. Sorry).
Originally Aired: January 29-February 19, 1972
Number of Episodes: 4

Synopsis (from TARDIS Wikia)-

The Doctor and Jo make a test flight in the TARDIS and arrive on the planet Peladon. Seeking shelter, they enter the citadel of the soon-to-be-crowned King Peladon, where the Doctor is mistaken for a human dignitary summoned to act as Chairman of a committee assessing an application by the planet to join the Galactic Federation.

My Review: 

“It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. 
To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

In Traveling the Vortex’s recent Third Doctor Retrospective, the Vortex Boys asked the question “What defines this era the most?” Rightly so, they cued into things such as UNIT, the Master, gadgets and gizmos, Venusian Akido - things to do with the earthbound stories representative of the Pertwee era. And, let’s be honest, most broad reviews of the Pertwee era make great mention of those things. So when it came time for me to choose the televised story I wanted to review for the Third Doctor, I didn't want to rehash the same stuff that everyone else talks about. Don’t get me wrong - UNIT is awesome. I love UNIT. The Brigadier, Benton, Liz Shaw (who gets unfairly overlooked in so many things) - the dynamic within the UNIT family is a treat to see (even Captain Yates - before he turned to the dark side). But I wanted to give the non-UNIT stories of the Pertwee era some love because they often get ignored simply for not being representative. While “Carnival of Monsters” would have been an easy choice because it is generally well-liked (I enjoy it immensely), I also love “The Curse of Peladon.” And I was unpleasantly surprised to see that this story is not highly-regarded by fandom. When that came to my attention, my choice was made even easier.

Sometimes the politically-focused stories in Doctor Who get the short end of the stick in fandom regard.  But "The Curse of Peladon" balances out the political strife with a fair amount of suspense and action - but also a lot of heart.  While I was rewatching this, I ended up taking lots of notes about the politics these characters find themselves in - to the point that I actually had to pause the DVD and write out my thoughts on what was going on.

The Delegation is made up of people who have been around political games for a long time and play the game they same way they breath, eat and poop - it's just a fact of life for them. Kind of like Game of Thrones, but with less incest (there's another Wife-in-Space-ism for you - and they just finished their last review of the Classic Series. Sad day...)  I guess this could be a commentary on politics in real life (uh-oh - I'm bringing politics into my reviews...) in that normal, sane people who would never seek political office in a million years look at the permanent political class largely as a group of sleazeballs who are only in it for themselves and their lackeys while paying lip-service to the people who put them into office.  Generally "getting things done" in political office means being cynical and mistrustful and assuming that the people you deal with do the same kinds of underhanded, sleazeball things that you do (because that's how everyone lives their lives, don'cha know?)

Thing is, in "The Curse of Peladon," King Peladon genuinely wants to be a good king and serve his people - he is a man in whom there is no guile.  He believes the best in people - mostly because he hasn't had his ideals beaten out of him yet. That also means that his politically savvy advisor, Hepesh, thinks he can play Peladon like a naive little puppet.  Hepesh probably would have gotten away with it too - if it hadn't been for that meddling Doctor (and Jo - but I'll get to Jo's role in all of this).

The Doctor's seen his share of political intrigue and what-have-you.  But the Doctor is the kind of guy that runs from any offer of political power (for all reports that the Doctor is a mad man, at least on this score he is as sane as you or I - unless you, Dear Reader, are the sort of person that wants to run for public office, in which case what the hell is wrong with you???)  Thing is, the Doctor is the very person who would be most suited to public office simply because he would see it as a job to do, do the job, and go on to something else.  The Doctor sees through all the political intrigue and tells the truth (seeing as he really doesn't have any reason to lie - he doesn't have a dog in the fight over Peladon joining the Galactic Federation.  He's not even really the Earth Delegate).

I've got to talk more about Jo in this story. She really shines here, and not just because she gets to play the role of a badass Earth princess (anyone who can climb a mountain AND sneak out a window into a storm in high heels is pretty tough). Jo is a lot like King Peladon - she too is one in whom there is no guile.  Even more than the Doctor, I think Jo was the one to really throw a monkey wrench into Hepesh's plans to rule behind a puppet king.  Jo was probably the first person Peladon met that wasn't trying to maneuver into power and who genuinely wanted to do the right thing.  It was probably quite the revelation to Peladon to discover that he wasn't the only one in the universe not scheming for personal ends.  The funny thing is, Jo has even less of a reason to want peace than the Doctor - she's not from this time period and it didn't even matter to her what became of the Galactic Federation or Peladon or any of it.  But she sees a way that she can help and she just does it, regardless of what happens to her in the long run.  That's more or less why Peladon likes Jo - he sees someone he can finally relate to and that he could be happy with - but the poor guy does a really bad job of communicating.  He's not used to relating to people beyond political alliances (which he's probably been trained to do from a young age, never mind forging personal connections).  That doesn't sit well with Jo, sadly.  Because I almost wish that she'd stayed behind with Peladon (that could be more a result of me finding Cliff Jones to be a complete and utter dork).

This side of Jo was a big surprise for me because it was the first one I'd seen with her outside UNIT.  To this point, I'd assumed that Jo was the sweet, sassy, spunky little blonde girl in awesome '70s boots that made the Doctor look good.  Don't get me wrong, I love sweet and sassy Jo.  But in this story - the first one that she doesn't have to compete with all the UNIT boys - Jo gets to show off why she is the Doctor's companion.  The Doctor takes only the very best, after all, and Jo is no exception.  Her contribution to Team TARDIS is along the lines of what Jamie did - Jo has a lot of heart.  She cuts straight to the center of Peladon's dilemma between honoring the traditions of the people who raised him and changing a few of those traditions in order to do what is best for his people.  I don't think any other character could have - or would have - done as much.  She proves that honesty is her best trait - her best weapon, if I may use the term.  And that's just as important as knowing which polarity to reverse and when to reverse it (or even proclaiming that "girls can do whatever boys can do!" as happens in the sequel to this story "The Monster of Peladon," which I'm not as fond of.  I'd rather the girls actually do something than sit around and philosophize about how wonderful it is to be liberated.  Liberation isn't worth much if you don't do anything with it).

All this blog space and I haven't even talked about Aggedor yet!  Well... there's not much to say about the guy.  He's a teddy bear with horns that lives in the catacombs under Peladon's castle (palace? stronghold? I can't recall...)  The Doctor puts Aggedor to sleep with a metronome-hypnotizer-thing and a Venusian lullaby, which is pretty cool, but not much to write home about beyond that.  But I wouldn't mind an Aggedor plushie.  He's sort of cute (but Arcturus looks like that Jamaican-shrunken-head-thing in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Seeing as that is my second-least favorite of those movies, that is not a compliment).

"The Curse of Peladon" is a nice mix of political intrigue, heart, mythology, character development and, yes, a little bit of romance.  This story gives Jo Grant time to shine and kick ass in her sweet, endearing, charmingly girly ways.  No other companion has been given the title Princess of TARDIS, and it's one that suits her very well.  Even more than King Peladon, Jo has the whole "benevolent ruler" thing down pat.  The only thing that would make this better is if she had gotten to use her talents in that area in the long term.

***
Next Time, on Librarian in the TARDIS -
Review 3.02 - Where have they taken you, Elizabeth Shaw?

Previously -
Review 2.03 - The Celestial Chessmaster