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The Aztecs
Pros
-
It's the first historical story to absolutely nail the genre. All
historicals were basically the same - land in a period, identify it,
wander round, lose the Tardis, get separated, get involved in local
matters, get back to the Tardis, leave just in the nick of time. It's what
you do in the in-between bits that separate the good ones from the bad
ones. That's why The Romans will always be better than the Massacre. The
Aztecs throws up so many problems and obstacles that it is a genuine
challenge to imagine how they might get through a sealed door and back to
the ship.
-
They really do a great job of showing us the Aztec way of life. They
capture the good and the bad and don't let us judge the civilisation - we
judge the individuals we meet which is how it should be. The Aztecs were a
mix of the highly cultured and the revoltingly barbaric. Both sides are
embodied and we come away not at all surprised that the invading Spanish
ignored the quiet Autloc and saw only the bombastic Tlotoxl. It informs,
educates and entertains - Lord Reith would've loved it.
-
It is only four episodes - nothing would've been gained by adding two more
episodes of theological debate, sparring and home ec lessons.
Cons
-
The fights are rather studio bound. Obviously as they were shot in a
studio. They could've been a lot worse but there is a fair amount of build
up and the pay off is a bit muted.
-
It is perhaps a little far fetched that an English science teacher from
the early 60s could've matched a champion gladiator in combat. National
Service or no National Service, you wouldn't expect Mr Perkins to do well
against
Brock Lesnar and nor should Mr Chesterton beat Ixta.
The Marian Conspiracy
Pros
-
Rather than take one of the famous Tudors - Henry VIII or Elizabeth - Jac
Rayner decided to use Mary, one of history's less glorious monarchs. She
was also the first Queen of England - something that tends to be
overlooked because she did some terrible things (the Thatcher Syndrome if
we want to sound scholarly). Few people have ever tried to make us fond of
Bloody Mary but Jac sat down at her typewriter to do this and by heck she
succeeds. That Mary wasn't so bad after all, we say.
-
Evelyn Smythe - the first and still the best of the Big Finish companions
makes her debut in this story. She is an instant success - an inspired
creation who is funny, warm, friendly, believable and more than a match
for the Sixth Doctor. Much of the latter's rehabilitation in the audio
plays must be credited to the dynamic that Evelyn gave his plays.
Cons
-
The cliffhangers are all copped out of. They are brilliant at the end of
each episode, then the next one starts and we feel cheated. Take episode
one - surrounded by angry peasants who are going to kill Evelyn for being
pro-Elizabeth... except they aren't because they also turn out to be
pro-Elizabeth. Phew. I know most cliffhangers are cop outs to some extent
but this story has some very cheap payoffs.
-
Why was this the only visit to Tudor England for this doctor of Tudor
history? Surely she would've wanted to go and meet the rest of the family.
Stuff your strange and not terribly good alien futures - we want the
softer side of Henry the Seventh or a wacky revelation that Edward VI was
actually a strapping athlete who only played feeble to manipulate his
scheming court.
The Long Game
Pros
-
Simon Pegg is brilliant. Considering his character was a freelance
corporate slime, he should've become a recurring villain. Wherever there
is devastation, greed and oppression there might be The Editor. He has a
presence that someone like Van Statten simply didn't have. He could've
been our Master but it was not to be.
-
Anna Maxwell Martin is probably the cutest of a strangely uncute season.
Cons
-
It wimps out hugely. What was a perfect opportunity to make a point about
media bias and ownership of everything by one or two voices is wasted as
they instead decide to blame a living ceiling. No craggy faced Australian
corporate monarch. No sinister American mogul who hasn't heard of most of
the galaxy but thinks it should be scared of the few bits he has heard of.
It has to be a ceiling monster so we can be absolutely sure no satirical
intent was genuine.
-
All that stuff with the beams going into the heads made no sense. It
seemed to be a fairly random bunch of people who had news data pumped
through their brains. To what end? If the ceiling monster has decided the
agenda then couldn't a computer do all the processing? Or some kind of
artificial brain thing? Or even processed humans. But not normal men and
women wandering around worrying about their careers and things.
Conclusion
The Marion Conspiracy gets
top marks - it is a really interesting play which takes a fresh look at a
clichéd period of history as well as introducing us to a great new
character. The Aztecs comes a close second - it is just that bit slower
despite packing as much of interest into its hour and forty. The Long Game
comes last - it has a few good features but it failed for the most part. A
ceiling monster for goodness sake.
Ranking
The Marian Conspiracy ~ 3
The Aztecs ~ 2
The Long Game ~ 1
Totals
New Series ~ 14
Classic series ~ 14
Big Finish ~ 8
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The
3 Doctor Whos