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More than a Messiah When was it made? 1993 Who made it? BBV What format was it on? VHS, now available on DVD with extras including a Stranger audio play and interviews with Peter Davison and Mark Strickson (neither of which are in it). Familiar faces Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant of course, supporting them are Sophie Aldred and Peter Miles.
Familiar names Big Finish’s Nigel Fairs wrote the script, Bill Baggs did the rest. The blurb
In a nutshell… On a more or less unspoilt world, those who disturb nature tend to be taken care of by a mud-covered Sophie Aldred. Often this takes the form of her picking up litter they have dropped. Other times she drags them from their speed boat and drowns them.
Peter Miles and his simpering wife are enjoying a holiday – ‘enjoying’ being the wrong word entirely. Miles’ character is a past-it property developer who has come out to this unspoilt land to plan a great city that will carry his name – Darton City – into the history books. He’s also insane and comes to think that everyone – people, apes, trees, flowers and spirits – are conspiring against him.
Amidst all this, the Stranger wants another quiet rest and Miss Brown has itchy feet. Not literally. She’s cross because her companion promised her he wouldn’t spend the whole time lolling around (as he tried to do in the previous video) and he’s replying with the quibble that there is a difference between contemplation and snoozing.
Is it any good? It has a lot of very good bits in it which perhaps don’t work over all. At times it is not so much a grand eco-parable as a lecture on not dropping litter. The mysterious girl gives the Stranger visions of how her world is being destroyed and does genuinely linger on a crisp packet. There are also some takeaway boxes and I’m at a loss to know where they came from. If this is an unspoilt get-away with strict rules on what can and can’t be brought with you, where did a takeaway spring from?
The gist of the story is that Sophie Aldred’s character is tied to the planet. The Stranger retrospectively refers to her as an antibody created to fight the infection (i.e. people). This is not entirely original but starts out well realised. Aldred is very good – she spends the first half lurking in bushes and tidying things up. In the second she becomes more series. Sadly, she becomes serious not because her planet is at risk but because she inexplicably falls in love with the Stranger. It makes absolutely no sense but there she is – in love with a man she’s only just met and apparently willing to kill herself if he spurns her.
Meanwhile, Peter Miles’ character, Darton has gone nuts. He starts shooting at apes and then at tourists. There is a wonderfully bonkers scene when he’s decided the vegetation is spying at him and he goes out onto the patio to throw all his wife’s pot plants off the porch. This is Peter Miles in full on crazy acting mode – think his death scene in "The Silurians" but with begonias instead of UNIT.
Visually it is very good. They decided to apply a green effect to the sky and technology had moved on so far that BBV were able to do on a tiny budget what late 80s Doctor Who couldn’t do on a slightly less tiny budget. It doesn’t always convince during the speedboat sequence (yes – there is a speed boat, Pertwee would’ve been proud) but to even attempt to colour the sky while moving at speed was admirable. The locations chosen are fantastic – there is a cabin in the middle of nowhere which looks idyllic. And the caves in which Sophie tries to win the heart of the Stranger are quite magnificent. I’m not sure I approve of more semi-nudity from Mr Baker but if we concentrate on the scenery I think we can get through it.
I suppose if it has a weakness (aside from the awkward and not terribly convincing crush) it is that our hero doesn’t actually do anything. If he’d not been there at all, things would almost certainly have happened in exactly the same way. This is surprising as the script was originally written for the "Audio Visuals" range so the Stranger was originally the Doctor and I can’t imagine anyone writing a Doctor Who script in which the Doctor literally does nothing of any consequence.
Anything for the BBC to object to? Nothing at all. The hints are still there that this is the Sixth Doctor escaping from the Twin Dilemma and season 22 but they are nothing more than hints – words which can be taken whichever way the audience wants.
Did it help fill the void? More of the sensitive Colin Baker / Sixth Doctor to show people what they could’ve had. More well filmed drama to show people what Doctor Who could’ve been like if only it had kept going a few more years.
Would it work on TV? It’s the best looking spin-off I’ve watched so far and so much of television is about the look. Other than that, see this section for "Summoned by Shadows".
Verdict Production 4/5 Entertainment 3/5 Whoishness 2/5 Overall 3/5
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