Released: February 2012
Range: The Main Range
Range Number: 157
Starring Colin Baker, Lisa Greenwood, Julian Wadham, Yasmin Bannerman, Hywel Morgan, Martin Hutson, Tilly Gaunt, Kim Wall & Henry Devas
Written by John Dorney
Directed by Nicholas Briggs
Business is bad for intergalactic media mogul Augustus Scullop, whose Trans-Gal empire is on the rocks. But, having retreated to his own private planet, Transmission, Scullop is about to gamble his fortune on a new show, made with an entirely new technology. And the name of that show... is Laser.
Back in the real world, far from the realms of small screen sci-fi fantasies about monsters and aliens, the Doctor is interested only in watching Test Match cricket... but finds himself drawn into Scullop's world when his new travelling companion, Flip, is snatched from inside the TARDIS.
So, while the Doctor uncovers the terrible secret of Trans-Gal's new tech, Flip battles to survive in a barren wilderness ruled over by the indestructible Lord Krarn and his pig like servants, the warmongers. And the name of that wilderness... is 'Stevenage'.
When John Dorney submitted the script for The Fourth Wall to David Richardson, he must have been very suprised at it's contents. After two episodes of Douglas Adams-style comedy, this story veers in a different direction, and becomes incredibly dark. It's also a story about characters and actors, and as a writing and acting student, it's something that resonates with me. It also features death - a lot of death. In fact, it virtually kills off every single character - in both fiction and reality, causing the body count to be raised above even Resurrection Of The Daleks. All of this comes together to make a very enjoyable story that really keeps the listener engaged with some really ideas.
The story itself starts in one direction (a Douglas Adams-style sci fi romp) before morphing into something else (an Eric Saward bloodbath). And normally, a drastic change in direction can be fatal for a story, killing the drive that the story once had (if The Stones Of Blood suffered from one problem, then it was that), however in the tradition of stories like The Talons Of Weng-Chiang or Frontier In Space, The Fourth Wall manages to successfully pull that trick off. Because the story styles actually can be blended together (horror and comedy), it allows for a certain continuity when comparing and contrasting the two discs: yes, there's a difference, but that difference is hard to spot. It's only as episode 2 carreers towards it's fatal conclusion does the listener become aware that this story has changed tact somewhat. It all feels more real, much more taught, much more unpredictable. Often, Doctor Who stories follow a formula, yet that formula is ripped apart in Fourth Wall's final two episodes with the insanely overpowered Krarn killing virtually everyone in sight. The idea behind taking characters in a TV programme and bringing them into the real world gives the story a hard moral edge that, at first, isn't entirely obvious. After all, does fiction feel pain? Do they want to be more than two-dimensional characters? We don't know, but prehaps they do. And that, especially to someone like me (a wannabe writer) is a powerful concept. It's not something that one thinks often about, but it's something that we should certainly take more account of. Mind you, it's also an enjoyable two hour romp that gives us plenty of action, adventure and witty lines. Dorney certain doesn't just give us introspection for two hours, but gives us a solid strong message behind this kind of Douglas Adamsy universe facade. That's why it works: because things like the Porcions and the brilliant lines given to Colin's Doctor contrast with the dark moments.
The characters in this story fall very much into two different camps: those who are fictional, and those who aren't. Those who are are completely over-the-top; their outrageous and their really cliched. Those who aren't fictional are also cliche, but, in many ways, they fall into the steriotypes that exist in the real world. Each of us has a different ways of 'acting', and that extends to the people in this play. Scullop is a perfect example of this: a hard buisness man who's down on his luck. How many of those do we know? It's a sad fact of life, but these archetypes do actually exist. And while it may seem like Dorney has been very lazy by including them, we actually get a real critique of the acting industry, something which we all know that Dorney is a part of. Therefore, the opening scenes, with the actors waiting to see the first episode of 'Laser' feels like the worst audition ever: a load of dried up has-beens trying to restart their failed careers. It's funny that the one genuinely nice one is actually the villain. And all three actors (I don't count the warmongers, since all they have to do is mumble nonsense) are well up for the challange, displaying really diversity and skill though their work. I was especially pleased with Tilly Gaunt, who I wasn't that keen on in the recently reviewed Destination: Nerva, but who has really improved here. I think that might be down to the script: it gives them more to do. I was also really impressed with Julian Wadham (Steed in Big Finish's Avengers), who really gives life to this unpleasant, nasty man. Scullop himself may not appear that much in the finished piece, but everything he does is important, and those pivotal scenes between him and Lord Krarn in episode 3 are superbly acted. Yasmin Bannerman also portrays Shepherd brilliantly, never making her completely sympathetic or unsympathetic, and Kim Wall and Henry Devas are amazing as the Porcions: completely hopeless and not that bright. It's up to them to bring a lot of the light relief, especially in the latter two episodes, and they are fantastic. And while Colin Baker and Lisa Greenwood are amazing (in Lisa's case especially so since she's dead for nearly half of it), this story feels more about the guest actors than either the Doctor or Flip. Mind you, both get some really good moments. Flip's 'death', in particular, really drives the brute nastiness of both the story and the character of Krarn home. And so early into Flip's travels, it's a shocker. Nicholas Briggs also keeps the story moving along nicely, not letting it become too introspective or talky, but keeping things moving along. Jamie Roberston also helps with that, with a fast paced, well judged score and apposite sound effects. This story proves why Robertson is one of Big Finish's best composers at the moment, because he perfectly sets the scene, without swamping the listener with sound.
At the end of the day, The Fourth Wall is an enjoyable, well paced, deep, gritty story that is well suited to Colin's Doctor. While some of the ideas have appeared before (fiction becoming reality etc), they are handled so well hear that it's hard not to argue. It's not flawless (the plot does seem to stop in episode 4), but as an excersize in ripping up the rulebook of Who, The Fourth Wall is a perfect example. It has to be one of the most original main range releases in years.
Rating - 8/10
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