Starring Paul McGann, India Fisher & Michael Sheard
Written by Paul Magrs
Directed by Gary Russell
The Doctor and Charley decide to take a well-deserved break from the monotony of being chased, shot at and generally suffering anti-social behaviour at the hands of others.
And so they end up in Venice, well into Charley's future, as the great city prepares to sink beneath the water for the last time...
Which would be a momentous, if rather dispiriting event to witness in itself. However, the machinations of a love-sick aristocrat, a proud art historian and a rabid High Priest of a really quite dodgy cult combine to Venice's swansong a night to remember.
And then there's the rebellion by the web-footed amphibious underclass, the mystery of a disappearing corpse and the truth behind a curse going back further than curses usually do. The Doctor and Charley are forced to wonder just what they have got themselves involved with this time...
The next instalment of the eighth Doctor and Charley's adventures is, again, rather different to the previous two stories. It's essentially a fairy-tale, mixed with the major plot beats of a Shakespearian tragedy, and it forms to make one of the most lyrical releases that Big Finish have ever released. It's a beautiful mix of Shakespearian poetry, a tragic structure and the plot of a melodrama. On first listen, this wasn't a release that I wasn't that keen on, but it's a story that has really grown upon me with subsequent re-listens. It's gone from a story that was a little dull, but with some nice words, to a really interesting plot with some wonderfully written characters and a beautiful poetry to the whole thing. I really do think that it's a little bit of an underrated gem in the Big Finish's catalogue, and, while it's not one of my all-time favourites, I do really like it, if simply for the poetic images that it presents.
The main plot of the story revolves around the cursing of a corrupt old Duke who's undying fate is tied into the fate of Venice. The basic structure of the whole story is essentially that of a Shakespearian tragedy, and the tropes and clichés associated with that are all thrown into the mix. However, unlike most Doctor Who (which either starts as featuring a scientific mystery or a magical element that turns out to be science), The Stones Of Venice doesn't bother with trying to explain away the mystical elements of the story. Instead, it just takes most of these concepts as red, and instead just throws the Doctor and Charley into a story mostly concerned with magic and curses. Normally, this would be a criticism of the story, but, in this case, I think that it really does work, because it's part of the atmosphere. It's quite hard to carry it off, especially because I am one of the sceptics who could have scorned this release. However, as I said, I really think that this release just about works, because of the ways Magrs creates this world. The plot itself is rather thin, superciliously shallow stuff, but it just about holds water (pardon the pun) because it's enriched by it's atmosphere. The use of Shakespearian tropes and plot elements could wear itself a little thin easily, but I think it's just about carried off here. It's not at all novel, however, but that's mostly because these are plot elements that have been around for about 400 years. In Doctor Who terms, these are actually quite different ideas, so if you've never been exposed to the works of William Shakespeare, you might find something new to enjoy. But if you've ever been exposed to the rigours of the British education system, you'll probably at least have a passing familiarity with his works, so all these elements will at least resonate with you as having come from his works. If these elements were to sit on their own, this story wouldn't be half as interesting as it is. However, Paul Magrs adds an extra layer to this story: the poetic world that he has created, and uses it to tell the most diverse and interesting story with it. Some of the dialogue is some of the most lyrical in the show's entire history, with the vivid detail clear in every syllable. Now, normally, I think that overly-descriptive, lyrical dialogue is just an example of poor writing, with the writer just falling back on florid and descriptive language in order to get his story. However, I really liked it here, since I thought that it aided the atmosphere that Magrs was trying to create. The world of Venice in the future was vivid enough for that approach to work, and the way the description was written was well integrated into the way the character's spoke that I didn't mind the way it was. After all, the plot and the way the story was structured was enough to justify it's inclusion.
Just as the plot can be seen as formulaic, so that argument can be levelled at the characters. Again, there all stock Shakespearian types, but they work against the world that Magrs has created. Sure, none of them are really that deep, or even that developed, but they are completely correct for the world that we get created for us. I particularly loved the characters or Churchwell and Vincenzo, who just had some of the best dialogue in the piece. Churchwell pretty much acts as the Doctor's main companion for the first half of the story, and he's a great little character: someone who isn't really a fan of all the Doctor's adventuring and would rather just save all of his paintings instead. There is a worry that, with a character like that, he could just become a bit of a winger, just complaining about everything in front of him. However, Magrs doesn't allow this to be the case, and you feel his complaints just build the character up to be stronger, rather than just making him sound like he's constantly complaining. This is also helped by an excellent performance from Nick Scovell, who makes him sound at just the right level of moaning and unhappiness, without it becoming too grating. As I mentioned above, I also really liked Vincenzo too, because, while he is a mostly outrageous character, this really fits with what you'd expect High Priests to be like in this world. In a more serious story, this element would really grate, but this isn't a story that takes itself seriously, and so I feel that it's perfectly appropriate. And I also really like the performance from Mark Gatiss, who just takes him over the top completely. He actually makes him probably the funniest character in the whole play, mostly because he just goes completely overboard with him. But, again, it's a tone that fits in with the piece, so it's not at all a bad thing, and there are moments where Gatiss allows the dry wit to shine through. While I wasn't as interested in the love story between the Duke and Estella, I did think it was handled well enough to pass muster, and Michael Sheard was amazing in his final Who related role, with excellent support from Elaine Ives-Cameron as his long lost love. I did think there were some depths to the characterisation that I did really like, and I wished Magrs could have done more with. Finally, the surprisingly small guest cast is topped off with Barnaby Edwards as Pietro, who, while Edwards plays the character really, really well, is unfortunately a little too much of a standard formula Who character: that of the rebellious underclass. I also felt Pietro did blend a bit into the background of some scenes, to the point where, sometimes, you can forget he was actually there. Of course, this was the very first audio Paul McGann and India Fisher recorded together, and, while the chemistry isn't as strong as in later releases, they hit the ground running surprisingly well. McGann, in particular, sounds like he's never been away, and this story is probably the closest story so far to capturing the essence of the eighth Doctor as we saw on screen back in 1996.
The production on this story is first rate, with some superb direction, sound design and music. Gary Russell skilfully directs his cast, with some superb performances from them being another feather in his cap. His style certainly isn't too flashy, but it focuses on the performances and draws the best out of them it can. I also think that Russell Stone's score is amazing, with some beautiful cues that bring the story to life and keeps the pace up, while also providing us with some excellent dramatic cues for the tenser moments of the story. And finally, this is all topped off with some amazing sound design from Andy Hardwick, who brings the world of Venice to life. Sure, we never get to experience all that much of the city (probably my only major complaint with the story) beyond a palace, a few dusty halls and the underground base of the Cult, but Hardwick brings it to life with a certain style and flair that is befitting of this story.
Overall, I quite like The Stones Of Venice. Sure, it's not that deep or insightful. It's not really the sort of Doctor Who I actually like that much, and I don't think it's in any way a classic or even a really good story like Storm Warning. However, for what it is, I really don't think it's that bad, and there is plenty to like about this release if you just want an agreeable bit of fun for a couple of hours.
Rating - 7/10
Written by Paul Magrs Directed by Gary Russell
The Doctor and Charley decide to take a well-deserved break from the monotony of being chased, shot at and generally suffering anti-social behaviour at the hands of others.
And so they end up in Venice, well into Charley's future, as the great city prepares to sink beneath the water for the last time...
Which would be a momentous, if rather dispiriting event to witness in itself. However, the machinations of a love-sick aristocrat, a proud art historian and a rabid High Priest of a really quite dodgy cult combine to Venice's swansong a night to remember.
And then there's the rebellion by the web-footed amphibious underclass, the mystery of a disappearing corpse and the truth behind a curse going back further than curses usually do. The Doctor and Charley are forced to wonder just what they have got themselves involved with this time...
The next instalment of the eighth Doctor and Charley's adventures is, again, rather different to the previous two stories. It's essentially a fairy-tale, mixed with the major plot beats of a Shakespearian tragedy, and it forms to make one of the most lyrical releases that Big Finish have ever released. It's a beautiful mix of Shakespearian poetry, a tragic structure and the plot of a melodrama. On first listen, this wasn't a release that I wasn't that keen on, but it's a story that has really grown upon me with subsequent re-listens. It's gone from a story that was a little dull, but with some nice words, to a really interesting plot with some wonderfully written characters and a beautiful poetry to the whole thing. I really do think that it's a little bit of an underrated gem in the Big Finish's catalogue, and, while it's not one of my all-time favourites, I do really like it, if simply for the poetic images that it presents.
The main plot of the story revolves around the cursing of a corrupt old Duke who's undying fate is tied into the fate of Venice. The basic structure of the whole story is essentially that of a Shakespearian tragedy, and the tropes and clichés associated with that are all thrown into the mix. However, unlike most Doctor Who (which either starts as featuring a scientific mystery or a magical element that turns out to be science), The Stones Of Venice doesn't bother with trying to explain away the mystical elements of the story. Instead, it just takes most of these concepts as red, and instead just throws the Doctor and Charley into a story mostly concerned with magic and curses. Normally, this would be a criticism of the story, but, in this case, I think that it really does work, because it's part of the atmosphere. It's quite hard to carry it off, especially because I am one of the sceptics who could have scorned this release. However, as I said, I really think that this release just about works, because of the ways Magrs creates this world. The plot itself is rather thin, superciliously shallow stuff, but it just about holds water (pardon the pun) because it's enriched by it's atmosphere. The use of Shakespearian tropes and plot elements could wear itself a little thin easily, but I think it's just about carried off here. It's not at all novel, however, but that's mostly because these are plot elements that have been around for about 400 years. In Doctor Who terms, these are actually quite different ideas, so if you've never been exposed to the works of William Shakespeare, you might find something new to enjoy. But if you've ever been exposed to the rigours of the British education system, you'll probably at least have a passing familiarity with his works, so all these elements will at least resonate with you as having come from his works. If these elements were to sit on their own, this story wouldn't be half as interesting as it is. However, Paul Magrs adds an extra layer to this story: the poetic world that he has created, and uses it to tell the most diverse and interesting story with it. Some of the dialogue is some of the most lyrical in the show's entire history, with the vivid detail clear in every syllable. Now, normally, I think that overly-descriptive, lyrical dialogue is just an example of poor writing, with the writer just falling back on florid and descriptive language in order to get his story. However, I really liked it here, since I thought that it aided the atmosphere that Magrs was trying to create. The world of Venice in the future was vivid enough for that approach to work, and the way the description was written was well integrated into the way the character's spoke that I didn't mind the way it was. After all, the plot and the way the story was structured was enough to justify it's inclusion.
Just as the plot can be seen as formulaic, so that argument can be levelled at the characters. Again, there all stock Shakespearian types, but they work against the world that Magrs has created. Sure, none of them are really that deep, or even that developed, but they are completely correct for the world that we get created for us. I particularly loved the characters or Churchwell and Vincenzo, who just had some of the best dialogue in the piece. Churchwell pretty much acts as the Doctor's main companion for the first half of the story, and he's a great little character: someone who isn't really a fan of all the Doctor's adventuring and would rather just save all of his paintings instead. There is a worry that, with a character like that, he could just become a bit of a winger, just complaining about everything in front of him. However, Magrs doesn't allow this to be the case, and you feel his complaints just build the character up to be stronger, rather than just making him sound like he's constantly complaining. This is also helped by an excellent performance from Nick Scovell, who makes him sound at just the right level of moaning and unhappiness, without it becoming too grating. As I mentioned above, I also really liked Vincenzo too, because, while he is a mostly outrageous character, this really fits with what you'd expect High Priests to be like in this world. In a more serious story, this element would really grate, but this isn't a story that takes itself seriously, and so I feel that it's perfectly appropriate. And I also really like the performance from Mark Gatiss, who just takes him over the top completely. He actually makes him probably the funniest character in the whole play, mostly because he just goes completely overboard with him. But, again, it's a tone that fits in with the piece, so it's not at all a bad thing, and there are moments where Gatiss allows the dry wit to shine through. While I wasn't as interested in the love story between the Duke and Estella, I did think it was handled well enough to pass muster, and Michael Sheard was amazing in his final Who related role, with excellent support from Elaine Ives-Cameron as his long lost love. I did think there were some depths to the characterisation that I did really like, and I wished Magrs could have done more with. Finally, the surprisingly small guest cast is topped off with Barnaby Edwards as Pietro, who, while Edwards plays the character really, really well, is unfortunately a little too much of a standard formula Who character: that of the rebellious underclass. I also felt Pietro did blend a bit into the background of some scenes, to the point where, sometimes, you can forget he was actually there. Of course, this was the very first audio Paul McGann and India Fisher recorded together, and, while the chemistry isn't as strong as in later releases, they hit the ground running surprisingly well. McGann, in particular, sounds like he's never been away, and this story is probably the closest story so far to capturing the essence of the eighth Doctor as we saw on screen back in 1996.
The production on this story is first rate, with some superb direction, sound design and music. Gary Russell skilfully directs his cast, with some superb performances from them being another feather in his cap. His style certainly isn't too flashy, but it focuses on the performances and draws the best out of them it can. I also think that Russell Stone's score is amazing, with some beautiful cues that bring the story to life and keeps the pace up, while also providing us with some excellent dramatic cues for the tenser moments of the story. And finally, this is all topped off with some amazing sound design from Andy Hardwick, who brings the world of Venice to life. Sure, we never get to experience all that much of the city (probably my only major complaint with the story) beyond a palace, a few dusty halls and the underground base of the Cult, but Hardwick brings it to life with a certain style and flair that is befitting of this story.
Overall, I quite like The Stones Of Venice. Sure, it's not that deep or insightful. It's not really the sort of Doctor Who I actually like that much, and I don't think it's in any way a classic or even a really good story like Storm Warning. However, for what it is, I really don't think it's that bad, and there is plenty to like about this release if you just want an agreeable bit of fun for a couple of hours.
Rating - 7/10
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