This review, and indeed all those in this set, is dedicated to the legend that is Sir John Hurt. You can read my full tribute to him here: http://fandoctorwhoproductions.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/sir-john-hurt-painter-of-thousand-words.html.
Rest In Peace, John.
Starring John Hurt, Jacqueline Pearce, Louise Jameson, Alan David, Beth Chalmers & Jane Slavin, with Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks.
Written & Directed by Nicholas Briggs.
The Dalek Time Strategist has a new plan to ensure final victory in the Time War. As its forces gather for a huge assault on the enemy, ahead of the fleet something hovers above the planet of the Time Lords. And on Gallifrey itself, shadows move among the Cloisters.
The Time Lords face a threat alien to their entire universe. To save their world, the War Doctor and his allies must enter the Enigma Dimension...
So, here we are. The final story to feature John Hurt as the Doctor. This very last story really isn't at all what I was expecting: not only is it pretty much all set on Gallifrey for the first time in the series, but it's a much more intimate experience than I was expecting. While I think The Enigma Dimension isn't perfect, and sadly not a match on most of the previous War Doctor stories, I did think that, overall, it was a fairly good story that managed to cap off the War Doctor era with a decent story that has some really good ideas and some fantastic acting, especially from the regular leads.
Following on pretty directly from The Lady Of Obsidian, the Doctor and his allies are heading back to Gallifrey, when they come across some anomaly, hanging over Gallifrey. This anomaly, known as the Enigma, seems benign - until Leela spots the shadowy forms of Daleks on Gallifrey. I can't deny that the opening is very action-packed, with Gallifrey getting destroyed by the Daleks about 15 minutes in. Yes, that's right - Nick Briggs destroys Gallifrey 15 minutes into the final War Doctor episode. It's a brave move, and, while you're pretty sure Gallifrey will end up restored by the story's end, it's certainly a good way to ramp up the tension. However, this opening is very, very choppy, with some really odd moments that don't seem to cohere properly. The conceit of the Enigma's... well, it does have a complicated name, but I'm just going to call it a triangle, hanging over Gallifrey is a great one, but my issue is that's it's just planted there. There's no build up, no ominous note of tension, just 'oh, this whopping great triangle is hanging in the sky above Gallifrey'. I certainly think it's something that should have been threaded throughout the previous stories of this series: we had hints towards the Daleks constructing their dimension sphere (yes Big Finish, I did get your little reference to Army Of Ghosts), but I thought they were, for the most part, a little forced. What I think I would have preferred had been something to try and set up the Enigma. I only say this because I feel that the issue in the first third is that this is meant to be a tense scenario: end of the Time Lords kind of thing. Yet, that just doesn't come across, mostly because we jump into that scenario, head first. I don't really blame Nick Briggs for that: after all, he only has an hour to tell his story, and he wanted the highest of possible stakes. I think that those first 15 minutes or so would just have been stronger had the rest of the box set built up to the Enigma a little more. Once the Doctor, Leela and Ollistra have crossed into the Enigma's dimension, the story does settle down a little bit, and there are some lovely moments, as we see Nick Briggs move into more enigmatic territory. One criticism with Only The Monstrous (which, I'll be honest was a little unfair) was that it's didn't necessarily portray a conflict involving the whole of history that well. However, here you can't make that point at all, because this story really does manage to portray a war that doesn't just affect the whole of time, but the whole of reality too. The Enigma's dimension is really interestingly portrayed, with Briggs taking the opportunity to create a race of beings who is exist in a universe vastly different to ours. One slight problem with the Enigma is that they do come across a little bit like a massive deus-ex-machina. They have the ability to control all of time, and they can do instinctively, which is a great idea to explore in a story like this. However, it does highlight why that idea can prove problematic, because it ends up feeling like the Enigma are just a massive plot convenience, that allows the Daleks to do what they do to Gallifrey. It doesn't help that the Enigma merely speak through Leela, meaning that they never really have an identity of their own. The story has some fantastic conceits, and I love some parts of it, but others just feel really rushed and underdeveloped. The ending, to be honest, felt like a massive anti-climax, which was a shame considering how climactic the story was. It was just that the build-up was so interesting, I can't help feeling that the resolution to the story was just a little disappointing by comparison.
The character work in this story was, to put it politely, 'patchy'. Certain characters, like the War Doctor and Ollistra, were given lots of really strong moments to shine, but others, like Leela or the guesting Time Lords, were sadly lacking. I'm still not sure what was the point of putting Leela into this box set, besides the obvious fan appeal. I mean, sure, Leela's a cool character, and it's certainly a good idea to see what she was up to during the Time War, but neither Andrew Smith nor Nicholas Briggs have really given her anything interesting to do. She fares better here than in Lady Of Obsidian, but I still don't really feel like Leela was put into this set for anything more than nostalgia value. Louise Jameson is fantastic, throughout she really shows how much she gets and understands Leela's character, and her portrayal of the Enigma is fascinatingly complex, at turns sympathetic and sincere, and at others cold and calculating. It's just a pity that she couldn't have been given some stronger material across the set, and that the conflict that should have arisen from the older Leela/War Doctor dynamic was mined. The rest of the guest cast also had rather limited roles: Alan David and Jane Slavin are fantastic, but they only really play a part in the first 15 minutes of the story, so once Gallifrey is destroyed, they really serve no purpose in the story. Where the real meat of the characterisation is is with the Doctor, Ollistra and the Daleks. Ollistra has really grown across this set: we've seen much more of her character than we have previously, and Big Finish have really tried to push her into situations very out of her comfort zone. Here, it's a little different: she's mostly in her usual commanding role for most of the story, which is perfectly fine. However, it's at the end where Briggs twists the knife in, because throughout this story, Ollistra has shown plenty of traits very like the Doctor: she's inquisitive, intending to help the Enigma free themselves from the Daleks and generally is happy to aid the Doctor. In many ways, we see how being close to the Doctor has changed her. However, it's all a ruse, and she reveals her true Machiavellian colours: she intends to get the Enigma to wipe the Daleks from history. It's a fantastic scene, where the Doctor despairs at Ollistra for trying to force these people to aid them in the Time War. It's aided by a superb performance from Jacqueline Pearce, who is simply amazing here. She has been fantastic throughout this series, and here she brings all her bearing onto the part in quite possibly the best way. She steals practically every scene she's in, and she just aces the role throughout. I'm so glad we'll get to see more of her character, because she is possibly one of the most complex non-villainous Time Lords we've actually met. I also think this is a very strong outing for the Daleks, mostly because of Briggs' portrayal of the Dalek Time Strategist. Throughout these last two War Doctor sets, the Dalek Time Strategist has been a key figure, with Briggs giving one of his strongest performances as a Dalek with the character. Here, the Time Strategist is given an excellent final outing (we presume?), as it pulls the threads together. Briggs is excellent as the other Daleks, of course, but it's his Time Strategist that gets the most applause from me. To make a totally unique Dalek character takes real skill, and Briggs' manages it excellently, as he did with the Dalek Time Controller. But, of course, the real star of the show is John Hurt. Now, of course, John Hurt is as excellent as ever. But, in this final episode, he is undoubtedly the highlight, with a superb performance that really captures the spirit of this Doctor. Briggs' writing for the character is also splendid, with Briggs giving the War Doctor a good chunk of the action, and also nailing down what makes his Doctor different to the other Doctors. It's nice to see that, even at this point in his life, the War Doctor knows how the Time War is going to end. He knows that the only way to stop the bloodshed is to destroy both the Daleks and the Time Lords. I also love the way that Briggs has the Doctor pretty much defeat as soon as Gallifrey is annihilated. Most Doctors would be desperate to try and find a way to undo the damage, but the War Doctor is simply interested in how it was done, rather than reversing it. I love that: he just doesn't care about the war, and sounds grateful to be out of it. This is possibly one of the strongest characterisations of the War Doctor ever, which is both a good sign, and a shame. I would have so liked to have seen where the Doctor goes from here, as it certainly seems that the end of this story very much sets up a future plot line.
The production on this story is as exemplary as it is on any of the War Doctor stories. Nicholas Briggs directs, with a skilled and assured hand that means that everything is perfectly delivered and the story is an easy listen. In particular, the sequences inside the Enigma dimension are skilfully controlled: mystical, but never stepping over into confusion. Howard Carter's music and sound design is also fantastic, with some amazing work once inside the Enigma's universe. He just makes it sound so weird and mysterious, and also provides a skilful score that once again shows how bombast doesn't have to be overbearing. Finally, Tom Webster's cover art is amazing, beautifully showing the chaos of the Time War, while never being 'overfull' of elements. I have adored the work of the production team on these releases, as the quality has been to such a high standard across this series. It's outshined every other range in terms of technical excellence, something which is difficult to do anyway, considering the high standard Big Finish work to.
Overall, while I wouldn't call The Enigma Dimension a masterpiece, or even say it's flawless, I do think that it's a decent final story for the War Doctor. Sure, the first fifteen minutes are terribly forced, Leela is once again wasted, and the ending is so anti-climactic it drops over a cliff-face, but overall it isn't terrible. There are some really good, solid concepts are work here, the characterisation of the War Doctor reaches its peak, and there are lovely little moments that show how much the character of Ollistra has developed across the four sets. The Enigma Dimension is a perfunctory end to one of my favourite Big Finish ranges. I've loved this series from day 1, and while it hasn't produced any stone cold classics, the vast majority of it is skilled storytelling that helps fill in the gaps in the John Hurt Doctor's era. John Hurt has been phenomenal, and his rapport with Jacqueline Pearce has been excellently built upon and developed. This has been one of Big Finish's best projects, and will go down, not just in the history of the company, but all of Doctor Who, as one of the programmes most constinatly strong runs. Well done, Big Finish, and thank you, John Hurt. For this series, you really were the Doctor.
Rating - 7/10
Other Reviews of Big Finish Products:
The Innocent - COMING SOON
The Thousand Worlds - COMING SOON
The Heart Of The Battle - COMING SOON
Legion Of The Lost - COMING SOON
A Thing Of Guile - COMING SOON
The Neverwhen - COMING SOON
The Shadow Vortex - COMING SOON
The Eternity Cage - COMING SOON
Eye Of Harmony - COMING SOON
I found this to be the third best story of the entire range. Hi The War Doctor series should have been about two things - the character himself and the insanity of a war waged on a temporal front. The Innocent does the first better than any other story, and The Neverwhen does the second. The rest of the range has felt terribly conventional, with mostly decent but unimpressive Not Doctor stories. The third set was the most egregious example.
ReplyDeleteThis last tale was impressively ambitious on both fronts, though not as successful as either of the above mentioned stories. I thought it was great, and I am so glad we ended here rather than after Eye of Harmony.