Starring Alex Kingston & Samuel West.Written by James Goss & Directed by Ken Bentley.
River Song is on the trail of the mysterious, planet-killing SporeShips.
Nobody knows where they come from. Nobody knows why they are here. All they do know is that wherever the SporeShips appear, whole civilisations are reduced to mulch.
But River has help. Her companion is a handsome time-travelling stranger, someone with specialist knowledge of the oddities and dangers the universe has to offer. For Mr Song has a connection to River’s future, and he would never want his wife to face those perils alone…
After two fairly mediocre instalments that, while established River away from the Doctor, weren't anything much to write home about, it was vital that the second half of this set raised it's game. And, if The Rulers Of The Universe is half as good as this, I'll be very pleased. James Goss has well and truly risen to the challenge with an excellent script that has a very different feel to it than any of the New Who releases so far. Added to that two excellent performances from Samuel West and the majestic Alex Kingston, the strongest direction of the set and some fantastic post-production, you get a story that has all the perfect elements in the right place.
James Goss has done something very clever with this story: he parodies the Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who (specifically, his work in the eleventh Doctor's era) without it feeling like a spoof or like he disapproves of the elements at play. It instead feels like he's using these elements in a completely different context, and, while Goss does occasionally pull at the flaws in this approach to Who, he frames that with the same kind of trippy dreamscape that Moffat himself used in Heaven Sent (in that regard, this all feels like a love letter to that era). The continual flirting between the Doctor and River, characters knowing more than they can let on because of 'timey-wimey' reasons, the narrative involving a massive threat to the universe, the story picking up a long way after the cliffhanger to the last episode, occasionally 'poetic' dialogue, this story has it all. And sure, these are elements I've complained at in Moffat scripts. Yet, here it all feels perfectly right. Somehow, Goss has managed to make elements that most Doctor Who fans roll their eyes at feel new and fresh and engaging. The whole story is shrouded in mist and mystery: the narrative is very disjointed, but with good reason. We, the listener, are taken through the story from River's perspective, and, because right out of the gate we know River is dying (not really a spoiler, as it happens fairly early on), we follow her delusional 'episodes', and must try to piece them together into a narrative. We know some are dreams and some must be real, but, as the episode goes on, Goss even makes us question what we already established, to great effect. At times, it can be quite hard to follow what's going on, but Goss does make up for this with some amazing ideas. The SporeShips are a particularly gruesome image, and they're used splendidly at one particularly memorable bit when, despite River and the 'Doctor's' best efforts, the ship destroys a whole civilisation. It's a suitably horrific idea that is given sufficient time across the narrative to develop, and River's frustration at not being able to solve the mystery is palpable. It was nice that, for the most part, Goss keeps the SporeShips out of the story, as, not only does this allow for stronger character interaction between River and the 'Doctor', it also gives them a layer of mystery that, otherwise, we might not have brought. To be honest, however, the plot isn't really about that, and the SporeShips come and go in the narrative. That's the whole point: as River is dying, the lines between fiction and fact blur more and more. The end of the story also has a sudden U-turn (to say any more would really give it away) that shifts the story up a gear, and explains how River is dying, and how she gets out of it. Fans of Heaven Sent (which I think should really be every Doctor Who fan) will love the ending to this one, which takes a different stance on the ending of that episode. Everything up until that point feels off-kilter in the most perfect of ways, and it's only at the end of the story that all the pieces fall into place, and everything is explained. It's an ingeniously complex plot that, like a Chinese puzzle box, opens up slowly with each different twist and turn.
But, of course, the main talking point of this episode should, quite rightly, be the characters. Goss has River down to a tee here. While the first two stories in the set could be argued presented River as a cold, aloof figure, here we see much more of the old River from the TV series. However, Goss hasn't gone down the root of the series 6 and 7 characterisation that I mentioned in my Boundless Sea review which damaged River's character. Rather, he's gone right back to how she was presented in, arguably her best appearance, Silence In The Library, and added a few sprinkles of how she was presented in Name Of The Doctor. This is perfect: absolutely how River was meant to be, before the Silence arc got in the way. For the most part, River's dying throughout this story, and so she's fighting against the radiation that's killing her. It's really nice to see a more subdued River: after all, we're so used to River striding into a room and taking control almost immediately. Here, however, she doesn't have the strength to do that, and so she ends up more reserved as a result. It's the most fascinating characterisation of River to date, and it's a task that Alex Kingston rises to magnificently. She really knows when to play up, and when to keep it minimal, something which is ably demonstrated the moment you pop the CD in the player. She's fantastic in this, which is surprising considering that, at first, it was clear that Kingston wasn't as sure in the audio medium as others have been. However, she's fantastic here: really in command. While the character of River had sold herself a series, I still wasn't 100% sold on Alex Kingston fronting it. That was until I listened to this story, and then I was completely sold on her performance and range. She's fantastic, especially when partnered with Samuel West. Ah, Samuel West, where do we begin? There are certain actors who I like to say are 'listed'. Essentially, this means that, when a Doctor stands down, and people start speculating as to who the next Doctor could be, they are the ones that I like to bring out. David Harwood, Alexander Vlahos (yes, he also appears in this set!), Tom Hollander, David Warner etc., etc.. And, one of those names is Samuel West. I've always felt like he would make an excellent Doctor, and here, he gets the chance to prove it. Essentially, for most of the story, Samuel West is playing a future Doctor. And he's amazing. He's a proper English gentleman, but with the quirky, offbeat nature of Matt Smith's Doctor. He sparks off Alex Kingston fantastically, and he slips into the role with ease. To be honest, I'm surprised they did this kind of story so early with River at Big Finish, as it's kind of really obvious. I would have thought they would have held it back for later, but it perfectly fits, and they cast the role of the future Doctor correctly. Of course, the fronts that River and the 'Doctor' have been putting up are dropped by the end, much like the twisting narrative itself, and we see the scenario for what it is, with the scales dropped. I loved the ending, with the revelation of who the future 'Doctor' really is nicely underplayed. It's not a big, dramatic moment (the one part where this story deviates from using Moffat-era clichés as they stand), but rather a small, intimate one that manages to completely sell the revelation. It wasn't actually a twist I was expecting, and actually feeds into a part of the real Doctor's character in a way that I wasn't at all expecting. It makes a listener look at the rest of the story in a different way too, which is always the best thing to do.
The production on this story is superlative, probably the strongest it's been on this box set. With only two actors, director Ken Bentley really has time to refine the performances of Kingston and West, and makes every beat count. He has a stupendous level of control over the script, and manages everything with a firm grip. I have said that, sometimes, Ken Bentley doesn't seem as in control of performances as he should be, but here, that is absolutely not the case. He gets the best possible performance out of his actors, and skilfully shifts the tone of the script with ease. He's also backed up by some fantastic music and sound design from Howard Carter, who manages to create a variety of differing landscapes with ease. We know exactly where River is at any one time, and that's thanks to the skill employed by the sound design. And Carter's music is perfectly restrained when it needs to be, but it's afraid to be bombastic when necessary. That's the difference between Carter and Murray Gold: Carter knows when to be restrained, and when to let rip. The production is topped off with a fantastic cover from Tom Webster, almost certainly his best for this box set. I love Samuel West's Doctor costume, and the imposing image of a SporeShip is certainly an impressive set piece.
Overall, Signs is a massive improvement over The Boundless Sea and I Went To A Marvellous Party. While they were standard action adventure fare, this takes the series, and River, in some very different directions, which is very welcome. It's not perfect, and sadly the scattershot nature of the plotting does trip up the story on occasion, and the two-handed nature occasionally feels like it's restricting Goss, rather than making him more creative. While Signs isn't in the top flight of Big Finish releases, it's certainly a very good experimental piece. It's nice to see Big Finish so willing to try different things with the new series, and I'm looking forward to the finale very much.
Rating - 8/10
Other Reviews of Big Finish Products:
Vanguard - COMING SOON
Earthfall - COMING SOON
Bridgehead - COMING SOON
Armageddon - COMING SOON
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