The Elite
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Big Finish Productions The Elite |
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| Written by | Alan Barnes |  |
| Format | Compact Disc | |
| Released | 2011 |
| Starring Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding |
| Synopsis: The Doctor offers Tegan and Nyssa a trip to the paradise world of Florana, but instead the TARDIS takes them to a domed city on a planet scarred by warfare. A world where everyone is young, and fighting for the glory of the Elite... |
A Review By Donald McCarthy 24/7/13
Big Finish's range of Lost Stories is an intriguing idea but one that does come with a potential flaw: they're adapting stories made for television and not audio. Now, you might be saying that this isn't a problem and I'd mostly agree. Yet the audio format is unique and you can do more with it than you could on television in a number of ways, but I think it's a legitimate concern that this might make the story not as exciting or engaging as it could be.
The Elite suffers very little from this problem, thankfully. There were times when it became too talky in a way that the lesser 80s stories were, but it also had a spin on a number of Doctor Who tropes. I actually have trouble imagining this story making it through during Davison's era as it's more daring in content than what was done in 80s Who, at least up until McCoy's era.
To do a proper review of this I'm going to have to spoil the big twist that comes at the end of part two. However, even if you haven't seen it, I think it's worth going ahead anyhow...
Spoiler...
The big twist is that the people of the planet the Doctor lands on are worshipping a Dalek. Big Finish has done many Dalek stories, which isn't surprising, especially before the new show aired, as the McGann books couldn't get the rights for the Daleks as they were too expensive. However, I think the range is now suffering from a little bit of Dalek fatigue, which means the twist at the end of episode two is met with a shrug.
But here's the catch. This doesn't turn into a Dalek invasion story. Not at all. Instead, something much more interesting is done with the Dalek which I won't spoil as it's worth experiencing on your own.
Peter Davison does well in this story, which is no surprise as he's probably the best actor to have played the Doctor, although Eccleston does give him a run for his money. However, the audio format isn't the best for Davison's Doctor as his Doctor showed a lot simply through his physical motions (which is part of why he's such a great actor). He doesn't have the unique tone of voice that Sylvester McCoy does or the loudness of Colin Baker. Davison attempts to come over this hurdle by switching up his voice a little, being a little more strident in stressful situations and a little more somber in sad ones than he was on the show. This is natural, but it does mean Davison's Doctor probably comes off as slightly different than his TV version. It's up to you how much that might irk.
Tegan and Nyssa don't come off quite as well but Nyssa was always a stiff character in the show and Janet Fielding seems to make up for not being on television by turning her character's whininess up several notches.
The other voices are good, but the only character who particularly stand out is Father Thane. In the story's defense, Father Thane really stands out. He's a zealot of your nightmares and actor Ryan Sampson brings something great to the role. Some might find him a little over the top, but that's par for the course with most religious zealots.
The story's main thesis is about the dangers of belief and I do wonder how much was changed from the original script (I'm thinking a fair bit as the original writer, Barbara Clegg, is credited as "from a story by") as there are a number of instances that seem ripped from recent events, including a 9/11 type incident (but it's different enough that it doesn't seem gratuitous). I always enjoy when Who makes good commentary and this story did deliver on that front.
Overall, I recommend The Elite. It takes a while to get going, with parts one and two being a little bit too sedate, feeling like something we've seen many times before, but the last two parts are very interesting.
You Can't Eat Chocolate, Nyssa by Jacob Licklider 28/5/24
Doing Season 23 and Season 27 as Lost Stories adaptations as well as the return of Tom Baker and some missing sixties stories made Big Finish look at filling in some of the random gaps in the series with stories that were never made. This was the format mainly used for Season Three of the Lost Stories, which would do a couple of famous 1960s stories, three stories originally considered for Season 23 after it was announced to be fourteen, twenty-five minute episodes and beginning with a trilogy of Fifth Doctor stories up for consideration between the end of Season 19 and Season 20. The format was really just a bunch of random stories that were thrown together so they could get these stories recorded and released, but --- let's be honest --- that really isn't a problem as the two trilogies and the double feature of sixties is organized well. It keeps the season moving along from Doctor to Doctor and era to era.
The season opener is The Elite, a release that originates from a storyline idea from Barbara Clegg. Of all the Lost Stories thus far, The Elite had the least material to adapt available. There were scripts worked on, but they have been long since destroyed and only some references in Doctor Who Magazine and a story outline survive. What's weird is that as a way to adapt this into an audio, Big Finish brought in John Dorney to adapt it although he had only written a few other stories up until this point. Dorney actually had the freedom to adapt the story in whatever way he chose, as long as he stayed within the rather broad storyline Clegg originally set out for the story. The plot had to see the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan, immediately after Arc of Infinity and Omega, taking a vacation to Florana, a planet famous for its roses when the TARDIS is thrown off course and lands in a fascist state ruled by the elite under the Wizard of Oz-like High Priest. The Doctor of course wants to save everything in the best way he can, as he is against fascism in every sense of the word. The mystery of the story is what this planet is and who the High Priest actually is, but I will not be spoiling that, as it is a big part of what makes this release work so well, if you don't know too much about the plot going in. I will say that this release is what makes John Dorney really stand out as a writer, as he makes every scene in the release extremely memorable.
Peter Davison as the Doctor is really at a standout as, while the story is a very dark story, it puts the Doctor in a situation similar to The Caves of Androzani where the Doctor is the one trying to lighten the mood. It's a script that plays to Davison's strengths and really makes you feel bad for the Doctor who has had Tegan thrust back upon him, which is hilarious. He also reacts very coyly to the authority of the planet they land on and just sort of wanders around through the story. Sarah Sutton as Nyssa is really the only character who I have a problem with in this story, as she just gets hypnotized. Sutton has some great stuff early on in the story, which works as the Doctor steals some chocolate from her. It even has relevance later on in the plot and is honestly a funny scene. Janet Fielding, however, is the crowning glory of this story, as she gets to be the mouth on legs we know and love as well as just being a generally good character. She doesn't put up with anything the story has to throw at her, which is great.
To summarize, The Elite is a story that is nearly perfect in almost every way but is an extremely difficult story to talk about due to the fact of several twists contained involving the characters and the progression of the story. The acting is spot on, and the writing from John Dorney takes a story outline and turns it into something brilliant. 97/100