Scavenger
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Big Finish Productions Scavenger |
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| Written by | William Gallagher |  |
| Format | Compact Disc | |
| Released | 2014 |
| Starring Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant |
| Synopsis: Thursday 28 May 2071: the day the Anglo-Indian Salvage 2 rocket launches. Its mission: to clean up space; to remove from Earth's orbit over a century's worth of man-made junk... From the viewing window of a nearby space station, the Doctor and Flip have a unique view of Salvage 2 as it sets about its essential task – and of the disaster that unfolds when Salvage 2 encounters something it's not been programmed to deal with. Something not of human manufacture... Back on Earth, the Doctor fights to save Flip from becoming part of a 500-year tragedy being played out in orbit, hundreds of miles above. And millions will die if he fails. |
Dr Who in India Part Two by Thomas Tiley 3/12/25
Taking his companion to the Nelson Mandela space station, the sixth Doctor and Flip arrive just in time to observe the joint Anglo-Indian space mission to clear up space junk and prevent Kessler syndrome (uncontrollable space debris rendering the space travel impossible; basically, the plot of the film Gravity), Salvage 2, go very very wrong. With mission control scrambling to deal with the problem, it looks like it's up to the Doctor to save the day and prevent a collision and uncover the saboteur.
It has an interesting and unique setting, and it's nice to see the Doctor visit somewhere that isn't England again. Colin Baker is as usual excellent throughout. His reactions and emotions are completely understandable, as he is driven to rescue his companion.
This was the first time I encountered Flip (Lisa Greenwood), and I found her quite enjoyable. While her character isn't the smartest (but when your travelling with the Doctor, who is?), she comes across strongly, her rapport with the supporting characters Anarkai (Tania Rodrigues) and Jyoti (Anji Mohindra from the Sarah Jane Adventures) is nice, and her character goes through quite the ordeal involving spaceship crashes, bobbing around in a space suit and being abducted and almost absorbed by an alien ship. Her final scene, a cliffhanger in the story is quite effective. Both she and Colin Baker perform it fantastically, and it leaves the listener wanting to find out what happens next.
Tariq Bhatti as Salim in Mission Control is an interesting part, desperate to save the mission, hiding a secret, chafing at being supervised by the Advisor Jessica Allaway, played by Kate McEwen.
Allaway acts as the story's human villain, as the alien threat (a literal-minded alien space scavenger) isn't a proper villain more a piece of malfunction tech. She's a spin/PR obsessed, back stabbing, undermining, sneaky, conniving, control freak, pantomime boo-hiss sort baddy that you love to hate, the sort that you only get on TV. She, while vile, is eminently listenable; you can;t wait to see what she'll say or do next. Utterly fantastic, I found her magnetic, but some listeners might just plain hate her. Me, I wouldn't mind a rematch with the Doctor.
The plot goes by quickly with new elements being added all the time. Several times, I thought a certain moment would be a cliffhanger reveal only for the plot zip on by. Complete with rescuing stranded astronauts, alien spaceships hovering up space junk, exposing saboteurs, sudden reveals of a certain charterers true age and motivation, reveal after reveal, missile launches, the reveal of a human mind trapped inside the scavenger, people running out of air, the space statin under threat, the alien ship being swallowed up by Salvage 2, it breaking loose, Earth under threat by a malfunctioning alien spaceship, it flying round the world, it nearly killing Flip... the list goes on. The whole thing practically rattles and to be honest at some points it feels too complicated and convoluted for its own good. The reasoning for the immortal man is never really adequately explained; he thinks it is because of love, while the Doctor reckons it's the scavenger, but why it would make someone live over four hundred years is never explained, nor is the reason such a ship was sent to Earth in the first place or who built it or why it needs to absorb a human into itself. However, it just about, in my opinion --- others might think differently --- hangs together by the skin of its teeth. It is a bit of the case of too many cooks/ingredients, and the dish comes out as a mess. In this case, it's just about presentable/edible, but like I said, others might disagree.
Like I said, the scenes at the end with Flip are very moving, as are the scenes between the reunited lovers, a nice sweet scene. The immortal man waiting to be reunited with his lover was at first a part of the story that made think, "gosh, there is a bit too much going on here", but it just about works and the payoff is worth it. The interviews at the end has Mohindra recount her experiences on the Sarah Jane Adventures, which was interesting to listen to and a funny joke about contract negotiations/pay from Colin Baker.
It is an interesting story, a bit messy and busy, which counts against it but with some nice moments and acting. It is above average, it could easily be an eight if it was streamlined a bit, so messy. I would rate it at a six out of ten, bumping it up a point because of some good acting.