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The Hunting Ground and Muse of Fire
Dec. 17th, 2018 06:45 pmI'm observing the Tumblr boycott today, so I thought I'd write about two December additions to the Big Finish/Doctor Who main range: "The Hunting Ground" and "Muse of Fire."
I really wanted to like "The Hunting Ground" because it has a lot to recommend it. First, it's written by a woman (*jazz hands* Yaaaaaaaaaah!). Big Finish is, in general, better at providing opportunities for women than all the pre-Chibnall seasons of the TV show, but writing is one place I think they could stand to do better. Bonus - this writer, A. K. Benedict, wrote "Shadow Planet," a Seventh Doctor audio I really enjoyed. For this one, Benedict starts with a story that seems like it could be straight from one of Henning Mankell's Wallander novels: a dead body with their head encased in ice is found in modern day Iceland. Police Detective Yrsa Kristjansdottir instantly connects this death to the murder of her father. Does she have a serial killer on her hands?
It's a interesting concept but straightaway Benedict is saddled with a problem: this is a Sixth Doctor story and he's one of the most ill-suited Doctors for a hyper-realistic, conspiracy-laden murder mystery. In fact, it's hard to imagine a worse Doctor for this kind of story. (Five maybe? But he's been used effectively in some dark stories - Fear of the Dark, for example.) There's the typical "Doctor as suspect" plot point that doesn't come across as very credible and, as a result, undermines Yrsa Kristjansdottir as a character. But the story holds together fairly well until about the middle when the wheels begin to come off. The whole thing can't seem to decide whether it wants to be a grim crime thriller or a science fiction comedy, and it really can't be both - the tones are too different to gel well. But the part that really annoyed me was the frequent use of a particularly lazy story element common to Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes adaptations: a character runs up against a problem or threat that turns out to be no challenge because the character has previously done something "off screen" that the audience wasn't aware of and that allows them to solve the problem. It's meant to make characters seem ultra smart and to move the plot along, but it just kills any kind of suspense or danger. All that said, I didn't hate this audio; the cast was excellent and there were some good parts of the story. I just came away feeling a bit disappointed about what it could have been.
By contrast, "Muse of Fire" by Paul Magrs is a delight. It features the same team A. K. Benedict wrote for in "Shadow Planet," the Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Hex, and plunks them down in 1920s Paris. The Doctor assures Ace that this is just a vacation, a chance for him to meet some of his artistic heroes and recharge his creative batteries. She doesn't believe him and, of course, she's right not to because someone is monkeying around with history. Famous artists are fleeing Paris and the Doctor wants to know who is behind it all.
I can't say much about the plot without risking spoilers, but the story deals with themes of creativity, talent (or the lack there of), and the dangers of listening to criticism. Both Katy Manning's Iris Wildthyme and David Benson's Panda are sensational. As for Team TARDIS, the chemistry with this group was always good but it's particularly sparkling in this story; Ace and Hex are in their peak sibling phase and the Seventh Doctor is less manipulative and more whimsical, which is how I prefer him. It helps that the whole thing is much lighter than most of their audios, with a healthy dose of surrealistic silliness thrown in. The plot isn't complicated and you'll probably figure out the villain and their plan long before the characters do, but it's so much fun you won't care.
I really wanted to like "The Hunting Ground" because it has a lot to recommend it. First, it's written by a woman (*jazz hands* Yaaaaaaaaaah!). Big Finish is, in general, better at providing opportunities for women than all the pre-Chibnall seasons of the TV show, but writing is one place I think they could stand to do better. Bonus - this writer, A. K. Benedict, wrote "Shadow Planet," a Seventh Doctor audio I really enjoyed. For this one, Benedict starts with a story that seems like it could be straight from one of Henning Mankell's Wallander novels: a dead body with their head encased in ice is found in modern day Iceland. Police Detective Yrsa Kristjansdottir instantly connects this death to the murder of her father. Does she have a serial killer on her hands?
It's a interesting concept but straightaway Benedict is saddled with a problem: this is a Sixth Doctor story and he's one of the most ill-suited Doctors for a hyper-realistic, conspiracy-laden murder mystery. In fact, it's hard to imagine a worse Doctor for this kind of story. (Five maybe? But he's been used effectively in some dark stories - Fear of the Dark, for example.) There's the typical "Doctor as suspect" plot point that doesn't come across as very credible and, as a result, undermines Yrsa Kristjansdottir as a character. But the story holds together fairly well until about the middle when the wheels begin to come off. The whole thing can't seem to decide whether it wants to be a grim crime thriller or a science fiction comedy, and it really can't be both - the tones are too different to gel well. But the part that really annoyed me was the frequent use of a particularly lazy story element common to Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes adaptations: a character runs up against a problem or threat that turns out to be no challenge because the character has previously done something "off screen" that the audience wasn't aware of and that allows them to solve the problem. It's meant to make characters seem ultra smart and to move the plot along, but it just kills any kind of suspense or danger. All that said, I didn't hate this audio; the cast was excellent and there were some good parts of the story. I just came away feeling a bit disappointed about what it could have been.
By contrast, "Muse of Fire" by Paul Magrs is a delight. It features the same team A. K. Benedict wrote for in "Shadow Planet," the Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Hex, and plunks them down in 1920s Paris. The Doctor assures Ace that this is just a vacation, a chance for him to meet some of his artistic heroes and recharge his creative batteries. She doesn't believe him and, of course, she's right not to because someone is monkeying around with history. Famous artists are fleeing Paris and the Doctor wants to know who is behind it all.
I can't say much about the plot without risking spoilers, but the story deals with themes of creativity, talent (or the lack there of), and the dangers of listening to criticism. Both Katy Manning's Iris Wildthyme and David Benson's Panda are sensational. As for Team TARDIS, the chemistry with this group was always good but it's particularly sparkling in this story; Ace and Hex are in their peak sibling phase and the Seventh Doctor is less manipulative and more whimsical, which is how I prefer him. It helps that the whole thing is much lighter than most of their audios, with a healthy dose of surrealistic silliness thrown in. The plot isn't complicated and you'll probably figure out the villain and their plan long before the characters do, but it's so much fun you won't care.
