The BF Time Warp 022: Bloodtide

[SiHart]

The Doctor and Evelyn meet Darwin and the Siluarians in this atmospheric Big Finish adventure.

The prehistoric Earth is dying. Thunderclouds roll across the skies, cloaking the land in darkness. The seas crash and boil as the rain turns to acid. The remnants of the Silurian race place themselves in suspended animation, deep below the surface.

One day they will awaken and reclaim their world…

The TARDIS has landed on the Galapagos Islands, a desolate outcrop of rocks shrouded in mist and fear. In the settlement of Baquerizo Moreno, there are rumours that prisoners have been mysteriously disappearing from the gaolhouse. A fisherman has been driven insane by something he saw in the caves. And the Doctor and Evelyn are not the only new arrivals; there is also a young natural philosopher by the name of Charles Darwin…

What do you think of this one then?

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

I like "Bloodtide". It's a bit of a cross between "The Silurians" and "Terror of the Zygons", a bit of a Greatest Hits, but it's a lovely atmospheric story, and summons up the mood of "The Secret of Monkey Island" with its lapping waves and tortoises.

I always remember this one with fondness, even if it is a bit derivitive. And the central players, the Sixth Doctor, Evelyn and Darwin, are all excellent.

Si.

[stuartdg]

I'm indifferent towards this one,Sixie,Evelyn,Darwin,the Silurians.....it was all done well but not any differently,I suspect I was expecting more from what turned out to be a largely traditional tale

[SiHart]

Average. It takes old concepts and doesn't do anything exciting with them. In someways Darwin v The Silurians was a good conecpt, but I never really felt this one came alive despite some great performances. I was pleased to hear my old frined Dan as the chief Silurian though, After years of hearing his impression of the race donw the pub, it was good to have it done for real so to speak.

The whole Silurians created the human race was a bit of nonsense too. Don't think that entirely necessary.

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

I have absolutely nooooo memory of this one whatsoever. Does the Myrka turn up?

[SiHart]

Oh yes in the part 2 cliffhanger, attacking a big sailing ship. It was a cliffhanger it was all too easy to imagine!

Si xx

[Simon R]

I liked this one. So much so that after re-reading "Blood Heat" last year I went as far as to upload it to my mp3 player to relisten to.

I haven't got round to it yet but the thought's there.

As by numbers Earth Reptile stories go it's a lot better than "Cold Blood/The Hungry Hole".

And that's some thing else the tortoise taught us.

[Si Hunt]

We should re-listen to this one!

Si.

[Jon Masters]

4/5 - like this one, and one I relisten to fairly frequently. Colin and Maggie are almost perfect in this, and there's a great cast of supporting characters that are played well. The whole thing has a flavour of Zygons about it, with Tulok making a great rubber villain like Broton, and while it might be Silurians-by-numbers, it still works very well as a story (the Myrka is suitably redeemed). The evolution stuff is also nicely built into the story, especially with the idea that Man hasn't arrived by natural selection after all.

The only bit that grates my teeth is the overblown accents of the locals (OK, make them sound different, but not 'Allo 'Allo) - so much so I'm happy when they get killed off. And how does Evelyn know how to get to the Silurian submarine ?

[Anthony Williams]

We are all familiar with the Silurians. Whether it's the classic variety as seen in the Pertwee era, the slightly modified version of the Davison era, or the Jem Hadar-esque ones as seen in the Smith era. Of course, not so many people are familiar with the Sixth Doctor's encounter with our favourite Earth Reptiles...

The first thing to note is the standard observation on just how wonderful the Sixth Doctor is. If only we'd had this interpretation of his character in the 1980s! He might've actually got on with Peri. There may not have been the 18 month hiatus. Heck, he may have carried on in the role for longer, and we'd have never got Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. And even though I consider Sylv to be my favourite Doctor, that prospect doesn't bother me, if Colin had just been this good on TV. Big Finish really successfully rehabilitate his character, and he just gets better and better with each passing play. In this play, we really see two sides of him - he has the cuddlyness of his Doctor in other Big Finish plays, but there's also the sarcasm and viciousness as seen in Season 22, but only when he needs to show those characteristics. The most notable instance of this is when he mock's the Silurians' rather purile defence of "we were here first!"

So, here we have a discourse on scientific method and evolution, much in the style of Ghost Light. The difference is that this is much less subtle than Ghost Light (not that one could call that particular story subtle, either!), directly involving Charles Darwin and the development of the Theory of Evolution. In fact, we even get to hear Darwin's personal evolution, as he develops from a man who has been brought up to believe in Creationism into someone who finally accepts that he believes in Evolution instead. Miles Richardson does the role justice, and it's a well-scripted part, well acted.

As for the Silurians, I honestly believe that they're at their best here. A lot of the time, I don't really feel that they'd been done justice on TV since their first outing. Not in Warriors of the Deep, and certainly not in The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood. This really seems to have what they're missing - a mad scientist who betrayed his own people. The engineering of the human race (who later evolved into being something more than their creator intended), and a mad plan to kill off all humans and reclaim the Earth for the Earth Reptiles. Heck, even the Myrka is done justice here. Good on Johnny Morris for writing such a cracker!

Two other actors really deserve a mention here. Firstly, our old friend Dan Hogarth as the Silurian leader. I'd never heard his famed Silurian impression, but he really seems to have them dead-on here. Secondly, Maggie Stables. There's not much more that I can say about her, other than that she's just wonderful in virtually everything she's in. Evelyn is definitely one of the best contributions to the Doctor Who universe from Big Finish.

Yet, there are a few things that I feel brings this down. As Jon mentioned, the ridiculous accents of some of the locals (bad accents in Big Finish really seem to bother me, apparently!), and as Si mentioned, some ideas feel a little poached from Terror of the Zygons. But that doesn't make it bad - just unoriginal. Between these things, it loses one point, scoring a rather good 4/5.