A Journey through the Audio Visuals

[brandynigma]

The Audio Visuals, the precursor to both BBV and Big Finish’s Doctor Who output, are generally wonderful. This is their story.

The Space Wail- Two 25 minute episodes

The Doctor meets his new companion, public school boy Greg Holmes. For their first adventure, they land on a spaceship carrying a condemned family to their place of execution- but it seems that the executioner has extended her job parameters!

This story is mostly known for being the teething ‘pilot’ for the AV series, and as such features Stephen Payne in his sole appearance as the Doctor. There is no easy way to say this, but this is a very good thing. Payne’s Doctor performs mostly on one level of being very off hand about every situation, although he seems to start acting a bit more towards the end (his delivery of “I’m not showing you around [the TARDIS] either!” when Nadia threatens him is genuinely great). He’s got potential, but I fear the series would not have been half as good had he continued in the role.

Far more successful is Richard Marson as Greg Holmes. He’s very believable as a public school boy, studying his A Levels, and injects quite a bit of energy into proceedings. His introductory scenes are very well played, but one does have to wonder if the Doctor persuading Greg to look into the TARDIS and travel with him were meant to sound quite so... old-man-in-a-dirty-mac-offering-sweets.

Another great performance comes from the ship’s computer, BABE (Marilyn Layton)- although her character twist is revealed rather too early to be really shocking. Her scenes with Payne really up his game, and the business with the screwdriver is rather amusing.

The remainder of the performances are rather workmanlike (except for Michael Wisher - yes that one - who pops up in a cameo at the beginning), but this suits the members of the spaceship crew. Who it doesn’t suit are the family who are to be executed, who we never believe for a moment could be any danger to a vegetable patch. Of course, the point is that they’re meant to be represented as persecuted, but due to line deliveries to rival Jenny Laird, we just don’t care. This is a bit of a problem, given that Nadia, one of the daughters, becomes a companion at the end. Her character is written as quite spiky, but is played by Sally Baggs as if she’s thinking about the fish supper she’s going to have on Friday night, but then remembering she doesn’t like fish, and just has a good sulk instead.

The script tells a simple story, as is quite understandable when you’re introducing three main characters. The concept of a interplanetary computer network developing a taste for consciousness is quickly established and well handled, making the lackluster performances more disappointing. The sound design too is uniformly excellent, and as the tension builds, the story delivers a great denouement. Already in this pilot we have the first example of a running theme in the AV plays- that the Doctor’s quick thinking can have unexpected and dangerous consequences.

Of course, this is where everything falls down again- and look away now if you don’t want the ending spoiled. In destroying BABE, the Doctor trigger’s the whole BABE network to destroy itself, which literally destroys Nadia’s homeworld. And our heroes’ reaction to this? Let’s all go have a swim. Seriously. Even the most profound emotion the Doctor conjures up is akin to realising you’ve forgotten a friend’s birthday.

Verdict: 2/5
Not terrible, but the series needs a lot of work to improve!

(Thankfully, it gets it in the next story, The Time Ravagers)

[Rob McCow]

Hmm - I've not heard these, but they sound fairly intriguing. I take it they go for the 'Copyright be DAMNED we're doing DOCTOR WHO!' angle?

[SiHart]

We've got copies of them in the house somewhere I think...

[Anthony Williams]

I must admit that I've always been curious, but never been able to get hold of them...

[brandynigma]

Hmm - I've not heard these, but they sound fairly intriguing. I take it they go for the 'Copyright be DAMNED we're doing DOCTOR WHO!' angle?

Very much so- although they don't use the Doctor Who theme. They have two themes (Season 1-3 and Season 4) which aren't really the same piece of music, but are similar enough to maintain cohesion.

Both themes are great adventurous pieces of music, and are really quite spooky as well...

I've re-added the rest of Season 1 to my iPhone to keep me company on my journey tomorrow!

[Lissa]

I've just listened to it and wasn't hugely impressed. The poor sound quality (explained by Briggs in the opening) doesn't help. I wasn't always entirely sure who was speaking which made it quite hard to follow, especially with traffic nearby.

It is clearly a proof of concept exercise with no ambition to be anything more than it is. The sounds design is very good for the time but sticks to very basic things like space ship noises and the odd voice distortion. None of the acting is very good but again they weren't actors for the most part.

If I heard this without knowing anything about it I would rank it as just another piece of modern audio fan dram that is happy just to exist and which doesn't try to do anything special. That it was made nearly 30 years ago using tape recorders and scissors rather than modern software and was the beginning of an audio legacy that continues to this day means I'm more forgiving of its rather hum drum nature.

[SiHart]

This may be of interest: http://www.miwkpublishing.com/store/...t&product_id=7

n 1984 a group of Doctor Who fans began a project which would continue for another decade and eventually lead to much greater things.

Audio Visuals: Audio Adventures in Time & Space were a non-profit, fan endeavour creating full-cast audio Doctor Who drama. 27 plays later the majority of the creative team would go on to run Big Finish, an officially licensed range of Doctor Who audio dramas.

For many fans Audio Visuals seem almost canon. Nicholas Briggs was our Doctor. We remember the Daleks’ destruction of Gallifrey before it even happened on TV. We supported our Doctor through drug addiction, companion-loss and the horror of Justyce.

This book is a guide to those days. We’ve spoken to many people involved in the plays, sourced photographs most of them probably wish didn’t exist and worse still; we even listened to Connection 13.

Celebrate Doctor Who fan creativity at its very best.

THE AUTHORS' PROFITS FROM THIS BOOK WILL BE DONATED TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL UK.

THIS BOOK IS DUE TO BE PUBLISHED IN SEPTEMBER 2012.

[brandynigma]

This may be of interest: http://www.miwkpublishing.com/store/...t&product_id=7

It seems to have gone telebyebye now...

The Time Ravagers- Two Episodes

When the Doctor stops to assist a Temperon - a creature to whom time travel is as natural as walking - the disparity in their relationship with time triggers a regeneration. The new Doctor, Greg and Nadia then follow the creature to Temperos in the far future. They are not alone, however- a human crew arrive, curious as to why their research base has disappeared, and old enemies of the Doctor stand poised to conquer time itself...

So it’s bye bye Stephen Payne, and hello Nicholas Briggs as the Doctor. The N-1th Doctor’s last words, by the way, are “Don’t you want to find out what’s going on?” Briggs is immediately brilliant in the role, inhabiting the part within about 30 seconds; as his companions deny that he can be the Doctor, he just tells them to “Shut up and brace yourselves!” Briggs chemistry with Marson is palpably good, and the series becomes something very special in this story: fan made Doctor Who being made to tell good stories, and not just Mary-Sue style wish fulfillment. Even Sally Baggs seems to raise her game here, paired with Briggs for most of the story, her sullen characterisation making an effective counterpoint to the Doctor’s bluster and enthusiasm.

Although the supporting human characters are mostly based on their plot function (the strict captain, the jovial engineer, the capable and sassy scientist), the guest actors give the performances the weight needed to overcome this. Of particular note is Deborah Marson as Scientist Okkerby, who’s attitude and delivery conjure up an image of Miranda Hart to this modern listener’s ear. Gary Russell is appropriately gruff as Captain Stride too, and Bill French make Harlan a sympathetic enough character. Harlan and Stride also serve the function of world building- as they bicker on the bridge about their jobs, we are painted a quick picture of the era they call home. It never feels like an info dump- a testament to actors and writers all.

Michael Wisher also appears again, which means that you were quite right a few paragraphs ago- the old enemies are the Daleks! This is an excellent outing for them, as they torture the Temperon to gain its secrets of time travel. The conceit is effective, as Daleks had been shown dabbling in time travel relatively recently in Resurrection. What makes it work so well is that the Temperon’s power is proved to the listener in subtle stages: the Doctor’s premature aging; the failure of various pieces of technology; the ‘destruction’ of the research base. The events are explained in dialogue later, but the first episode sets up the mysterious Temperon and the eerie world of Temperos very nicely indeed.

In terms of the direction, the AV series’ love of music continues here, and its intention is clear. The first episode opens with a suite of suitably spacey music, providing the audio equivalent of an establishing shot of the void of space, peppered with stars and nebulae. At the other end of the scale, several of the conversations between the human crew are punctuated with moments of silence, creating a natural break in the conversation and providing the visual ‘beat’ to enhance the mood of the scene. Both are simple but highly effective techniques for creating the visual sense of an audio play.

As the play approaches its end, we are not spared more to enjoy. Briggs’ Doctor flits between unfailing politeness and acidic scorn when dealing with the Daleks, and the truly alien nature of the Temperon provides an interesting twist to solving the problem of giving the Daleks time travel. Indeed, the eventual solution further underscores the theme of these plays that the Doctor is not infallible- but this new Doctor is certainly not at the mercy of the universe.

Verdict: 4/5
Although the new Doctor’s first words are “Never jump to conclusions”, I think we can safely say that this change in direction bodes extremely well for the series.

(Although, having said that, Connection 13 is coming up next)

[brandynigma]

Connection 13- Two episodes (21 and 16 minutes)

Returning to Earth in the not-so-distant future, the Doctor and his friends become involved in the launch of a series of space stations around the planet. The 13 satellites have been meticulously planned and will be a great boon to the planet below- but the problem with prefab is, do you really know what’s lurking in the walls?

Yes, this is it- the one that everyone seems to hate. Connection 13 starts off perfectly well, and clearly seeks to emulate the style of UNIT stories, complete with a paramilitary organisation in charge of the launch of the satellites. The concept of using these as tools of alien invasion is decent enough, but concept alone does not make a good story.

The problem here is that there is no point where Connection 13 does anything new with the alien invasion formula. The Rigellons want to colonise Earth because their planet was consumed by a white dwarf (as relayed in an expository speech from the Doctor) The Rigellons' plan to block out the sun to achieve their ends is somewhat novel, but would have been far more effective if the plan had temporarily succeeded and we’d seen some effect of this in the short term.

Unfortunately, the plot is so heavily signposted that the Doctor looks like an idiot for not having worked it all out sooner. There is even a moment in Episode 1 when the Doctor muses: “Ripping metal. References to walls. Death. It doesn't fit.” Just a guess here- perhaps something RIPPED out of the METAL WALLS, attacking the astronaut and causing DEATH? To top it all off, there’s even a scene where two characters sitting around expositing all they know to one another...

The guest performances are, at least, adequate, and it’s worth noting that this story was originally to have followed on from The Space Wail, with Briggs’ Doctor explicitly being the same incarnation as Payne’s. Merzer, the villian, and the Brig-lite Colonel Drayton are both memorably played characters, and Nick Briggs and Richard Marson continue to impress as the Doctor and Greg.

Sally Baggs’ Nadia also continues to whine her way through the story, as well as present a strangely inconstant character (a future, high tech humanoid who drinks milk just sits wrongly with me, as does her subsequent request for ‘something stronger’ than water- is she a teetotaler or not?). This decision could have been made to set up tension between she and Greg, but all it does is irritate the listener (this one at any rate). Sadly, this means that Nadia’s death, whilst surprising and remarkably abrupt, is somewhat ineffectual. Once again, it’s the reactions of the Doctor and Greg which sell this concept, with their terse exchange in the TARDIS closing the story without resorting to another Scooby Doo style gag ending.

Verdict: 2/5
A reasonable concept, decent performances and a good score can’t really disguise a sub par script and cliched execution. Slightly memorable for the death of Nadia, but a disappointing slump after The Time Ravagers overall.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

It seems to have gone telebyebye now...

The publication seems to have been re-announced so it looks like this is coming out next year:

Justyce Served - A Small Start with a Big Finish