Lost Stories 1.4: The Hollows Of Time

[Si Hunt]

A very odd one this one - I'm half way through Episode 1. It's a strange decision to tell the entire tale as a flashback, I'm not sure what this achieves really. That aside it's a pleasant enough tale, and I could see this being a welcome contemporary Season 22 story, although at the moment I'm struggling to see how the Tractators are going to fit in with the story.

This morning I was due to finish episode 1 but I couldn't face it, so I listened to Darren Hayes instead. However, I will pick up the rest of the story soon.

That is all.

Si.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

As I've pretty much already said elsewhere The Hollows of Time is my least favourite of the Lost Stories released to date...

( he says and then remembers Prison in Space on The Second Doctor Boxset - *shudder* - although at least that story is satirical and has a villainess who's a basically the Chief Woman played by Diana Dors from The Worm that Turned with maybe just a touch of Vera Jundrey added for good meaure...)

[Si Hunt]

As I draw to the end of Disc 1 I'm compelled to like this strange, complicated story. It's perhaps the most "unfinished" of the Lost Stories, but I think its failings are more down to how Big Finish handled it, than Christopher Bidmeads scripts. They justify telling it in flashback because it was "very action orientated" and virtually slag off the ending to Episode 1 with the flying car in space.
"If this was an ordinary play, I'd have insisted that scene go," notes the Director. "In fact, as it stands, I didn't like it."
But isn't that what sound effects are for? It's almost like they didn't want to do any work.

Si.

[Si Hunt]

This felt very much to me like "Shada" - vastly ambitious, unfinished, very clever, maybe too clever, a bit of a mysterious lost classic. If they'd started filming the aborted Season 23 when it got canned, it would have been nice if they'd made 2/3rds of this story.

As it stood, Big Finish did a lazy, half-arsed job of completing it. The narrative device was just defeatist. Yes, it was a very visual script and this story was full of people pointing out what they could see. But isn't that what script editors are for? No matter how much they bleated about how visual it was, if they'd upped their game maybe they could have used sound effects and more subtle narrative devices like telephone calls etc. to tell the story.

This was far from unenjoyable, but ultimately Big Finish's version is a bit of a mess, and still feels incomplete.

Si.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Basically agree with all of that. Also, what the hell is the point of including a character who is blatantly meant to be The Master if you haven't got the rights to use them and don't bother to provide anything that even resembles a convincing alternative explanation of their identity!

I reckon if they hadn't been in a such a rush to get all the original season 23 stories out 2 years ago and had waited they could've had the rights to use the character concerned if had just come out now. I would've been much more prepared to forgive a recasting exercise like they did with The Nightmare Fair then the non-explanation we got in this.

[Anthony Williams]

Basically agree with all of that. Also, what the hell is the point of including a character who is blatantly meant to be The Master if you haven't got the rights to use them and don't bother to provide anything that even resembles a convincing alternative explanation of their identity!

I'm not so sure that that's a spoiler, given that the character in question wasn't even in it in the end!

I hear that this was by far the best of the first season of Lost Stories. I look forward to hearing it when I get round to those stories!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I wouldn't personally say it was the best. David Garfield is very good as Professor Stream despite my misgivings about this character's inclusion.
For all the reasons Si has already given, it is a rather uneven play which only serves the accentuate the frustration of the unresolved mystery element.
My personal favourite of the first series would probably have to be Leviathan, closely followed by The Song of Megaptera and Point of Entry (although that last is rather a dark story!).