EDA 1.4: Immortal Beloved

[Anthony Williams]

And so carrying on with our Eighth Doctor odyssey, we move on to... Immortal Beloved, by Jonathan Clements - his second piece of work for Doctor Who!

Let us know your thoughts on this play, with it's excellent cast - including the actor who would eventually play Winston Churchill, Ian McNeice, and the son of the Doctor - Jake McGann!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

This is the first of the ones I don't currently have and I really want to hear it again. That said I am working on a solution to hearing this season again very soon.

I do remember enjoying this one. As expected McNeice was particularly good!

[Junkyard]

I gave it a re-listen recently and found it better than I remembered. Ian McNeice and Elspet Gray raise the tone of the whole performance. The lost colony setting reminds me a little of Frontios or State of Decay, but only in a general sense. I knew Jake McGann was in it but he's easy to miss. Is he in any other BF audios?

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I gave it a re-listen recently and found it better than I remembered. Ian McNeice and Elspet Gray raise the tone of the whole performance. The lost colony setting reminds me a little of Frontios or State of Decay, but only in a general sense. I knew Jake McGann was in it but he's easy to miss. Is he in any other BF audios?

Jake's been in a few. Most notably playing a recurring character who first appears in the special release An Earthly Child

[Anthony Williams]

This is a bit of a strange one, really. A lot of it feels so derivative.

It really starts out as Romeo and Juliet. We quickly find that the setting is basically Ancient Greece... with helicopters. And cloning. Bizarre. The plot itself is strikingly simple and predictable. Rather disappointing, really. Then, when the play runs out of plot, it turns into a discourse on ethics. Now, a Doctor Who story with a strong philosophical sub-plot isn't a problem - but when it just turns out to be the entirity of the main plot, it becomes somewhat tiresome.

However, the lack of plot is quickly made up for by some of the wonderful performances. Ian McNeice is just superb as Zeus, and manages to be wonderfully commanding. Comparing this with his turn as Churchill in Moffat-era Who, and with his character in Doc Martin, he really shows his versatility as an actor.

Likewise, it's nice to see Elspet Gray back in the world of Who. Better known to many of us as Chancellor Thalia in Arc of Infinity, here she plays Hera, with just as much gusto as McNeice's portrayal of Zeus.

Finally, I come to Jake "son of Paul" McGann. This was apparently his first acting gig, having been pretty much cast on the spot, while visiting the Big Finish studios to see his Dad in action. I've seen some people be rather critical about his performance. To be honest, I thought he was rather good - especially since it was his first acting job.

And need I say anything about McGann and Smith? They were both as wonderful as they always are! As the season progresses, they turn into quite the double act. I love this TARDIS team!

This was an odd play, really. A fairly weak plot, held up by the strength of the acting performances. At best, this is a 5/10 for me.