6 episodes: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, O Son My Son, A Man Must Die, The World Lies Dead at Your Feet, In the Arena, Farewell Great Macedon! Approx. 220 minutes. Written by: Moris Farhi. Adapted for audio by Nigel Robinson. Directed by: Lisa Bowerman. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, John Dorney.
THE PLOT
The TARDIS suffers a malfunction, leaving the time travelers stranded in ancient Babylon in the year 323 BC. Their arrival coincides with that of Alexander the Great (John Dorney), making his second visit to Babylon on his return trip from India. It is a visit that history teacher Barbara knows all too well will end in disaster.
The TARDIS crew quickly befriend Alexander, Ian impressing him with his courage, the Doctor with his knowledge, Barbara with her wisdom, and Susan with her sincerity. Alexander to agree to let them move freely between the camp and Babylon, and the ample petroleum surrounding the camp provides the Doctor with all he needs to repair and refuel the timeship.
Elsewhere in the camp, conspiracy is brewing. Antipater, a ruthless politician with dreams of gold, has hatched a scheme. He will arrange to put a puppet king on the throne by assassinating not only Alexander, but his trusted successors as well. Each death will be made to look like the result of either an accident or natural causes, with a prophecy by seer and co-conspirator Iollus blaming it all on the will of the gods.
With four deaths to arrange, Antipater and Iollus simply need four omens to tie them to. And the arrival of the strangers, four in number, seems like a gift from Olympus itself.
"Soon the king's camp will be in panic - and death and panic go hand-in-hand!"
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: William Russell does his usual, splendid job of bringing the irascible First Doctor to life. The Doctor is delightfully characterized here. The scene in which he is called upon to walk across hot coals is marvelous, and I can picture the gleam in Hartnell's eyes as the Doctor trots back and forth across the coals, utilizing a trick that is explained after the feat is done. The Doctor is at his craftiest, too, recognizing early on that the seemingly natural deaths of Alexander's friends are actually foul play - though he is wise enough to hold his tongue, recogizing the folly of making accusations without proof.
Ian: His decency and courage impress Alexander early on. His Episode Two argument with Cleitus over the rightness vs. wrongness of slavery shows him passionately arguing for equality among all men, an ideal to which Alexander gravitates. When the TARDIS crew is (predictably) implicated in the deaths of Alexander's friends, Ian's defense is plain. They are innocent, and "innocence is its own defense." His willingness to sacrifice his own life to insure his friends' welfare impresses the king, and seems to immediately remove any doubts he has as to the travelers' innocence.
Barbara: When she realizes that they have arrived in Babylon during Alexander's visit, she knows almost immediately that they are doomed to witness his fall. Her resignation is more effective than the Doctor's bluster or Ian's defiance. Even as the two men in the party try to battle destiny to save the king, Barbara knows that their efforts will come to naught. She has an innate diplomacy that makes her an ideal mediator between the short-tempered First Doctor and the fiery Alexander, and the genuine friendship she and Alexander form also sharpens the sting of the tragedy. Carole Ann Ford does a splendid job bringing Barbara to life, adopting a slower and more thoughtful tone that captures a surprising amount of Jaqueline Hill's screen presence. I would argue that Ford's Barbara, in this story, is actually better than her Susan.
Susan: Largely on the sidelines, though she does get one very good character moment. After the first death, when Ian is blaming himself for contributing to the argument that led to the tragedy, Susan goes to comfort him. She does this in a simple way that would have worked perfectly on television (and which still works well on audio, thanks to adapter Nigel Robinson): She sits beside him and is quietly there, not talking or pushing him to talk but simply lending the support of her presence.
THOUGHTS
Farewell, Great Macedon is arguably the best-received of Big Finish's Lost Stories range, and it's not hard to see why. This story was originally submitted to script editor David Whitaker for the show's first season, and with only minor adjustments would have been right at home alongside the likes of Marco Polo and The Aztecs. It is very much in the style of of those early "pure" historicals, as the time travelers witness events from history but are unable to do anything to stop history from following its course.
Writer Moris Farhi's extensive research on the death of Alexander shows, his script taking time to discuss the tension between Alexander's goal of a fully integrated world society and the Greek culture from which he sprang. It isn't exactly true to historical events; the deaths of Alexander's friends actually took place over a period of years, rather than all occurring in one fateful stop at Babylon. But compression of events is an accepted dramatic device, and Farhi's research continues to shine through as he recreates the deaths in ways that closely mirror historical accounts while still making for good drama. The fate of Calanus is particularly moving, the sage's choice foreshadowing Alexander's similar choice at the end.
The script has been skillfully adapted by Nigel Robinson into something halfway between an audio drama and an audio book. Adaptation and production combine to marry the best qualities of both styles. The narration allows the story to evoke the visuals in a way that would not be easily possible with dialogue alone. The narration is divided between William Russell and Carole Ann Ford based on the characters: Russell reads all narration and dialogue related to one set of characters, Ford all narration and dialogue for another set, with their bits swapping back and forth. This creates the sense of a conversation or argument, particularly within dramatic scenes. It may sound potentially distracting, but the back-and-forth has been artfully done, and the format is remarkably effective.
Russell and Ford both do splendid jobs, both as actors and narrators. Russell is particularly good. He switches so effortlessly between his Doctor and his Ian that in scenes between the two characters, I found myself forgetting that it was the same actor performing both voices! He does an excellent job distinguishing the voices of the guest characters, as well, adopting an almost animalistic growl for the violent Seleucus and a crafty sneer for Antipater. The production is also excellent, music and sound effects mirroring those of the early days of the series. The result is a story that feels absolutely authentic to the era for which it was written.
Had this serial ultimately been made, I suspect some changes would have occurred. Moris Farhi seems to have taken the name "Doctor" a little too literally, complete with a rather forced reference to the Hippocratic Oath! The final episode sees a sequence in which the Doctor and Ian assemble an iron lung in an attempt to keep Alexander alive. This is the story's weakest part, seeming implausible and just a bit over-the-top. Had the story been developed by the production office, I have little doubt that then-script editor David Whitaker would have adjusted these bits to better match the series he was making.
This remains a fine story, one that with only minor adjustments would have been an excellent addition to the television series. As a listener, I'm very glad Big Finish resurrected this story. At more than 3 1/2 hours, this vies with Zagreus for the title of longest Big Finish audio up to this point - and despite this fact, it remains entirely gripping throughout, the six episodes flying by effortlessly.
Overall Rating: 9/10
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