4 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 137 minutes. Adapted by: John Dorney. Written by: Bob Baker, Dave Martin. Directed by: David O'Mahony. Produced by: David O'Mahony.
THE PLOT:
On a beach, two figures are playing chess. One is the Lord High President of Gallifrey; the other is the personification of Death.
The President has been granted three kings: the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Doctors. Now Death is stalking the three Doctors and their companions across time and space, snatching them out of reality and bringing them to his realm.
In an ever-shifting environment, the Doctors vie against figures from mythology, from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to the embodiments of the Seven Deadly Sins. With their usual mix of cleverness and luck, they fend off the most obvious traps.
It's clear that "Death," whether he's who he claims to be or not, has the power to kill them at any time. They realize that this must be some kind of test or game.
But it's hard to win when you don't even know the rules...
CHARACTERS:
The 3rd Doctor: He's barely in the first episode, but he's given the largest role in the remaining episodes. An interesting character beat is his reaction to seeing Jamie again. He restrains his emotions, but he's overjoyed to see his old friend. When the 2nd Doctor tells him to just look up Jamie in his own time, he is carefully restrained in his reply. Still, his sadness is clear, since we know what the 2nd Doctor doesn't: that visiting Jamie is simply not possible. Tim Treloar does a fine Pertwee and gives a good performance in general. Aside from a few "off" line readings, I had no trouble picturing the Third Doctor at any point.
The 2nd Doctor: Michael Troughton's voice already quite resembles his father's, so it's little surprise that he's the most dead-on of the three "replacements." The 2nd Doctor's characterization is more in line with his actual television persona and is noticeably less exaggerated than The Three Doctors' more heavily comedic version. He mostly gets the least to do of the three, but he gets one outstanding moment in the final episode.
The 1st Doctor: Though I think the 2nd and 3rd Doctor recasts work well, Stephen Noonan's 1st Doctor doesn't quite work for me. It's not a bad performance, with him conveying the character's intelligence and impatience. What's missing is the childlike glee that Hartnell brought to the role, the sense of a man who sometimes seemed downright drunk on his own cleverness. It's clear that Noonan is putting in the effort, and I think some fans' online kicking of him is disproportionate to his actual failings. Still, while listening to Deathworld made me more likely to dip into the Michael Troughton and Tim Treloar ranges in the future, it made me even less likely to do the same for Stephen Noonan's.
Jo Grant: The one regular who's actually less well-served by this version than by The Three Doctors, with her mostly just tagging along after the 3rd Doctor for the bulk of it. Her best moments come near the end, when she resolves to find a way to do something to help after the Doctors leave their companions behind. When her Doctor requires an act of faith from the companions at the end, she is the first to agree, because her trust in him is absolute.
Jamie McCrimmon: Frazer Hines was attached to Emmerdale when The Three Doctors was made, and scheduling even a cameo ultimately proved impossible (most of his scripted lines ended up going to Benton). Freed of that restriction, Deathworld is able to give him the significant role he was meant to have. He's every bit as protective of his Doctor as Jo is of hers, but he's more willing to throw the Doctor's failures back at him. When he's separated from the 2nd Doctor, he still follows the instructions of the 3rd - but there's also a divide, with him not able to see this newer Doctor as "the real thing."
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: Easily the character who is most improved from the televised version. He still has moments that inspire mockery from the Doctors, such as his insistence on shooting at monsters when he knows they won't be affected. But he's allowed to get a bit back, snapping that at least he's trying to do something. The story opens with him seeing UNIT destroyed and his men along with it, and that affects him throughout. When he finds that his men are all right at the end (not a spoiler; did you think even an alternate version was going to kill Benton and Yates? Offscreen, at that?), he runs out to find them to reassure himself that all is well. Though there was a spark in Nicholas Courtney's original performance that's not quite there in Jon Culshaw's recreation, the character is still instantly recognizable, with Culshaw doing a fine job with both the voice and line deliveries.
Death: A much more interesting villain than The Three Doctors' shouty, ranting Omega. Death is soft-spoken and patient. There's smugness in his interactions with the President and then with the Doctors, with him seeming certain of victory. A conversation with the Doctors ends with them rushing to rescue their companions... and Death sits back and sips his wine, looking on like a spectator. The character, who is already well written, benefits from Joe Shire's excellent performance. He speaks in silken tones, unruffled even when his quarry evades his traps, and he holds the listener even during a couple of moments that might have come off as infodumps. Oh, and his speech about chess is an arresting start, opening the story on exactly the right note.
BACKGROUND:
Deathworld was adapted from writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin's original treatment for the story that became The Three Doctors. This was before anyone realized the extent of William Hartnell's health issues, so the 1st Doctor has a major role. This was also before it became clear that there was no way to work out scheduling for Frazer Hines' Jamie to appear.
If those were the only differences, this would be a mild curiosity at best. But as the plot description should make clear, Deathworld is a completely different story than the one that made it to air in 1972. A few elements are similar: The story involves the Doctors and their companions being taken to an impossible world outside normal reality, and the Time Lords are heavily involved. But The Three Doctors was simpler, more straightforward, and a whole lot cheaper.
Bob Baker and Dave Martin were known for their imagination, which script editors often had to reign in to match the actual budget. While I suspect most of the story comes from John Dorney (my understanding is that the Deathworld treatment was only a few pages long), the scope here feels very true to Baker and Martin. Settings include: a void; a disused hospital; a World War I trench; a spooky castle; and monster-filled subterranean tunnels. Oh, and a literal hellscape.
This makes Deathworld an ideal choice for audio, where realization is dependent on the director, the sound design, the music, and the listener's own imagination. Dorney has done a terrific job of turning Baker and Martin's treatment into a coherent script, and I found the results to be enormously enjoyable.
THOUGHTS:
Deathworld is structured around different mythologies. After an introductory episode in which the three Doctors are ensnared by Death, the remaining episodes each center around a new myth: Episode Two, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; Episode Three, the Seven Deadly Sins; Episode Four, creatures of legend.
This is a highly atmospheric release. Even by Big Finish's usual standard, the sound design is excellent, from the sounds of waves and birds at the beach hosting the chess game, to a slight echo in the tunnels, to a more pronounced echo in the void, to just a different sound quality inside the castle and hospital. The music is well utilized, and it all combines to keep the different scenes and settings feeling unified.
There are interesting themes surrounding the idea of death. The Doctors bicker amongst themselves, just as they did in the televised story, but Jo cuts through to the truth of why: Each Doctor is a reminder to the others that even for the "indestructible" Doctor, death is inevitable. For the 3rd Doctor to exist, his predecessors had to "die," and eventually the 3rd Doctor will meet his end, as well. It's an interesting angle on what's become the tradition of multi-Doctor bickering, one that enriches their interactions without stopping them from being entertaining.
There are faults. Deathworld is stronger on atmosphere and theme than it is on story. The first half features a lot of incidents that don't end up affecting much in the story. Part Two, in particular, does nothing in terms of the larger story. There are some terrific scenes - but had the entire episode been removed, I don't think you'd be able to tell the difference.
There are also some fannish indulgences that I don't love. If the point of the "Lost Stories" is to bring to life stories we might have seen, then surely it goes against that to wink at other Big Finish stories or stories from much later eras? Deathworld has continuity nods to The Two Doctors, which was made more than a decade after this treatment was first submitted. It also references a connected Big Finish story titled The Black Hole that was made decades after that! For me, at least, that breaks the illusion of this being something that might have been seen in 1972.
OVERALL:
Despite some flaws, I ended up enjoying Big Finish's Deathworld significantly more than I enjoyed The Three Doctors. It's a more interesting story, richer in ideas and themes than what made it to air, and with stronger overall characterizations.
That said, I think producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks were right to reject Deathworld and get Bob Baker and Dave Martin to simplify their ideas into The Three Doctors. Even putting aside the budgetary limitations, The Three Doctors is a better celebration of the series, with more interaction among the Doctors (well, the 2nd and 3rd at least), and a stronger plotline.
Deathworld is a very good audio story, though, benefiting from excellent production values and good performances. Even though I'm far from sold on Stephen Noonan's 1st Doctor, I would still recommend this story - and it's left me feeling more open to sampling Big Finish's "recast" 2nd and 3rd Doctor releases in the future.
Overall Rating: 8/10.
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