4 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 118 minutes. Written by: Donald Tosh. Directed by: Lisa Bowerman. Produced by: David Richardson.
THE PLOT:
Earth Station 454 is a space station dedicated to scientific research that is overseen by Professor Arnold Biggs (David Warner). But when the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe arrive, they find the station closed down. Only Biggs remains, carefully suspending his experiments so that they can be resumed later.
Commander Rugosa of the Rosemariners has requested Biggs's aid. The Rosemariners are a nonviolent species who deal with their criminals by subduing them with Rosedream, a serum derived from rosa toxicaera, a carnivorous flower from the planet Kembal. Rosedream puts its subjects into a trance that leaves them peaceful yet able to perform tasks as directed.
A small amount of Rosedream has gone missing, either through theft or carelessness. Given its properties, Rugosa fears a potential interstellar incident unless Biggs can create a cure.
All of which seems entirely reasonable. Except that Biggs's old friend Colbert, the CEO of the human station, is behaving very strangely, seemingly deferring to Rugosa in all things. In addition, Biggs is given no access to his staff. It's left to the Doctor to stall for time while he and his friends work out exactly what the Rosemariners are hiding...
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: Bonds instantly with Professor Biggs, the two men chatting so intently about science that Jamie and Zoe actually leave the room without either man noticing. He senses something wrong about Colbert even before Biggs points out the man's out-of-character behavior. Most of his conversations with Rugosa amount to him stalling for time, promising progress and making just enough inquiries to keep the commander satisfied.
Jamie: Left alone in the TARDIS control room at the start of the story, he can't quite resist the urge to push a button, which is what causes them to materialize on Earth Station 454 and kicks off the entire adventure. He's consistently resourceful throughout the rest of the serial. He insists that Zoe join him in dressing up in Security uniforms to avoid detection, and he comes up with a plan to rescue Zoe late in the story. He views her as someone in need of protection, telling Biggs that she always thinks she's in control of any situation, "and she's usually wrong!"
Zoe: When Rugosa mistakes her for a member of the Communications crew and asks her to translate messages from Earth, she plays for time in much the same way the Doctor has been doing. She's under the supervision of Colbert - or rather, Colbert's doppelganger. After carefully making sure that he isn't actually aware of the codes or procedures, she makes a show of translating the messages and makes something up to put pressure on him. This being Zoe, she can't help but push her luck a little too far... but not before her invented message forces Rugosa to adjust his plans.
Professor Biggs: David Warner lends considerable presence to the main guest role of Biggs, the expert botanist who serves as the Doctor's ally. When Rugosa reveals the properties of rosa toxicaera, and that serum from it has gone missing, Biggs responds with outrage, concerned for the welfare of his staff. But when the Doctor steps in to feign cooperation for Rugosa, the professor is swift enough to immediately follow his lead.
Commander Rugosa: The Rosemariner leader behaves in a calculatedly pleasant manner when interacting first with the real Colbert, then with Biggs and the Doctor. Actor Clive Wood perfectly captures the amiable way the commander simultaneously intimidates and manipulates the scientists into doing his will. The Doctor at one point accuses him of distrusting scientists. Once he's alone and free to drop his amiable facade, Rugosa laughs that he actually loves scientists' predictability: "They can never resist trying to give you what you want if they think it will prove how clever they are."
THOUGHTS:
Donald Tosh's The Rosemariners isn't exactly a highlight of the "Lost Stories" range, but it is a fun bit of escapism. Had the script been completed and shot at the time, I suspect it would be an engaging but fairly average Season Six story... which is certainly no bad thing, and I quite enjoyed listening to this.
Tosh was script editor during the first half of the series' third season, so it's perhaps unsurprising how well-structured this is. The first episode sets up elements that end up paying off later. Jamie and Zoe don the station uniforms, which results in Zoe's masquerade as a Communications Officer. A minor gadget of Professor Biggs, seemingly just a character beat to add color, ends up being key to Jamie's rescue of Zoe. A minor guest character in the first half becomes extremely important in the second half. There's even a nice bit of symmetry involving a killer plant and its victims. Nothing comes out of nowhere.
Like other early "Lost Stories" where one or more members of the main cast were no longer with us, The Rosemariners mixes fully voiced conversations with narration. It's more or less the same format that would be recycled for Big Finish's Early Adventures, and I think it's a good one. The narration allows for settings and actions to be clearly visualized with no artificially descriptive dialogue, while the cast interactions allow for immediacy. In effect, we get the advantages of both audiobook and audio play formats.
There are some highly visual settings here. Jamie and Zoe pick their way through a theater crowded with station staff in the process of being brainwashed, which is an effectively described scene. The most memorable image is the rosarium, a giant area filled with thousands of roses of all types and colors.
I doubt the rosarium would be half as effective had it been fully described through dialogue. For that matter, I also doubt that it would have been well realized by late 1960s Doctor Who. Jamie fighting a giant flower would doubtless have been a hilariously cheesy moment, rather than the genuinely tense one portrayed here.
OVERALL:
Well-structured, well-acted, and boasting a couple of interesting settings that engage the listener's visual imagination, The Rosemariners is a good audio release. The story itself is standard Doctor Who fare, and the way the villain is defeated is a little too easy to see coming. But it's engaging throughout: well-structured, well-paced, and consistently fun to listen to.
I don't regret that it wasn't made as a television serial, as I suspect it would have been a fairly "middle" entry in the season. Still, I'm happy that Tosh was able to write it up for audio, and in a format that's particularly well-suited to its strengths.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
Set During: Season Six
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