3-7. The Masters of Luxor.

6 episodes: The Cannibal Flower, The Mockery of a Man, A Light on the Dead Planet, Tabon of Luxor, An Infinity of Surprises, The Flower Blooms. Approx. 196 minutes. Written by: Anthony Coburn. Adapted for audio by Nigel Robinson. Directed by: Lisa Bowerman. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Joe Kloska.


THE PLOT

A mysterious signal draws the TARDIS to a seemingly dead world, a cratered planet with only one distinctive feature: an incredibly tall, crystalline building. The ship is pulled into the building's courtyard, where its power immediately begins to drain away. With escape impossible, the travelers are left with only one option: exploration.

They discover an army of robots inside the structure: The simplistic "Mark One" servitors, and the more complex "Derivitron" robots. The Derivitrons greet them as "Masters of Luxor," and see that they are given food, baths, and fresh clothing. Then they are taken before "The Perfect One" (Joseph Kloska), the leader of the robots - who is himself a robot, though one with a nearly perfectly human appearance.

The Perfect One's ambition is to become fully human. To that end, he experiments on any living subject who finds his way to the structure, originally built as a prison for criminals on the planet Luxor. All of these prisoners have been male, leaving him intrigued by the possibilities posed by Barbara and Susan: Women, who give life. He decides they will be the key to giving him true life... by draining their life force completely!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Initially dismisses Ian and Barbara's suspicions of the robots as primitive and unenlightened. He insists that there is no reasonable grounds to suspect any malice at work. That attitude fades fast when the robots begin evading direct questions, but he is still shocked and outraged when he discovers that they have actually destroyed living beings. As a scientist, he sees the work done by the masters of Luxor as a perversion: "They have become drunk with their science," he proclaims scornfully. When he and Ian discover Tabon (also played by Joseph Kloska), the man who indirectly created The Perfect One, the Doctor pushes him to action. He first calls the scientist on his past cowardice, then dangles the carrot in front of him that if The Perfect One was based on him, then some of Tabon's own traits can be exploited to defeat it.

Ian: When Susan marvels at his apparent fearlessness early in the story, Ian confesses that he is actually very frightened - He just keeps control over himself. He briefly loses that control when he and the Doctor encounter the hibernating Tabon. Despite the Doctor's call for restraint, Ian refuses to wait for the scientist to wake on his own and begins shaking, then slapping the man, fearful that any delay will be the difference between rescuing Barbara and Susan and arriving too late to help them.

Barbara: The early parts of the story see a slightly "off" characterization. Barbara talks about how the structure "feels" wrong - Something that would actually seem more suitable coming from Susan. That, and a few other bits (talking about Luxor's "evil society," for instance) can likely be put down to this being a very early script, with the characters not really fully set yet. The latter half of the story sees her much more in character, protective of Susan and pushing their attempts to find and exploit weaknesses in the robots.

Susan: Much more active here than in most 1960's scripts. In a rare switch in the division of regulars, she goes to explore with Ian at the start of the story while Barbara stays behind to help the Doctor try to repair the TARDIS. Susan gets to be observant and useful, noticing the cameras watching her and Barbara inside their cell. She also briefly transforms into Emma Peel in Episode Six, wriggling free of her bonds and tripping up robots to free Ian in an action scene that I couldn't make myself picture as being remotely convincing. Still, I suspect Ford would have been very pleased at having such an active script had this been produced at the time - It's a far cry from Susan catching "plot convenience" fever in order to get recaptured in The Reign of Terror.


THOUGHTS

The Masters of Luxor was originally intended to be the series' second story. Story editor David Whitaker had issues with the script which could not be resolved in time for that early production block, so it was pushed back and another set of finished scripts were moved into place. Those were Terry Nation's scripts for The Daleks, and the rest was history.

Rewrites continued on The Masters of Luxor, which grew from its initial four episodes to the six presented in this audio. But Whitaker continued to feel that the script had problems, and the story kept getting pushed back until it was finally dropped altogether. I actually think it was the correct decision. While there are several good elements in this story, and I did largely enjoy listening to it, I don't believe it would have been terribly well-regarded had it been produced for the television series. 

It does get off to an excellent start. The first episode is particularly good. It's an episode which features only the regulars, allowing us to follow them into this foreboding environment. I always enjoyed these types of first episodes. The Daleks, The Space Museum, The Mind Robber, The Ark in Space... Some of these stories ended up being very good, others not so much - but in every case, that first episode with the regulars exploring and confounded by a strange environment proved to be atmospheric and highly effective, and that proves to be the case even in audio form here.

The capture/escape/recapture formula becomes repetitive as the story moves along, but the strength of the production brings the structure to life, maintaining a genuinely unsettling atmosphere. Then the Doctor and Ian escape from the structure and meet Tabon... and that's when the momentum begins to stall. With the focus shifted away from the robots and the machine-laden trap of the building, the atmosphere subsides noticeably, and continues doing so right up to the end - an ending which isn't nearly strong enough to pull together all the various threads of the preceding five episodes.

What really stands out about this serial are the elements it has in common with The Daleks, the story that ended up replacing it. Both are long stories, one a six-parter and one a seven-parter. Both feature futuristic structures, and both take the first episode to follow the regulars around these structures before filling htem with guest characters. Both stories even feature a midpoint escape, with the escaped regulars sneaking back into the structure through a tunnel in the last part of the story.

The Daleks, however, made better use of almost all of the above. The Dalek/Thal conflict made for a more compelling backdrop than the Tabon/Perfect One angst; The Perfect One isn't even aware that Tabon is alive, so there is no pre-existing conflict before the Doctor and his party arrive, whereas the Daleks and Thals had been at war for generations when we met them in The Daleks. The mid-story split between the "capture/escape" strand and the expedition strand kept The Daleks fresh throughout its run, whereas here the story seems to stall around Episode Three. 

Big Finish continues to show a strong feel for the Hartnell era, and the production evokes the early black-and-white days of Doctor Who wonderfully. Toby Hrycek-Robinson's score could be right out of the early 1960's, being both effective in supporting the drama and just right for what would have been heard in the series at that time. William Russell and Carole Ann Ford do a splendid job as always, and this story really showcases how well Ford does both at recreating Susan and at bringing Barbara to life. The scenes in Episode Five, in which Barbara and Susan confuse the robots by reciting nonsense and singing hymns, are edited so that Ford's Susan voice is layered on top of her Barbara voice, their lines overlapping, and these scenes truly feel like there are two different actresses in the room: Credit to both the editing and to Ford's ability to both lower and soften her voice for Barbara's line deliveries.

An excellent production of a flawed but interesting script. Had this been a television serial, I would probably award it about a "5." Given the strength of the audio presentation, however, I'm going to bump it up just a little to a solid:


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Set during Season One.

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2-1b. The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance

1 episode. Approx. 37 minutes. Written by: Moris Farhi. Adapted for audio by Nigel Robinson. Directed by: John Ainsworth. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, John Dorney.


THE PLOT

The TARDIS crew have been enjoying a restful stay on the utopian world of Fragrance. The people of this planet know neither conflict nor illness, enjoying harmony with nature and with each other.

Now that the time has come to leave, the time travelers find it difficult to make their goodbyes. The Doctor gives elders Iamb and Rhyme a tour of the TARDIS, while Susan says farewell to a pair of friends her own age. Barbara has the most complicated goodbye of them all, however. She has befriended Rhythm (John Dorney), a sincere and athletic young man she liked very much as a friend. But Rhythm's feelings for her extend beyond friendship. He proclaims his love and begs her to remain. 

What Barbara doesn't realize, even as she breaks the young man's heart as gently and delicately as possible, is that there exists one dark wrinkle to this otherwise perfect society: There is no unrequited love on Fragrance. "The bridge of love" always extends in both directions, and it always exists for life. When a mature adult is no longer loved by another, he or she is compelled by instinct to die. 

Which means that by not returning Rhythm's feelings, she is unwittingly condemning him to death!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Though normally jealous of his timeship's secrets, in this case he shows the TARDIS with pride - even eagerness. When Ian questions him about his lack of caution, he reveals that Fragrance lacks many of the elements needed to work the TARDIS. Even if the elders understand every aspect of the ship's control, he knows they will be unable to replicate it. This leaves him free to enjoy "showing off" his miraculous vessel with no fear of consequences, and it's clear that he relishes the opportunity. 

Barbara: Is at the center of this story, with Rhythm's feelings for her providing the catalyst for the events. She is as tactful as possible in dealing with the young man's infatuation, and she probably believes exactly what Ian does: That, like an Earth man, he will recover from his hearbreak and settle down with another young woman. When she discovers the truth, she does hesitate, but ultimately asks the Doctor to open the TARDIS doors and let her back out, choosing in effect to sacrifice her own happiness for Rhythm's life. The Doctor (to his credit, in my opinion) takes a different course of action.

Ian: Fiercely protective of Barbara. When Rhythm's family effectively besieges the TARDIS at the end, he urges the Doctor to take off without a thought for the young man - His priority is Barbara's welfare. Also notable is his clear relief when Barbara tells him that she does not return Rhythm's feelings. 

Susan: The only poorly-characterized regular. Susan's knee-jerk reaction that "Barbara must stay" in order to save Rhythm doesn't ring true. She might be concerned for Rhythm's life, but she seems like a poor friend at best to want to make Barbara stay on an alien world with a man she does not love... particularly when Rhythm himself indicates that her staying will make no difference to his fate if she does not ultimately love him back. Carole Ann Ford does a solid job in recreating her performance, but the script largely serves as a sad reminder of how badly-characterized Susan usually was.


THOUGHTS

The Lost Stories' "First Doctor Box Set" is rounded out with this bonus story, a single-episode piece written by Moris Fahri more as a "calling card" to the production team than as a serious submission for the television series. On its own, it would not be worth a purchase - but as an extra accompanying Farewell, Great Macedon, it's hard to complain about an extra 1960's story, particularly one as well-produced and well-acted as this.

Judged as a calling card, The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance does its job. It shows that Fahri can develop a passably detailed alien society and do so in a way that could have been realized on a 1960's Who budget. He has a firm grasp on the characters of the Doctor, Ian, and Barbara; and if Susan comes across more weakly, well... That didn't exactly stop other writers' work from getting to air, now, did it? If I was David Whitaker, reading this script, I would have felt reasonably confident in commissioning Fahri to write a proper serial.

As a story, however, there just isn't much here. The regulars are well-characterized, but the guest characters are all one-dimensional. Rhythm is well enough voiced by John Dorney, whose sincere and sensitive performance is a far cry from his manic/depressive Alexander.  But Rhythm himself is so clingy and dewey-eyed that I can't imagine very many women even his own age being patient with him for long, let alone a mature woman like Barbara. He is there only to be in love with Barbara, with nothing to him beyond that. This makes him dull, and makes his tragedy meaningless.

Fragrance's society seems fairly silly, too. We are presented with a perfect utopia, but one in which any adult who is not part of a couple must commit suicide. This is apparently due to instinct, rather than any cultural pressure, but it just doesn't feel like something sustainable for a people. Dialogue suggests that the idea of unrequited love is alien to Fragrance... But what about when one member of a couple dies young, leaving children still to be raised? It feels like a concept that has not been fully worked through - which is probably the case, given that this script was never written with actual production in mind. 

And that's the whole problem with doing a proper review. Picking on this story's faults feels like the critical equivalent of kicking a puppy. This was a story never intended for release. Big Finish did produce it, leaving it open for review as a finished product - but even here, it is the "bonus" that comes with Farewell, Great Macedon.  It's the equivalent of William Russell's reading of a The Lair of Zarbi Supremo on The Web Planet dvd - not much of a story, perhaps, but worthwhile as a curio.

Still, as a story in its own right, The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance is lacking. It's a worthwhile extra... but as a piece unto itself, it is thin and unconvincing, and entirely expendable.


Overall Rating: 4/10.

Set during Season One.

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2-1a. Farewell, Great Macedon.

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

Set during Season One.

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