Big Finish: Time Lord Victorious - He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not Review
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| The CD cover for "He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not", designed by Lee Binding. |
Starring Paul McGann & Silas Carson.
Written by Carrie Thompson.
Directed by Scott Handcock.
The first of Big Finish's major Time Lord Victorious stories, "He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not" had a big job ahead of it, having to set up the major pieces of the story, and bring the Eighth Doctor into the wider Time Lord Victorious story. And, in spite of all that, "He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not" is a pretty fun story that moves at a fair pace, and actually pushes quite a few pieces of the wider Time Lord Victorious story into place. It's not the most adventurous story, by any means, but it is at least entertaining, and the interplay between Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor and Silas Carson's Brian the Ood is absolutely memorable, for all the right reasons.
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| The Eighth Doctor, as played by Paul McGann, in a promotional image for "The Night of the Doctor". |
Thrust right into the story, we see the Doctor arrive on the planet Athana, which the Doctor is shocked to find a ruined desert world. He's shocked, because this should be a world of water, home to millions from across the cosmos. And, from the moment that he steps out of the TARDIS, he is thrust into danger when he stumbles across a young, frightened woman and an Ood named Brian... Playing out like another take on the 'Doctor Who does Westerns' format, "He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not" plays perhaps on more of the tenants of audio drama than I was expecting, particularly in the use of longer scenes and more dialogue driven action. Especially considering the glut of newer fans that may be coming on board with these releases, I was expecting them to lean towards Big Finish's new series content than most of the company's regular output, with shorter scenes, and more fast paced action. However, I think, for this kind of story, that approach works very well, as it shows off where audio drama is best, and what it can be used for most effectively. The best Westerns rely on slow burning tension, as the inevitable quick-draw gets closer and closer, and writer Carrie Thompson plays into that very effectively. I will say that, going in, you shouldn't expect a traditional, straightforward Western, like previous Doctor Who Western takes like "The Gunfighters" or "A Town Called Mercy". Instead, this plays on the sci-fi updates we've seen in recent years, most notably the hit TV series Westworld, in that it is a science-fiction re-appropriation of traditional tropes. So, while lots of familiar elements are present and correct, they do feel somewhat unfamiliar, especially to someone like me, who has limited exposure of this recent sub-genre. "He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not" is also playing around with some steampunk elements as well, so it does end up feeling like a strange mash-up of various different genres. However, they all work together well, thanks to Thompson's restrained and rather conventional plot, which allows us to soak up the atmosphere of the setting, and focus on the characters and their journeys. The plot of Brian trying to track down the daughter of a billionaire who has run off with the love of their lives isn't particularly novel, but at least it is sympathetically treated, and does provide some good narrative thrust for the story. I was less convinced by the plotline regarding the change in Atharna's history, which is clearly being set up for future releases to deal with, but I didn't feel like enough attention was drawn to it here for this element to be worthwhile. I imagine that all this ties into what happens at the end of the BBC Book "The Knight, the Fool and the Dead" (since the Titan Comic "Defender of the Daleks" also features history being changed), although, of course, that isn't covered here. This element of "He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not" may have seriously exposed a problem with Time Lord Victorious that I brought up in my review of Short Trips "Master Thief" and "Lesser Evils": due to the scope of this huge project, the spinning of different story threads may cause some to be forgotten about when it comes to tying the story together at the end. Don't get me wrong, I love the scope this event is going for; I just worry that, with Doctor Who's proven track record of dodgy arc resolutions, this could end up being a problem.
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| Brian the Ood, in a promotional image for Time Lord Victorious. |
As I mentioned above, the rather more stripped-back plot allows the characters to shine through, and this is where the strength of the story lies. Of course, the most notable (and best) character in the story is Brian the Ood Assassin, who is quickly becoming a favourite character of mine. Thompson, like Stephen Cole before her, is clearly having a ball (if you'll pardon the pun: you'll get that more if you've encountered the character before) writing for this character, and that comes through in the wonderful scenes featuring him. Unlike "The Knight, the Fool and the Dead", he is clearly the antagonist of the story, but this is done without diminishing any of the elements that made him interesting in the first place. His relationship with the Eighth Doctor is slightly more fractious than his interplay with the Tenth Doctor: with both sides not really trusting each other, that's hardly a surprise. His sinister interplay with the character of Felicity, however, does bring out some interesting sides to the character, especially when the pair of them are alone in Craddock's surgery. This story also provides a reason (albeit indirectly) for how Brian ended up in the Dark Times, which is a great example of how the interconnectivity between the different mediums telling this story can, and should, work. And, what brings an extra-dimension to the character here is Silas Carson's performance. While any appearance from Silas Carson as the Ood is welcome, here, he is simply wonderful as this very different Ood character. He brings so much subtle menace, as well as psychotic glee, to the part, and is the highlight of the guest cast. While the rest of the actors are perfectly good, and play well rounded and interesting characters, they are completely overshadowed by Brian and Silas Carson. Paul McGann is as great in this as you would expect: he's clearly a fan of this genre of storytelling, and is completely onboard with this story. One scene towards the end also gives McGann a chance to do something very different, which I shan't reveal here for fear of spoilers. Suffice to say, of course, that McGann aces it, though it was completely unexpected, and did take me aback at first. The rest of the cast are fine in their roles, and all are ably directed by Scott Handcock, who had the unenviable task of multiple recording sessions under lockdown. However, thanks to his sterling work, together with sound designer Peter Doggart and musician Ioan Morris, they bring all the recordings together to make a product that sounds like it was all recorded in the same place. This was the first full-cast Big Finish audio I've listened to that was recorded in isolation, and you really cannot tell from the finished product, it was superb. Congratulations to everyone involved in this, as it can't have been easy, and they have done a fantastic job.
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| A promotional piece of artwork by Lee Binding for the Doctor Who website, depicting the Eighth Doctor. |
Overall, then, "He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not" is a pretty good start to the Time Lord Victorious trilogy from Big Finish. While not being anything too surprising, this is a story that will at least be entertaining, and does a good job of setting up, and explaining, some of the threads of the story thus far. While there are a couple of elements that I think needed to be explored more in future stories in order to make this a success, I found that, for the most part, I really liked "He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not", and I'm looking forward to the remaining two stories in the series.
You can get "He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not" from Big Finish Productions' website here:
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