Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Carole Ann Ford, Terry Molloy.
There is nothing like returning to the start of the story to realise just how much has been left unsaid and just how much more is there even before the commencement of the adventure actually began.
Marc Platt’s Companion Chronicle tale, The Beginning, sees the much loved granddaughter of The Doctor relate the day they both ran away from their people and steal the battered old type 40 Tardis and save it from certain destruction. However it is not just The Doctor and Susan who are aboard the stolen ship, somewhere on board is the man who has been appointed the decommissioning mechanic and who is not best pleased at being involved in the Doctor’s escape from Gallifrey. Enter the little known story of Quadrigger Stoyn, a man who has found himself at the start of the greatest adventure.
Whilst some Companion Chronicle pieces can leave the ardent Doctor Who fan feeling slightly deprived at the lack of real additional account to The Doctors life, Marc Platt’s insight and many years of writing for the series have produced a story which adds much warmth to that fateful day and is greatly enhanced by having the original companion, Carole Ann Ford, tell the tale and have one of the biggest names in Doctor Who history, the sublime Terry Molloy, take on the role of a new antagonist who despairs at The Doctor’s actions.
Marc Platt writes for Carole Ann Ford especially well. In a previous Paul McGann story, An Earthly Child, he gave a sense of real belonging and of continuation to Susan and it seemed to be a script and recording that Ms. Ford took great pleasure in taking part in. In recent times he also came up with two great stories in The Butcher of Brisbane and The Silver Turk for both Peter Davison and Paul McGann. This companion chronicle now sees that highly developed sense of love for Doctor Who bring new life into a story that has been told in different ways before but seems to take on greater significance with the 50th Anniversary special having just been aired.
It is a great pleasure to hear this particular version of the escape from Gallifrey, the small wonderful nod to Clara Oswald and her part in the reason why The Doctor took one particular Tardis adds to the Doctor Who cannon and Big Finish’s part in it. It is, as always, just a big thrill to have Carole Ann Ford reprise her role as Susan and the extra incentive to listen to Marc Platt’s engaging story is given in the form of Terry Molloy who has given the listener yet another interesting character in which to play around with and speculate over.
The Companion Chronicle, The Beginning, is available to purchase from Worlds Apart on Lime Street.
Ian D. Hall