Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: David Warner, Susannah Harker, Colin Baker, Sarah Douglas, Ian Hallard, Cate Debenham Taylor, Ian Brooker, Nigel Fairs.
To be self-ware is a hard act to give any type of justice to, it often ranks in the public’s eyes as on a level with conceited or pride, the self-examination of the artist’s interpretation of their own belief made real by placing them in a subject or character that undoubtedly represents them.
The exploration of the Meta ideology though is one that can beyond the raising of the eyebrow, that can bring the voyeur of the piece more in line with their own understanding of the structure of the Universe, and more importantly, with Time.
All around us is the remnants, the shards of Time, the present, the now is fleeting, but the past is rich, overflowing, bursting at the seams with our emotional ties to the products that record our voices, that document our thoughts and the processes of electronic gadgetry that captures our written word forever. It is this process, the recoded audio drama, the viewpoint of the critic and the distress of the offended that sees Time splinter, echo in its past, gain traction in bringing conflict into the future. The simple words recorded, the ideal of the self-aware and the marvel of being able to hear your voice when your lips are closed, can bring about war.
In the Sapphire and Steel audio drama, The Mystery of the Missing Hour, Joseph Lidster seizes the self-aware with humour, pain-staking and inclusive narrative and the finish that is worthy of the original television series. Even with the story being somewhat on the stranger side, a mystery fashioned out of a love perhaps, even admiration for the early 20th Century detective novels that were often lauded, but that were so thin in plot that you could see the titles through even the thickest twitching curtain.
The Mystery of the Missing Hour utilises its greatest weapon with terrific poise, that of the narrator, long time Big Finish stalwart and former incarnation of the Doctor, Colin Baker. Through his delivery and exquisite timing, the drama becomes entrenched in the listener’s mind, the continuation of pushing the Meta idea is taken to its limit, the whole story becomes one of delight, of delightful introspection.
To be self-aware is not pride or arrogant, but instead it is conscious being delivered, the ability to register your mark on Time, and in The Mystery of the Missing Hour, Time once again has the upper hand and employs it wisely.
Ian D. Hall