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The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara to
Robespierre's Paris of 1794, where they discover the revolutionary
Reign of Terror in full swing. Separated from each other and
the Ship, the group find themselves caught up in the machinations
of an English undercover spy as they struggle not to fall
foul of Madame Guillotine...
The release of this double CD is something of a special occasion
for me, since it contains the final two episodes of the original
1963-1989 run of Doctor Who to be commercially released
by the BBC. Back in 2003, I was disappointed that the VHS
release of this serial did not contain the soundtracks
to the missing fourth and fifth episodes, The Tyrant of
France and A Bargain of Necessity. Now at last
we can hear them, though these vintage recordings are prone
to dropout and bleed-through, as the sleeve notes are at pains
to explain.
The
story itself doesn't quite merit such celebrity, however.
The tone of the narrative is uneven, with writer Dennis Spooner
and directors Henric Hirsch and John Gorrie apparently undecided
as to whether this tale should be humorous or gritty. On one
hand we are have the over-the-top comic characters of the
jailer (Jack Cunningham) and the avaricious road works overseer
(Dallas Cavell), while on the other we vividly witness Susan's
(Carole Ann Ford) horror and despair as she is imprisoned
with Barbara (Jacqueline Hill), awaiting execution.
The
plot drags, especially during the first couple of episodes.
The end of part one is particularly prone to padding, with
a long, dialogue-free segment dealing with the danger to the
unconscious Doctor (William Hartnell), who is trapped in a
burning building. Composer Stanley Myers (who went on to score
several major movies, including The Deer Hunter) goes
some way towards compensating for the story's slow pace. His
incidental music often makes good listening, especially in
this audio-only media, but it is sometimes a little too conspicuous.
The Reign of Terror veers away from the show's earlier
remit of observing history but not interfering with it, as
seen in Marco
Polo and The
Aztecs. Here the characters see Napoleon Bonaparte
(Tony Wall) playing an entirely fictitious role in the fall
of Robespierre (Keith Anderson). We also witness the first
hints of historical/literary pastiche, of the type that would
later be seen in full force in stories such as The
Gunfighters, The
Smugglers, The
Highlanders and Black Orchid, as Spooner
evokes the flavours of A Tale of Two Cities and The
Scarlet Pimpernel.
Carole
Ann Ford narrates the story well, elevating the dull bits
with a voice-over that always complements the tone of the
scene in question, whether it is serious or silly. She is
also briefly interviewed at the end of each CD, when she discusses
the development (or rather lack of it) of her character, Susan.
Though it is no classic, The Reign of Terror does contain
some good character moments, especially those involving the
regular TARDIS crew, and Ford's narration only adds to this
quality.
Richard
McGinlay
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