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Monte Carlo, 1966. The Doctor has sent Peri and Erimem
to a costumed ball to prevent the theft of the fabulous Veiled
Leopard diamond. Which is odd, since the Doctor has assigned
Ace and Hex to steal the jewel. How will the two teams cope
with this contradictory task? Will Peri's asp slip? Why must
Ace pretend to be a French maid? And can Hex "do posh"...?
Big Finish has provided some good fun over the years with
its Doctor Who Magazine freebie CDs, such as The
Ratings War and No Place Like Home, so I thought
it was about time that Review Graveyard reviewed one of
them.
This
one is fun too, with the name of the jewel, the story's setting
and David Darlington's incidental music all evoking the Pink
Panther movies. As it happens, Steve Martin's remake of
The Pink Panther has just hit UK cinemas at the time
of writing, which may just be a happy coincidence or a cunning
marketing ploy on the part of Big Finish and DWM. There
are also a few brief allusions to Mission: Impossible
in Darlington's score and in Iain McLaughlin and Claire Bartlett's
story.
The Veiled Leopard is also reminiscent of Lance Parkin's
Missing Adventures novel Cold Fusion, in that the
TARDIS crews of the Fifth and Seventh Doctors cross paths
but pursue different goals. Unlike Cold Fusion, the
two sets of companions never actually meet one another face
to face, though the two Doctors are described as doing so
(and have a blazing row, perhaps about the very events in
Parkin's novel, which ended with the Fifth Doctor being knocked
out by the Seventh Doctor's companion Chris!). This meeting
is observed and recounted by Peri (Nicola Bryant) and Erimem
(Caroline Morris), since neither Peter Davison nor Sylvester
McCoy star in this production.
The
Seventh Doctor's presence is also felt in Ace's (Sophie Aldred's)
rather poor impersonation of McCoy, which brings back amusing
memories of the actress's reading of Robert Perry and Mike
Tucker's short story Stop the Pigeon in the Short
Trips and Tales
from the TARDIS audio books.
However, this is very much the assistants' story, and it provides
a good opportunity to compare and contrast. Each team consists
of a companion inherited from the television series - Peri
and Ace respectively - and one created by Big Finish - Erimem
and Hex (Philip Olivier). McLaughlin and Bartlett allow us
to appraise how each duo works together. While Peri and Erimem
are very chummy and contribute to the mission as equals, Ace
takes advantage of her extra time-travelling experience, places
herself very much in command of Hex and enjoys bossing him
around, foreshadowing her military training in the New
Adventures novels.
The
writers and director Gary Russell make good use of the story's
two-part structure, devoting one episode to either TARDIS
team. The title music varies accordingly.
It's well worth tracking down a copy of DWM #367 in
order to get your hands on this gem. (The magazine's worth
reading too!) Bargain.
Richard
McGinlay
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