The Tertiary Console Room: Review - Doctor Who

'I have found this reality to be a cold and unwelcoming place. I know now where I belong...'

Like a bad penny, Omega has a nasty habit of turning up regularly, and usually timing his return with significant anniversaries in Doctor Who. He was introduced in The Three Doctors to mark the series' tenth anniversary, returned ten seasons later to menace the Doctor in Amsterdam in Arc Of Infinity and even appeared in BBC Books' thirty-fifth anniversary novel, The Infinity Doctors by Lance Parkin. Now, to mark forty years of Doctor Who he's back again in Omega, a story which begins a themed 'Villains Trilogy' where Big Finish's 'past' Doctors face old enemies once more in the run up to their commemorative special, Zagreus.

Omega is writer Nev Fountain's first script for Big Finish, yet he is no stranger to the world of Doctor Who having served as script-editor for BBCi's first webcast, Death Comes To Time. But let's not hold that against him, for here he has fashioned an intriguing tale which proves most illuminating in examining the character of the legendary titular Time Lord. Fountian's author notes quickly point out that he doesn't really see Omega as a villain, as while he was full of sound and fury in his television appearances there was very little genuine villainy to back up his rage-filled rhetoric. The idea of perception of history is a core concept of Omega - was this legendary figure the monster he's now perceived as? Answering the question of who Omega really was away from the influence of all the myth and legend that has built up around him is Fountain's aim, and by delving into his character to this degree, we gain an insight into the character at a level that hasn't been attempted before in a performed medium.

Set in the area of space known as the 'Sector of Forgotten Souls', an apt title given that the real Omega is very much a forgotten soul himself, which is where Omega's defining moment occurred as it is here that he detonated the star which provided the Time Lords with the source of their great power. Now, thousands of years after that happened, it is home to an interactive heritage centre where holiday firm 'Jolly Chronolidays' bring a version of history to their visitors, charmingly referred to by staff as the 'crumblies', as actually venturing back and experiencing history for real has become terribly passé. The centre is an exact replica of Omega's own ship, the Eurydice, and features historical recreations of Omega's demise including the performance of Vanderkyrian's betrayal. But one of Jolly Chronolidays' passengers appears very young to be on such a tour, and yet the Doctor has come to the Sector of Forgotten Souls for a very specific reason...

Omega is essentially a story about identity. In relation to Omega, this refers to how he has coped with the madness brought out in him by thousands of years of solitude, which waxes and wanes within him and as he struggles to find out who he is now, his reflections upon the past help us the listener to understand more about his past and how he became this mythical figure we know him as. Fountain deliberately excludes Omega from much of the first episode to heighten the tension for his arrival for maximum impact, yet as the story progresses it becomes clear that there was a more significant reason for why this is so. Once Omega has become actively involved in the drama, we discover that his objective is to return to his anti-matter realm where he can be whole again. This speaks volumes about the character as despite all his efforts and deeds in trying to return to the real universe, he finds that he has no place here anymore and wants to go back to the security of the only place he can now call home.

The theme of identity is also woven tightly into the story's other characters, as everyone has hidden depths, and while we discover more about both the Doctor and Omega throughout the course of the story, the guest characters like Daland, Senita and Ertkus all have journeys of their own that they must take. By following their progress, Fountain expands and develops his own characters well, showing how some grow from their experiences whilst others may loose their identities...

Dovetailing nice with the idea of identity is Omega's other prevailing theme of historical perception. This informs the whole story on some level right from the setting, where Jolly Chronolidays are presenting their version of history to the paying tourists, to the characters themselves, most of whom have some kind of connection to Omega because of their work at the heritage centre or because they have taken a specific interest in him. How Omega is perceived is a classic example of how society can change its opinion upon its own history depending on how an individual is thought of. The Doctor considered Omega one of his own heroes who provided him with much inspiration to take control for himself when he said: "We both rebelled against the orthodoxy of the society we lived in. You in the name of science, and me in the name of sticking my nose into things that don't necessarily concern me." But when Omega began using scurrilous methods to try and return to the universe of Gallifrey, the way he was perception generally changed because of this new insight. By forcing a confrontation with the Doctor, Omega began a course of action which would lead to the deconstruction of his own legendary status and thus the stories about him would be re-evaluated on a harsher scale without the benefit of the allure of his mythic appeal.

While Omega isn't an out and out comedy in the vain of The One Doctor, the tone of the story is very influenced by humour which isn't surprising given that Fountain is one of the principal writers on radio and television satire show Dead Ringers. This has a two-fold effect on the play, as firstly it's very funny and witty but this never overwhelms the drama to the point where it becomes a comedy story, and secondly it makes the story's characters seem more real because rather than keeping a stoic visage in the face of adversity, they find release in humour with Hugh Myatt's Daland in particular being a rich source for fun - "I've always had this strange premonition that I would end my life by dying" being one of the best thanks to Myatt's droll delivery. Listeners hoping that Jim Sangster's credit in the cast list as 'Zagreus' will provide a clue as to the content of that story will be disappointed, although the appearance is indeed memorable in itself! Given that the force of drama ultimately wins out over Fountain's comedic inclinations, you could almost argue that the struggle between these two styles of informed storytelling is symbolic of Omega's own mental mêlée...

Fountain also can't help but give his writing a satirical edge, but this has mixed results. His lampooning of 'larger-than-life' historical presenters, embodied by the quirky Professor Ertikus, relates back to the theme of historical perception changing depending on the times as Fountain is showing how history can now be seen as a soap opera, needing actors in funny costumes to interest the public in their past. Through Ertikus he can show how these historians have to try and make their conclusions as lurid as possible to garner the public's imagination and these are all related back to how Omega is viewed now. Other sardonic allusions include the Doctor, when talking about Omega, stating "it's best to have some element of mystery about the character" and that "it would spoil things knowing all there was to know about him" where you can tell that the author is putting across his own view of what should be done with the character of the Doctor - if we discover the truth behind his mysteries then he ceases to be 'Doctor Who' any more. While things like this come across well, others like the parallels to rail safety through the heritage centre's ticket pricing and safety policy seem a bit too obvious and slightly out of place in this context as a result.

In writing Omega, it was Fountain's intent to write "a story that belongs to sound alone", an ambition that has often by stated by writers in the past with not always successful results, but here Fountain succeeds spectacularly. While it isn't immediately apparent why this story would only work on audio, the plot development which illustrates why this is so is so ingenious in its execution that its revelation is an unforgettable moment of drama. And yet, this isn't something that just happens out of nowhere - Fountain alludes to Omega's big secret many occasions before it is revealed, but the significance and irony of seemingly insignificant dialogue only becomes clear with the benefit of hindsight. This discovery changes everything and, as a historian must reassess his conclusions in the face of new evidence, the listener is forced to reconsider their perception of all that they have heard before. Although something vaguely similar has been done in another fairly recent Big Finish audio, it wasn't completed with anything like the panache or skill which Fountain deploys here. By examining the implications and consequences, he ensures that the twist is satisfying and believable without compromising the integrity of the story, making this element of Omega an exemplary method of using the audio medium.

Omega does have one big problem though, and it's a flaw that prevents it from attaining its full potential, which is that it's very overlong. One of the best things about Big Finish's approach to their Doctor Who range is their willingness to give their writers the freedom to make their stories as long or as short as needed, rather than constrict them to the television format standard of twenty-five minutes per episode. Omega suffers because it develops at a very sedate pace and because of this unhurried attitude, it feels as if there isn't enough happening in the plot to sustain the tension of the drama over the long running time. This is mainly a problem with the first three episodes as there they needed a faster tempo to make the drama more urgent and tighter which would have given it greater impact. Ironically, the same cannot be said of the final episode which is by far the longest of Omega's four parts, because that has a more focused impetus as the events of the cliffhanger to the third episode are driving the drama towards its climax.

In characterising the Fifth Doctor, Fountain brings out qualities that are seldom seen in his past Big Finish audios and that is his tendency to both flippant and tetchy. Without his multitude of companions around to antagonise him, his mellower side tends to be prevalent but here it's the frustrations of the situation that bring out this particular streak. Hearing this Doctor working alone is very interesting because, with the exception of his episode of The Sirens Of Time and Excelis Dawns, it's very unusual. So much of his onscreen persona seemed to show him as vulnerable because of his unease with his travelling companions, so that we get to see how he reacts independently of them and because Peter Davison has really grown back into his role, the results are absorbing and very refreshing. Fountain must be commended for not taking the easy course of saddling the Doctor with a substitute companion here, despite several candidates. The absence of a familiar or entirely trustworthy person being present helps to keep things feeling tense and uneasy.

The performances of Davison and Ian Collier, who returns here as Omega, make this audio into a success. The script presents them both with leading roles and they respond superbly with the Doctor and Omega commanding tremendous presence throughout. Davison shows great timing with the witty lines, his delivery sharp enough to cut. As with his appearance in Excelis Decays, Collier's wonderfully rich and gravely voice lends his character considerable intensity and because Omega is a more central to the plot character that Commissar Sallis, he can show a much greater range of depth and emotion as the madness of Omega makes itself known. Collier brings out the tragedy of Omega wonderfully by emphasising his sympathetic qualities and by witnessing this pathos, the listener leaves the story knowing that Omega was greatly more than just a typical villain he appeared to be on television.

The leads are ably supported by an excellent cast, headed by Caroline Munro and Hugo Myatt. Munro has a very mellow and dignified cadence to her voice which is perfect for the character of Sentia, and Myatt runs riot with his character Daland by playing up the over-the-top elements well and yet also showing a much more humane side too. Daland's moment of realisation that he can start to take responsibility for himself towards the end is one of the play's best written moments and delightfully underplayed by both Myatt and Davison. Completing the main cast is Conrad Westmaas' Tarpov, who is superb at depicting the possessed madness of Vanderkyrian in his character but is less assured when playing the effusive actor and Patrick Duggan as Ertikus is good but would have benefited from a more active role. Anita Elias and Faith Kent succeed - with gusto - in creating two annoying old ladies from the tour party, who initially seem rather superfluous but their relevance is revealed in the full course of time, and it helps to emphasise Omega's key themes again.

Gareth Jenkins' sound design for this story consists of a very interesting array of effects to create the settings, ensuring that Omega is always very atmospherically realised. Worthy of particular praise is the sequence at the beginning of episode two where the Doctor and Omega are in conversation and Jenkins manipulates the dialogue so that it constantly switches between the left and right channels, giving the scene a very unreal and ethereal quality, reminiscent of being within a mindscape. Complimenting this aspect superbly is Russell Stone's score which is certainly his best for sometime, flourishing with ominous and doom-ridden melancholy yet not without its lighter side, reflecting the story's mix of tragedy and wit.

Omega is something of an oddity; it lacks the pace and verve to be a truly great story, yet features many creative ideas and excellent dialogue combined with strong characterisation. All this adds up to an intricate and involving drama which certainly requires repeated listening to appreciate it fully and one that uses its medium to superb effect. Fountain has certainly set a high bar for the forthcoming 'Villains Trilogy' stories to follow, and while Omega isn't quite everything it could have been, it's still an extremely promising debut and hopefully Fountain will get the chance to write another in the future.