The Tertiary Console Room: Review - Doctor Who Unbound

"I'm stuck here, Brigadier. People in high places don't like my attitude. They've dumped me somewhere I can't do any harm and they've taken away my means of escape."

This review contains significant spoilers.

For his entry into the Doctor Who Unbound series, Sympathy For The Devil, Jonathan Clements - no stranger to Big Finish after scripting three of their 2000AD audio dramas - conjures up a caustic blend of wit and scintillating action underlined by a darkly subversive plot which goes a lot further than its rather simple premise, what if the Doctor had never been UNIT's scientific advisor, would imply.

Set in 1997 on the eve of the handover of Hong Kong to China, the celebrations are interrupted by a Chinese Stealth bomber which crashes down upon the island, leaving the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce little time to appropriate the technology and find the bomber's mysterious passenger in time before they find themselves deemed hostile agents in a foreign power's territory. But the bomber's passenger isn't the only new arrival in town, as a traveller whose own people have banished him to Earth because of his attitude has finally reached his destination many years later than planned…

Clements takes a different approach to the Unbound concept which makes Sympathy For The Devil almost the antithesis of its predecessor, Auld Mortality. Here is a story that on a fundamental level wouldn't be out of place in the regular Doctor Who range, but it is an examination of what would have happened had existing continuity played out differently, in this case what if the Doctor hadn't been there to assist UNIT in facing down all those Saturday teatime alien incursions? This allows Clements to present unfamiliar versions of familiar characters, such as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart who is now discredited and running a Honk Kong pub, having left the army in dubious circumstances. Clements is also able to use the wealth of stories from the Pertwee era to inform his scenario with both dramatic and comedic effect - one character suggests investing in Stahlman Gas as a hot tip for fruitful financial gain!

Sympathy For The Devil is essentially a reworking of the Doctor's arrival on Earth following his exile, but Clements draws his inspiration not from Spearhead From Space but from another bona-fide Third Doctor story to fashion his plot. If a lesser author tried this it could easily be construed as a lack of imagination, but Clements' skilful writing guarantees that it never feels like a rehash because he uses the elements he selects from the existing story into a different context and this helps to emphasise the central theme of the play.

The excellent David Warner takes the part of the Doctor here, and his voice has a wonderful cultured elegance to it which helps to endear his interpretation immediately and makes his Doctor very distinctive. He takes a little time to impose himself on the role but because of the way that he's introduced, this is arguably intentional following the trauma of his forced regeneration. This is a very different Doctor to his 'bound' universe counterpart, as he's pragmatic and adaptable with his mind prone to wander introspectively. Warner injects the right degree of sensibility to make his Doctor believable and beneath his cool exterior he is convincing in conveying his frustration and anger at his imposed exile.

The Brigadier is perhaps the most familiar of all the recurring characters in Doctor Who so it's extremely interesting to hear a different side to him in this story. He's cynical and downright uninterested at becoming involved with the situation, that despite the reassuring voice of Nicholas Courtney, it's hard initially to reconcile him with his regular equivalent until you begin to understand why this version of the Brigadier has become like this. Clements cleverly structures the story so that it reveals that Lethbridge-Stewart is still essentially the same strong willed and principled man he always was, but also shows growth as he learns to trust the Doctor and his instincts. Courtney delivers an impeccable performance and, like his previous Big Finish appearance in Minuet In Hell, he really seems to relish being able to do something different with the Brigadier.

'Sam Kisgart' (why that's an anagram of…) portrays Ke Le, the principal villain of the piece and the script is very upfront about who he really is (the character's credited name is a very clever sleight-of-hand) and with the main inspiration being extracted from the Pertwee years, it's little surprise to discover he is the Master. Mark Gatiss combines charisma with a more thoughtful approach to the part which returns some of the character's original style, not really seen since the days of Roger Delgardo. Clements draws this character in a more sympathetic light and a less clichéd way than usual, which makes his big confrontation with the Doctor, a scene which both actors play brilliantly, all the more powerful because it goes right to the underlying theme of the story, namely whether the Doctor's ideology to help where he can is right. He has the power to be able to do more, but would it be right to interfere more proactively? Clements adeptly uses both fictional and real life events to blur the line between realities which adds credence to the Master's case. It's an interesting philosophical debate and it's up to the listener to decide where their sympathies lie…

The main players are ably supported by David Tennant as the Brigadier's replacement at UNIT, Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood. He's a tough, no-nonsense kind of soldier who's only interested in getting the job done and doesn't care for the pleasantries of war. With this attitude he comes into conflict with Lethbridge-Stewart time and again, but Tennant's strength is that despite his abrasiveness he makes the character fundamentally likeable because of his fierce doggedness. UNIT itself is very well done here, showing them as an effective and efficient fighting force under Wood's leadership. Trevor Littledale is another standout performance as the Abbott of the Monastery and is extremely convincing as the old monk at peace with himself and helps to provide some of this drama's most contemplative scenes.

On the production side, Andy Hardwick's score is very evocative of the location used which lends the drama an ambience which moves between the mystical and the exotic, but where Sympathy For The Devil really comes into its own is in the sound design which is superb. Gareth Jenkins has surpassed himself with an extremely atmospheric soundscape that helps to emphasise the Hong Kong setting perfectly. As well as creating an ambience of the celebrations that mark the handover, Jenkins creates believable outside scenarios ensuing the listener can almost feel the surroundings as the drama is played out. Clements' script makes good use of the audio medium on several occasions and Jenkins' work ably conveys the intended meaning.

On one level, Sympathy For The Devil is a straightforward action packed thriller, but its darker underbelly is more subversive and by questioning of the Doctor's prime motivation, it asks the listener to challenge why he only helps where he can when he can do more. The story has a few flaws, as the ending is vaguely unsatisfying as it feels rushed because of the lack of an examination of the consequences of the Doctor's solution and his disinterest in discovering whether he was right is particularly unsettling as it casts him in an unsympathetic light conflicting with the rest of the play, but Clements' skilful use of fast-paced action and humour keeps the drama alive and thanks to the strong performances of the main players, Sympathy For The Devil is another triumph for the Doctor Who Unbound range.