Review of The One Doctor (#27)
Big Finish Release Date: Dec 2001
Doctor/Companion: Six and Mel
Stars: Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford
Preceding Story: Primeval (Five, Nyssa)
Succeeding Story: Invaders from Mars (Eight, Charley)
Big Finish (BF) has been really good for characters much maligned for their televised appearances. While Ol’ Sixie was the last incarnation to which I warmed (even before BF), Mel is one I’ve never quite managed to appreciate. Until now.
Last year I got my first taste of BF Mel, and while she didn’t instantaneously win me over, I found her a heck of a lot less grating than I’d ever found her on television. This time around, I actually quite liked her. Not only was she clever without being shrill, the dialogue even had her poking a bit of fun at herself: “Believe me, when I’m scared, I’ll scream the paint off the walls.”
Similarly, Ol’ Sixie was always the cleverest person in the room without being pompous or abrasive (as he often was in his televised adventures). He, too, was the butt of a gentle joke from time to time (references to his expanding girth, exercise regimen, and consumption of carrot juice all cropped up), but none of it ever felt mean-spirited or overdone.
All of this made for enjoyable listening when the Doctor and Mel stumble across a distress call from a planet in the Generios system at the “vulgar end of time,” where “been there, done that” is pretty much the order of the day. The Doctor himself is legend, as they discover when they realize someone else has been using the Doctor’s M.O. to run a scam—though a few things have been lost in translation.
While the TARDIS team flits around the system trying to stave off disaster, with their impersonators as reluctant allies, they come across a number of somewhat silly situations. It reminded me vaguely of The Keys of Marinus (and more strongly of a much more recent story, which I can’t name without spoiling some of the fun), but didn’t strike me as really odd until partway into Part Three.
At this stage it might help to remind you that (a) I am an American and (b) I came into this story without any knowledge about it except (1) it starred Six and Mel, (2) its title, and (3) it had been recommended to me. Therefore, I can perhaps be forgiven for not immediately cottoning on that it was, in fact, released as a Christmas panto.
As someone only barely familiar with the general concept of panto (and utterly clueless until after I’d listened to the entire adventure and went to look up spellings characters’ names that this was one), you can imagine my confusion when, as Mel launched into a story meant to pluck up her companion’s spirits, sappy, melodramatic music began to swell. “What the actual f***?” I said to myself. “They’re really going overboard here. What a strange editorial choice that is…”
In retrospect, it all makes perfect sense—as do some of the other even-sillier-than-usual plot twists (e.g., the shape of the faux Doctor’s “STARDIS” and the sounds it makes in flight). That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the story as it stands; it’s just that had I had context beforehand, I might have appreciated it more fully for what it was, rather than being confused by the odd turns it took.
Overall, then, I recommend The One Doctor to anyone interested in seeing a less irritating side of either the Sixth Doctor or Melanie Bush. If you go in expecting a strong dose of the absurd, you should feel particularly well served.