Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #527909 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Audio CD

Customer Reviews

The end of the Affair
Paul Sutton's first Big Finish audio is a somewhat sentimental romance, as Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor and his menopausal companion Dr Evelyn Smythe reach a crossroads in their relationship, both metaphorically and actually. Is this where The Doctor's latest travelling companion bids adieu? Physically unwell and mentally confused, Evelyn is fed up with The Timelord's seemingly cavalier attitude to life and love and lets him know this in her forthright way.
Dr Smythe is probably my least favourite companion, as I find her motherly attitude and to be honest, her voice extremely irritating. That aside, this is a contemplative and mature addition to the Big Finish range of original plays and as such is well worth getting hold of.

A romantic and contemplative Doctor Who tale
"Onboard the TARDIS, nerves are strained.
"After escaping the Forge and the murderous clutches of Nimrod, the Doctor and Evelyn have things to talk about. The Doctor's attitude towards death is a subject that these days is too close to Evelyn's heart, and eventually she demands to be set down somewhere where she can be free of him for a while.
"And so they come to Világ, where the Doctor's meddling lands him in the middle of a truly dangerous liaison and Evelyn meets a man who wants to change the course of her life forever.
"Love is everywhere. But then war is too.
"Is it time for Evelyn to leave the Doctor? Or is the choice about to be taken out of her hands?
"And who is to say what is the beginning and what is the end of love?"

"Arrangements for War", by Paul Sutton, is another Big Finish audio play that takes the brave step of mixing Doctor Who with romance - and gets away with it.
The action picks up immediately after the first half of "Project: Lazarus", and begins with Evelyn (the excellent Maggie Stables) asking the Doctor (Colin Baker on top form) to find her a place where she can be left in peace for a while to contemplate recent events and her relationship with the Doctor. Compliant, the Doctor takes Evelyn to the picturesque palace gardens of Galen on Világ, a world where two warring nations have finally made peace with the help of a ceremonial arranged marriage and, history dictates, will soon band together to fight off a planetary invasion by the vicious Killorans.
A mistake on the part of the Doctor places the two countries on the brink of war once again, and threatens to spell their doom at the hands of the Killoran invasion. The story therefore follows the Doctor's attempts to right the wrong he has committed in time for the inevitable invasion, whilst trying to make amends with his companion. Evelyn, meanwhile, spends her downtime with the romantic Governor of an impartial third state (Gabriel Woolf), who falls in love with Evelyn and wishes her to remain with him.
Love infuses "Arrangements for War" from beginning to end, with both Evelyn's b-story and the romance between Princess Krisztina of Galen (an engaging Katarina Olsson) and the soldier she really longs to be with (Lewis Rae) taking prominent roles. In fact, the events of the story take place over a period of several weeks, which is a rare approach that gives the story a unique pace and a sense of expansiveness not seen since Marco Polo, and the play benefits greatly from this alternative storytelling style. The story is also enhanced by the complete, comprehensively imagined and convincingly conveyed world that it takes place in, with its competing nations, realistic characters and political machinations. Everything is handled very skillfully by the cast and crew and nothing feels tacked on or overblown. The performances and sound design are fantastic.
The story starts out with the apparent intention of focusing on Evelyn's struggle to cope with the Doctor's attitude to death. However, at the end of the play we come to realise that it is the Doctor's own struggle that the story really seeks to address, and in this objective it is a great success.

Melodramatic love story
Arrangements For War is basically a Mills and Boon-style love story in space. The story centres around an arranged marriage between the royalty of two warring nations but, thanks to the Doctors unknowing interference, the Princess Krisztina decides to continue her affair with her commoner lover, putting the peace at risk. It's fairly cheesy stuff, but the drama is heightened by the Doctors knowledge that if the warring nations cannot unite they will be overrun by an alien invasion in the very near future. The play struggles to convey it's epic scope at times, with the drama frequently shifting into the realms of melodrama, and when the aliens do arrive they are a big disappointment. The one real highlight of this play is the continuing exploration of the relationship of the 6th Doctor and his companion Evelyn, who has now thankfully matured beyond the original 'cocoa and cakes' jolly grandma into a much more rounded character. The main storyline isn't the most compelling, but the deft treatment of the two regulars keeps this listenable.