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| Image (c) Big Finish Productions Ltd |
The TARDIS lands in the bleak alien landscape of a quarry in Sussex. It is the era of the Women's Suffrage movement, but even as the women of Earth fight for their rights, a long-dead creature from another world has an altogether bloodier axe to grind.
There is very little riskier than a political Doctor Who story, especially one which touches on the politics of gender, an area which mainstream SF has traditionally handled with a wildly varying degree of success. Making this story a two-hander, with the young Vicki and Steven recording their account in its immediate aftermath, manages the issues well. Not only does the narrative split between a man and a woman, but both are centuries before their time and utterly befuddled by the idea that women wouldn't have the vote already, thus avoiding a common tap of having the woman become a didactic mouthpiece and the man a well-meaning conservative voice.
The alien consciousness driving women to violence against men is another risky play, which can easily become a broken Aesop, but Rayner manages it well, with her back story revealing that she was ultimately rejected by her own people, not for standing up for her rights, but for becoming a tyrant to both sexes, and pitting her hatred against Vicky's experiences, not only of male kindness, but also of male respect (a hard pitch in sixties Doctor Who, but it works in a way it might not have done with, say, Polly).
The dual narration is never disjointed, with supporting characters recognisable across the two. The story also, critically, does not feel overlong at two hours.
Back to regular length next, but two companions again, as Deborah Watling's Victoria and Frazer Hines' Jamie confront The Emperor of Eternity.
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