Before you can really
understand where The Mutant Phase came
from you have to be familiar with the Audio Visuals fan audio drama
productions. The company produced
twenty-four audio dramas in the 1980s and had Nicholas Briggs staring as the
Doctor. Now these audios were unlicensed
and didn’t really have that good of a sound quality, but at least it was new
Doctor Who. It could also be considered
the forerunner to Big Finish Productions especially as many of the Big Finish
Staff got their start in the Audio Visuals productions. Of course this allowed several Audio Visuals
stories be adapted into Big Finish stories starting with today’s story. The
Mutant Phase was one of four Audio Visuals story to feature the Daleks and
relies heavily as a semi-prequel to The
Dalek Invasion of Earth and connecting some of the comics into the main
universe.
The plot involves the
Doctor and Nyssa landing on the Earth during the Dalek invasion where much of
the human race is dead, but all hope is not lost as Thals have come to rescue
the human race. This is all before the
story takes a twist as the Doctor has to help figure out the mystery behind the
origin of the mutant phase which is a disease killing off the Daleks. There are several more twists and red
herrings as to how the mutant phase came into being as that is the main drive
of the plot. Sadly, while this is technically
the third part of the Dalek Empire Prequel, there isn’t anything really tying
it into the other two parts of the miniseries.
Honestly it would have worked better if it was just telling its own
story and not trying to tie itself into an already interesting prequel. The script I can however praise as unlike his
efforts in The Sirens of Time he has
found his footing as a writer and as a director here. He pretty much owns the story as he is
writing, directing, designing the sound, composing music and taking part as the
voice of the Daleks. He has his hands
full and is pulling it off wonderfully.
He introduces many good ideas like genetically mutated wasps and the
ideas of Daleks transplanting themselves into humans all will be used in the
New Series.
Peter Davison and Sarah
Sutton have improved their relationship a lot in their two stories
together. Here they show just how much
chemistry they have with each other that was wasted on television. The Doctor cares for Nyssa almost as the
teacher to the student as Nyssa is still young, even with a higher
intellect. They both have a childlike
curiosity to see the universe as they have no real home to go back to. Briggs writes for them so well that they complement
each other perfectly. They both find pieces
of evidence for the mystery of the mutant phase and are able to figure out
some things leading to the conclusion even through several red herrings. The
supporting cast are extremely mixed with some characters like the Daleks, who
are completely evil here, the Dalek Emperor, who has had a facelift since The Evil of the Daleks, and the Thal
Ganatus played by James Morgan who ends up working with the Daleks. There are
quite a few other characters in this story, yet not many of them actually make
an impact. You can easily sympathize
with the plight of the humans as the virus has been released, Roboman have been
created and the Daleks have begun their invasion. The desperation can be felt through the
acting even when the characters are a bit lackluster.
To summarize, The Mutant Phase can boast at being an
improvement of a previous story and actually being part of canon. It has some great ideas and Davison and
Sutton are both on top form throughout the story. The supporting cast is mixed even with some
powerful emotions being conveyed through the story. The connections to the arc are minimal and
cause a bit of anticipation for something, which never really comes. 75/100
"The Mutant Phase was the only Audio Visuals story to feature the Daleks"
ReplyDeleteNot at all. Each season of AVs had one Dalek story. They are, in order, The Time Ravagers, The Mutant Phase, Planet of Lies, and Deadfall (which was later adapted, sans Doctor and Daleks, but with the same name, for the Bernice Summfield NAs.)
Yes I fixed my mistakes. It's what I get for writing late at night
DeleteAdditionally, the AV's just missed the 90's, starting in '84 and concluding in '89 (I think. It can't have been later than '90, as one of the motivations for stopping was the existence of the Virgin New Adventures.)
ReplyDelete