Jubilee
stars Colin Baker as the Doctor with Martin Jarvis as Nigel Rochester, Roseland
Ayres as Miriam Rochester and Maggie Stables as Evelyn. It was written by Robert Shearman, directed
by Nicholas Briggs and Robert Shearman and released in January 2003 by Big
Finish Productions.
This is kind of an
interesting one in that it is one of few Big Finish stories to actually have
its overall plot adapted into a story for the revived series, that episode
being the fifth story of the revived series, Dalek. This of course is a
shoe in for adapting because it is a story by Robert Shearman who is an author
who has the Midas touch with Doctor Who as all his stories bar two are perfect. Jubilee
is a story that sees the Doctor and Evelyn land in an alternate timeline
where subverting the what if Nazi’s one World War II, Shearman writes a story
about in between World Wars the Second World Was breaks out with a Dalek
invasion and they basically become what the Nazis became after World War
II. The Daleks have become a joke as
they have all been wiped out bar one which is being held captive. The story opens with a trailer for Daleks: The Ultimate Adventure where the
Doctor, a muscle bound hero, and Evelyn “Hot Lips” Smythe, his sexy assistant,
are there to save the British Empire from the evils of the pepper pot Dalek
invasion. Shearman knows how to set the
scene giving off so much information in so little. After this scene which leads into the opening
credits, we know that the Doctor and Evelyn have come to save the day from a
Dalek invasion, they have become celebrities which brings skewed facts and the
world is something not quite right as the end of the trailer it is noted that
this film is mandatory propaganda.
Writers could really take note of how much Shearman gives away here as
this allows the two hour and twenty minute runtime of the story to be filled to
the brim.
The story proper actually
begins with the Doctor and Evelyn arriving in London on the eve of the 100 Year
Jubilee of the Doctor and Evelyn saving the Earth from the Daleks. They promptly get themselves arrested by the
government for breaking curfew and contracting words and are sent to the
dictator of the world and his docile wife Nigel and Miriam Rochester who have a
Dalek being kept in a locked room which they are going to blow up as part of
the Jubilee. This is only about ten
minutes into the story when we start to really get weird as Shearman paints
this alternate timeline which is an even tenser version of the 1950s with
Britain in control, men being the strong workers while women are meant to be
weak and beautiful and the human race has pretty much become Daleks as the
leaders of the worlds obey Rochester without question or they will easily be
killed or sent off to camps. The story
seems to be the Doctor and Evelyn wanting to fix the world which intensifies
when there are reveals that there is Dalek mind control forcing Rochester to be
evil, the Doctor has had his legs cut off and stuck in a wheelchair in the
tower while Evelyn has died, and the fact that Miriam wants to revolt and Rochester
is just plain insane. This all
intensifies with the climax being that Miriam is deposing her husband and is
going to marry the Dalek when all hell breaks loose and the Dalek escapes, more
appear and start killing people.
The plot is really just a
rollercoaster from start to finish as the tension increases tremendously right
after the credits an only ends once the story is over and the Doctor is
comforting Evelyn about all the death she’s had to face over the course of this
story. Shearman is a master of
characters especially the Doctor who is just trying to figure this out and
Colin Baker is great as the detective and the deranged Doctor seen in the
middle of the story. The Doctor in the
tower was driven insane and has lost any real will to live which is just a
heartbreaking thing to imagine because of the implications for the
universe. Maggie Stables’ Evelyn Smythe’s
reactions to this and the rest of this story are also great as this is the
first time since Bloodtide and Project: Twilight where she has seen so
much death and has trouble dealing with it.
This is a great lead in for Doctor
Who and the Pirates as she really feels like she may end travelling with
the Doctor even though that isn’t yet the case, thank goodness. There are three main supporting characters in
this story. First is Nigel Rochester
played brilliantly by Martin Jarvis whose Doctor Who performances has ranged
from a Menoptera in The Web Planet to
the Governor in Vengeance on Varos
which gives him a great range. His parts
in Jubilee are also great at
showcasing the actor’s range as he has to be the cruel dictator, the tortured
soul, completely homicidal and insane, and even near the end a loving
husband. My favorite bits with Rochester
are his reactions to the Americans as they are absolutely hilarious and kind of
true. His wife Miriam is also
fascinating as for Part One she seems to be the stereotypical stay at home
mother from the 1950s always doing what her man tells her to. It’s a bit sexist maybe but that is made up
for in the reveal of just how power hungry this woman is as she will do
anything to gain power. She’s also a
masochist as she loves it when her husband beats her but hates when it doesn’t
hurt. Finally there is the actual Dalek
which just like Dalek becomes
sympathetic which I have to say is great.
To summarize, Jubilee is a perfect story much like the
other Robert Shearman stories which just needs to be experienced. 100/100
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