I love you. So much can come across in those three simple
words, the profession of care that leads people to stay with each other for the
rest of their lives. Yet why is it always
portrayed as getting everything you ever wanted with no flaws whatsoever. Arrangements
for War deals with love in the exact opposite as the intervention of the
Doctor in an arranged marriage pushing two lovers together even though if time
had her way they would break it off to save lives. These actions cause them to have endless
bliss yes, but it shortens their lives and we get to see just how much the
Doctor and Evelyn work at trying to get these two to their happily ever after
while attempting to stop war as they know there is an alien invasion coming in
just two weeks. This places a sense of
urgency on the plot as we know everything is going to fail and when things are
thrown against the fan, they hit harder than ever and things fall apart. The smoke rushes in and when it finally
clears there are casualties leaving the cast and the listener emotionally
decimated as you want to see everything succeed. You want to see Krisztina and Marcus get to
have a happy life together, but of course they aren’t allowed to as the story
dictates that not everything works out for the best. The whole point of the story is that even
though the Doctor is trying to save the world, there are going to be casualties
and it is best to let people make their own decisions even if it leads to
death.
The story serves as
catharsis for Evelyn who at the start of the story just wants to have a
vacation to think about her decisions and the many deaths that have occurred in
the period of time before this story.
She’s still depressed about the death of Cassie and knows that her
health is slowly, but surely deteriorating from her heart condition. She has the Doctor take her to Vilag so she
can get a break, but the stress of trying to stop the war is just what she
needs so she can have her epiphany that the Doctor saves people and does things
for the better. Maggie Stables gives her
very best performance standing out in the final part of the story as she ends
up having to comfort the Doctor who wants to change history so the two star
crossed lovers can actually survive yet without their moments of love. Evelyn also gets to fall in love in this
story with Governor Rossiter played by the brilliant Gabriel Woolf whose smooth
and silky voice just feels like a weary old man who wants to see the turmoil
quiet down. He plays the loving father
and the politician both as really good people who want to see everything go
well for him and his family. Paul Sutton
keeps the tension high and the emotions running as things fall apart and the
characters try to find a way to piece everything together again even if there
is no way to get rid of the cracks.
Colin Baker’s Sixth
Doctor is also great as he has a chance to get himself emotionally invested in
the story in an environment where he is the one causing all the problems. There really isn’t a central antagonist in
this story, but it is the Doctor who plays the role of the villain as he
instigates events which leads to a lot of the death that permeates the surface
of this story. The music is also an
important element in this story as the transitions are all done musically which
works well to foreshadow just where the story is going to go. It integrates itself well especially when
everything gets pushed to tension where we get one little scene with Evelyn and
Rossiter who both share a happy loving moment where nothing is really said but
it is the subtlety of the music that allows the audience to be clued in to the
romance blooming between the two of them.
To summarize, Arrangements for War continues the
streak of emotional thrill rides for the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn as the plot
sees their relationship change and we get to see the seeds of what will be
Evelyn’s departure from the story. The
acting is all on top form as everyone involved gets the emotions across in a
great way as they work with the music to let the listener to have a complete
experience in the story. 100/100
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