This is the odd one out
for the run of Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smythe stories as while Arrangements for War and Thicker than Water serve as the end of
the Evelyn Smythe story, Medicinal
Purposes would be released in between the two and begins a trilogy of
stories written by Robert Ross as the Evelyn Smythe story was told slightly out
of order with her exit story Thicker than
Water was recorded and released in the middle of her run as companion. The way that works I will get to when I get
to that story, but I will say it causes Medicinal
Purposes to suffer as the storyline just sort of degenerates as it seems
Ross wasn’t informed of what the plan was when writing and Alan Barnes decided
not to change it. This makes the Doctor
and Evelyn have characterization be off center here. The Doctor seems a bit more crass than usual
as he admires the intentions of Burke and Hare as they are giving the cadavers
to Knox so he can dissect them and use knowledge to improve medicine which is
of course a noble cause and of course he didn’t know that Burke and Hare were
committing the murders. Whenever Ross
isn’t making the Doctor a forgiver of murderers, he makes the story be a
shameless rehash of The Aztecs which
is a story idea that was already done better in that story and has been done
better since in stories like Father’s Day
and Pyramids of Mars which actually
show what happens when history is changed.
It doesn’t help that Big Finish have already done their version of The Aztecs in their Charley Pollard
story arc. Colin Baker is still
excellent in his role as the Doctor as he is giving it his all as the Doctor
while surrounded by a rather traditional plot.
The same can be said with
Maggie Stables as Evelyn Smythe who while being in the Barbara role in the
story, actually gets to have some great moments in the story as she sympathizes
with the locals of the time which is where Ross is best at the story. Ross knows exactly how to write a story
written in a historic time period, taking place in Victorian era Edenborough which
is beautifully portrayed with sound design and characters creating an
atmosphere of tension straight out of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street where the streets
are dripping red with blood. Everyone in
this story dies with the exception of the villain, who at least seems to be
killed in a brutal manner and the Doctor and Evelyn as that’s how history
turned out. Ross makes Burke and Hare
not be tragic figures or straight up murderers but people who just want to make
ends meet. Hare in particular has a
conscience and much like history it is Burke edging the man on to commit the
crimes. Mary Patterson, one of the prostitute
victims, is also portrayed like a real person along with David Tennant’s
heartbreaking portrayal of Daft Jamie, but sadly that isn’t enough to save this
story from seeming very much out of place with the rest of the stories.
To summarize, Medicinal Purposes has a lot of
potential to be a really good story with some gothic setting and characters
while it’s plot is ripping off a better story and of course the originality of
Ross’ storytelling is extremely convoluted which I am unsure of if the bacteria
plot comes back in Pier Pressure or Assassin in the Limelight. The acting is on top form even with some
spotty characterization especially of our main leads who get to have some great
scenes while the supporting cast is brilliant, especially David Tennant who is
just a heartbreaking character in this story.
The setting is also a perfectly fine setting and is probably some of the
best portions of the story for just feeling like it is out of the time
period. 50/100
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