I am writing this story
in a secret underground bunker beneath my home which I will be destroying so I
cannot be found after I make my next statement as it is going to be an
extremely controversial one. It may even
have ramifications on my credibility as a critic, but seeing as I had little
credibility to begin with and I write reviews as expressions of my own personal
opinion. Any review should be taken as
such. If everyone is in a calm place I
will continue, Zagreus is not only a
good story, but also a great example of how to do an anniversary special
without being traditional. Yes the story
is extremely flawed and is at least one hour too long, but a good story can still
be badly paced if it does one single thing.
A badly paced story has to be full of again not only good ideas, but
interesting ideas and I think I can safely say Zagreus has good ideas in spades.
It continues to push the relationship of the Eighth Doctor and Charley
Pollard into new territory that until that point had never been done with a
Doctor and companion team. It is a
pivotal story that shakes everything up and sends the Doctor out of our
universe into the Divergent Universe where the concept of time doesn’t actually
exist. This is however not what an anniversary
special should be doing. An anniversary
special should be a time to look back on the history of whatever is having the
anniversary and celebrating its triumphs and poking fun at its flaws. Zagreus
is able to do this in an extremely clever way by integrating it into the
actual plot of the special.
Zagreus
is presented as three seventy minute long parts spread across three discs which
is where we do get a glaring pacing problem.
The story is obviously meant to be a six part story with clear areas
where a cliffhanger would be placed, similar to the way Season 22 was formatted
coming with those flaws of that structure.
That said the plot has distinct tones across each disc that conveys a
mood. The first disc is Zagreus: Wonderland and other than being
an opportunity for Doctor Who to be inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in the basic plot synopsis. The story picks up where Neverland left off with the Eighth Doctor has been taken over by
the Zagreus entity rampaging against Charley, who hides in the back of the
TARDIS. The first half of the disc
focuses on the Eighth Doctor and Charley exploring the holograms the TARDIS has
put up as what seems to be a safety measure.
Beginning with the Eighth Doctor, after Paul McGann has a chance to
overact stomping around he becomes immediately more subdued as he explores a
forest where he meets a vision of the Third Doctor taken from fan film Devious and later a Cat, based on the
future image of companion C’rizz played by Conrad Westmass, which goes through
a demonstration of the Schrodinger’s Cat experiment that allows Paul McGann a
chance to play the vulnerable Doctor which is great here before he disappears
until the third part of the story. India
Fisher as Charley Pollard is our main character as she is escorted through a
wonderland style London by her mother in the image of Polly Wright. Lady Pollard is played brilliantly by Anneke
Wills who hasn’t lost any form in playing the character. Through this section of the story we get a
more detailed explanation of how Charley ran away on the R101 as told by her
former teacher Miss Lime in the image of Sarah Jane Smith which is an all too
short cameo from Elisabeth Sladen. This
is all before Charley gets her own white rabbit in the TARDIS taking the form
of the Doctor’s oldest human friend, Brigadier Lethebridge-Stewart played again
by Nicholas Courtney. Courtney’s
performance in this first part is mainly his performance from the television
series but there is hints of darkness sprinkled throughout. The second half of the disc takes the form of
a flashback of a military base in the early 1930s where the crew takes the form
of various companions of the Fifth Doctor in what is the least interesting
segment of the story. Dr. Stone (Peri
Brown) played by Nicola Bryant is creating a portal to another universe with
the help of Reverend Townsend (the Fifth Doctor) who is a normal priest who has
had his faith shaken by the war. There
is also a spy which could be any of the base’s personnel from the Reverend’s
niece (Erimem) played by Caroline Morris, the secretary Miss Foster (Nyssa)
played by Sarah Sutton or Captain McDonnell (Turlough) played by Mark
Strickson. This is the only real
intrigue in this part of the plot as the story as it is a Red Scare style witch
hunt which I honestly love, but it isn’t long before the traitor is revealed,
the machine blows up and we are on to the second part.
The second part of the
story is Zagreus: Wasteland, which
does what the second half of Zagreus:
Wonderland did but instead of doing it with the Fifth Doctor’s era it is
with the Sixth and Seventh Doctor’s era.
The title also is in reference to the overall plot that the main
universe has been wasting away and it is the actions of the Doctor saving
Charley that allowed the deterioration to begin. It is also in reference to the TARDIS which
has gone slightly insane from containing the anti-time in Neverland and has sinister plans for Charley and the Doctor. The plots with the characters begin with
Charley and the TARDIS going to a hologram of Gallifrey where vampire Lord
Tarpov (the Sixth Doctor) played by Colin Baker in one of his best performances
and his underling (Peri) played by Nicola Bryant are meeting with the Great
Mother of the Sisterhood of Karn (Evelyn) and one of the sisters (Mel) played
by Maggie Stables and Bonnie Langford respectively, about the actions of
Rassilon. This is where we get some of
the dirty details on the Time Lords and how Rassilon has been tampering with
the genetic makeup of the universe’s species so many civilizations will look
humanoid. This is the high point of the overall
story with the acting being on top form and the story being completely dark in
a way that I just love. The second half
of the disc is a Disney World Parody with sentient robots at the end of the
universe are at war over the Animator, Walton Winkle (the Seventh Doctor)
played by Sylvester McCoy who wakes up from suspended animation just in time
for the universe to be destroyed. The
war between the humanoid robots led by Goldilocks (Mel Bush) played by Bonnie
Langford in a role meant for this actress which I just love are attacking the animal
robots (Ace, Benny and Jason Kane) played by Sophie Aldred, Lisa Bowerman and
Stephen Fewell who are also on top form here in what I can describe as an LSD
trip gone wrong in a glorious way. The big
problem with this portion is that it is a very short portion of the story that
ends very abruptly to bring us into the third disc.
The third disc is Zagreus: Heartland which takes place
mainly on Gallifrey and has the honor of wrapping up the story. Instead of picking up with Charley who has
been thrown out of the TARDIS by Rassilon played by Don Warrington (I’ll get to
him later), and Zagreus, we start with Romana played by Lalla Ward who is
telling K9 played by John Leeson to write down a bedtime story and is interrupted
by the noble savage, Leela played by Louise Jameson. This gives Alan Barnes and Gary Russell a
chance to establish their characters’ chemistry as they try to fix what it
wrong in the Doctor’s mind from the outside.
The two actresses have some of their best performances as this serves as
a pilot for Big Finish’s spin-off Gallifrey
which is often cited as some of the best in their catalogue. This is the weakest disc in terms of plot as
the main plot is just a confusing excuse to defeat the villain and kill off the
Eighth Doctor who has a scene with his three previous former selves which does
what every anniversary special should do and pokes fun at the worst times of
Doctor who with much made of the 1980s era of the show. The end of the story is also a very emotional
ride as Charley and the Doctor gets to have closure to their relationship and
the profession of love in Neverland
with the acknowledgment that the Doctor cannot love. This is the Doctor and Rose relationship done
right as we get closure and the companion while still is in love respects that
the Doctor isn’t human. It is Charley’s
respect that leads her to sneaking back on the TARDIS at the end of the story
to go help the Doctor get through the Divergent Universe.
Thus ends the story of Zagreus which means, I think, a summary
is in order. The story is definitely a
flawed one, but being flawed doesn’t mean something isn’t good. Heck The
Caves of Androzani has some flaws, but is considered a great piece of
Doctor Who history. Zagreus has a great story that has its writer’s feeling the spirit
of Doctor Who in every second even if the story is too long and is in desperate
need of an edit. The acting is all on
top form as the cast is made up of either Doctor Who veterans or future Doctor Who
staples in the case of Conrad Westmass and Stephen Perring. The direction is a feat to be held with some
excellent music that feels like it can be from any era of Doctor Who
history. The ending does let the story
down which is the biggest sin this story commits. All in all I give Zagreus a justified 80/100.
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