I’m a sucker for the pure
historical when it is done well and Alison Lawson’s Catch-1782 does it especially well.
The story is another of Big Finish’s powerhouse stories for the
character of Mel Bush who much like the early portions of The Juggernauts becomes the main character in the story. The plot sees the Doctor take her to 2003 to
see her uncle as the institute he works for is burying a time capsule and of
course as this is Doctor Who a stitch in time occurs and Mel is sent back to
1781. The house is owned by Henry Hallem
who keeps Mel under his care as he has fallen in love with her and she can’t do
anything to stop it from happening as her mind has been addled from the
trip. The story becomes about the Doctor
trying to steal her away from Hallem, but she is caught in a catch-22 as Mel is
mistaken for Eleanor the ghost who is haunting the house in 2003 and is in the
records of dying in the early 1800s. The
plot however becomes extremely weak in Part Four as everything is resolved in
an extremely quick manner and this story really could have used a fifth or
sixth part to fill it out better.
Literally everything is solved with a plot McGuffin which doesn’t make
sense as Lawson shows she is a competent writer with the first three parts but
just is unable to stick the ending.
The acting from everyone on
the cast is actually really good with Keith Drinkel as Henry Hallem sticking
out as the pseudo-villain. Yes Hallem is
a man in grief for his deceased wife Jane and it really comes through in his actions
concerning Mel as he cannot stand to leave her out in the cold December
evenings of 1781 and keeps her for six months while everyone he knows says he
has to put her in an asylum. In the
latter half it is his infatuation that grows from caring for Mel blinds him to
the fact that she doesn’t love him and wants to force her into marriage. The character development is done extremely
well as you can see him begin to fall into the pits of madness early on in the
story. I also must mention Michael Chance
as Dr. Wallace who is Hallem’s best friend and the one telling him to send Mel
to the asylum. He comes off as a
genuinely kind soul even if the asylum thing is harsh as he is at his wit’s end
to what he can do to try and help Mel.
There is also the housekeeper Mrs. McGregor played by Jillie Meers who
could have been part of a love triangle between Mel and Hallem as she has an
unrequited love for the man, but Lawson is smart enough not to go down that
path and keeps her in the shadows until the end. Her final scenes are genuinely tearjerkers as
the love remains unrequited.
Moving on we have the
three main characters of the cast. I
really shouldn’t have to say much about Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor as Baker
always gives a good performance. This one
is no exception to that rule as the Doctor really does care for Mel and wants
her back along with the fact that he may just have to leave her to keep the Web
of Time intact. It’s an interesting
moral dilemma and Baker pulls it off in a great way. Next up we have Mel played by Bonnie Langford
who has some of her best scenes in this story as even though her mind is addled
her personality shines through. She is
always thinking about when the Doctor is going to come and save her from her
prison which really is what keeps her going.
She also really doesn’t want to break Hallem’s heart. Also her relationship with her uncle is great
as she doesn’t put up with the complete mess of a home he keeps, but she still
cares for him and doesn’t want him to worry about what she is doing. Speaking of her uncle Derek Benfield is also
great as John is the companion for when Mel disappears. He is a man who lets his work run his mind in
the trope of the absent minded professor which he does very well.
To summarize, Catch-1782 is a great story in almost
every right but the final part leaves a lot to be desired. I believe of course that the ending of a
story is the most important part and when the ending suffers the entire story
suffers as a result. This is the main
reason that I have to decrease the score down to 78/100.
No comments:
Post a Comment