The Settling by: Simon Guerrier directed by: Gary Russell: Not the Luck of the Irish

The Settling stars Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor with Clive Mantle as Oliver Cromwell, Sophie Aldred as Ace and Philip Olivier as Hex.  It was written by Simon Guerrier, directed by Gary Russell and released in May 2006 by Big Finish Productions.

 

Well, this one was brutal to listen to, just brutal.  Being Hex’s first adventure into Earth’s history and in his infinite wisdom the Seventh Doctor has taken his Irish companion to the taking of the Irish town of Drogheda in 1649.  A siege by Oliver Cromwell that ended in an extreme death toll for the Irish as Cromwell ordered their slaughter after refusal for surrender.  While Hex is a nurse, someone devoted to saving lives which he is of course wanting to do even at this tragedy.  This makes for an extremely dramatic story as it acts as The Aztecs for Hex who doesn’t want to let anyone die and once he realizes that Cromwell may be reasoned with, actually thinks that it may work out for the best.  Of course it doesn’t as this shows another exercise in the futility of changing history with the small twist that Hex’s actions caused a slightly less deadly siege to occur and the Doctor got the chance to deliver a baby which is interesting.  Now a lot of people really love this story and I don’t think I can be an exception to the trend as the drama had me extremely intrigued in how exactly this story was going to go and if the actual story would allow history to be changed as for a moment it really seems like it is going to happen.

 

There are a few flaws in the story at the least as the only female character, the pregnant Mary played by Claire Cathcart is there so the Doctor, Ace and Hex have an excuse to actually stay to get involved in events.  Yes the character gets a laugh as she is almost stereotypically Irish and wanting to fight for the freedom of her country, but is pregnant.  It’s only redeemed that Guerrier doesn’t decide to kill her off as that would be even more cliché for the story.  Oliver Cromwell however isn’t nearly as bad as he is played by the delightful Clive Mantle.  I don’t know much about the historical Cromwell and the English Civil War except that he is the closest thing in Britain to France’s Robespierre, but Mantle really makes Cromwell feel alive and three dimensional.  He isn’t just the cackling villain of the piece, but he actually cares about his man and unlike Robespierre, actually has tolerance for different beliefs.  He debates ideas with Hex which destroys the first impression of the witch burner as the unfortunate naming of Hex makes people accuse him of witchcraft.

 

Let’s take a minute to talk about Hex as this isn’t the story of the Doctor or Ace, but Hex’s manipulation into events.  Of course the Doctor knows where he landed them this time and is trying to show just how everything isn’t black and white.  It’s Hex’s Ghost Light in a sense as it places him in a place to confront his past, even if it isn’t his personal past, but his heritage that he has to confront.  Philip Olivier is honestly great in the role as Hex here and really is allowed to come into his own here as the Doctor forces him through the emotional wringer.  He thinks the Doctor and Ace are killed in the siege so has to follow Cromwell around just so that he can actually survive and is almost resigned to his fate as stranded.

 

The story also allows us to get into Hex’s head by putting it into a frame story where Hex is recounting his side of events to Ace after the fact.  This is where Sophie Aldred as Ace shines as she has to almost be the older sister to Hex.  She is obviously much older than she was in Seasons 25 and 26 and has definitely experienced the events of Set Piece and Head Games and made her peace with the Doctor.  She knows that the Doctor probably was exploiting Hex, even if it isn’t confirmed, but knows that it could have been a lot worse for him.  She is what saves the framing device from being boring and does it extremely well.  This does bring up the problem that the Doctor doesn’t get much to do and yes it is a problem.  You could make the argument that like many of the Virgin New Adventures his presence is felt, but really that doesn’t hold up as there are points where you forget that this is Doctor Who and feels like the Adventures of Hex and Ace.  Now I don’t know how Guerrier could have fixed it and it doesn’t always get in the way, just in the middle before we think the Doctor is dead.

 

To summarize The Settling is an emotionally engaging story that knows just how to tug at your heartstrings in the right way to solicit a reaction from its audience while staying in the Hartnell historical style playing off the ideas of The Aztecs and The Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Eve, but keeping in the era of the Seventh Doctor with the master manipulator and emulating the main motivation behind Ghost Light.  There are some flaws to be seen with the Doctor not being present for most of the story and some characters not making an impression.  85/100.