Barbara Clegg is an
underrated writer for Doctor Who. Only
having one script going to air while submitting at least two others rejected
for one reason or another. Both of these
scripts have been adapted as a part of the Lost Stories range and both have
been considered classics, but for what reason?
Well today I am looking at her third script for Doctor Who, Point of Entry, which was originally a
contender for Season 23, but rejected, mainly because of budget and a lack of
interest in historical stories for that season.
The original storyline survived through the ages and was given to Marc
Platt to adapt. It seems to be a dream
team of writers as Clegg’s originally known for Enlightenment, the high point of Season 20 and Platt is famous for Ghost Light, Spare Parts and Lungbarrow. They are two of my favorite writers for the
show and seeing their styles merge as one is extremely satisfying as the story
has the mysticism from Clegg and the gritty horror of Platt’s usual
writings. Mix it together with a
historical setting and you have a recipe for perfection.
The story sees the Doctor
and Peri arrive in Elizabethean London during the time when playwright
Christopher Marlowe is writing his magnum opus, Doctor Faustus. Like many
writers he is suffering from writer’s block, unable to find inspiration to
finish the play as he is visited by a Spaniard called Velez who claims to have
spoken with the Devil and has supernatural powers. Velez will give power to Marlowe if he
assists in finding an obsidian Aztec dagger which will act as the titular point
of entry for the Omnim, a race that takes the form of gods and can create an
immense pressure of fear and paranoia in humans. This takes the story’s obvious inspiration
from Pyramids of Mars one step
further as the Omnim are a truly terrifying race as they cause riots in the
streets at a time famous for religious persecution and war. Clegg and Platt have this come to a head in
Part Two in a sequence where Peri is impersonating Queen Elizabeth I while
Velez becomes the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl and rampages through London. It’s one of the weirdest climaxes in any
Doctor Who story and it is one of the best.
The portrayal of Christopher
Marlowe and Velez by Matt Addis and Luis Soto respectively makes a great
Holmesian double act as Marlowe is a man who searches for knowledge while Velez
is searching for power, which can be considered the opposite of knowledge. The story has the effect of having characters
going for opposite goals while they are working together for a reason that can
only lead to ruin. Marlowe is the more
sympathetic of the two as he intends absolutely no harm while Velez wishes to
crush his opponents and control the world.
Velez also has an Igor like servant, Iguano played by Sean Conolly who
is great at pulling off a Spanish accent next to Luis Soto who actually is
Spanish. He’s a great comedic part as
like Enlightenment there are quite a
lot of humorous moments.
Nicola Bryant gets to ham
it up as she spends much of Part Two in disguise as Queen Elizabeth and of
course gets the chance to actually use her accent. Except it isn’t her accent as it is her doing
an American doing a British accent which is extremely interesting to hear as it
shows the complexities of acting. There
is this slight sense that pervades her accent that it isn’t quite natural and
it really shouldn’t be, because Peri is from America and not royal in any way. Colin Bake of course is reveling in the story
as he gets a good chance to be in history which is something he always
wished. He actually makes a really good
point as to why these on audio are better as the tone here would never have
been done on television.
To summarize, Point of Entry is brilliant, just
brilliant. It takes two great writers
and puts them together to create this dark and dramatic tale about sacrifice
and death. The acting is spot on and the
Omnim as a species are such an extreme race that they completely outclass the
Osirans from Pyramids of Mars. Nicola Bryant is the standout of the story as
she gets to have an extreme range in acting this time around. It is the best story from the first season of
the Lost Stories, hands down. 100/100
I thoroughly agree. Point of Entry is one of my favorite Big Finish stories and it always will be. Great review, by the way. I was actually looking for high-definition cover pictures of Farewell, Great Macedon when I stumbled upon this blog, and I don't regret it! Keep up the good work!
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