Monday, December 5, 2016

The Devil's Armada by: Philip Hinchcliffe adapted by: Marc Platt directed by: Ken Bentley: The Fourth Doctor Versus the Devil

The Devil’s Armada stars Tom Baker as the Doctor and Louise Jameson as Leela.  It was written by Philip Hinchcliffe, adapted by Marc Platt, directed by Ken Bentley and released in September 2014 by Big Finish Productions in the Philip Hinchcliffe Presents: Volume One Box Set.

 

The Ghosts of Gralstead was paired with a four part story about the Spanish Armada trying to invade England when released.  The Devil’s Armada, while only four parts has the problem of trying to be a six part story while only having four episodes to play around with instead of six as was with The Ghosts of Gralstead.  It’s a story that limps along with its four episodes touching on topics here and avoiding things there which just hurts its overall performance in the long run.  It is still by no means a bad story as it deals with gothic elements like all the other ideas of Philip Hinchcliffe and is still adapted for audio by the wonderful Marc Platt.  The third episode in particular has a lot of dragged out sequences which could have easily been shortened to improve the story.  The story sees the Doctor and Leela arriving on the coast of England at a time where Catholics are persecuted and everyone is fearing a Spanish invasion from the south as King Philip has built up his Armada to destroy the Protestants.  That setting already is masterfully done by Platt and Hinchcliffe as you reach an atmosphere of complete paranoia of Catholics being spies by Spain to steal British secrets.  It’s an atmosphere that seems to crop up in human history often and in the way that it’s done here makes the story very relatable for any casual listener wanting to have a go.

 


The story itself has the Doctor go against the alien Vituperon, an alien entity that is basically the Devil.  Vituperon is in control of little creatures called Imps that have been whipping up paranoia in the rural British countryside.  They are creatures of psychic energy and manifest apparitions that resemble witchcraft which of course allows the English villagers to turn on one another, even getting ready to burn the witches at the stake.  The sound design in the story, especially concerning the villains, helps add to the atmosphere.  The constant laughter of the Imps just makes its way inside your head.  You think you’re going crazy when everything will go quiet, just to start back up again and a cacophony of sound that makes anyone squirm.  Vituperon I will get back to in a minute as he is a brilliant villain.  There really is one person who is thought to be a witch in this story, Mistress Pincham, played by the wonderful Beth Chalmers.  Pincham is a kindly old spinster just trying to help out wherever she can and has nothing to do with witchcraft, she’s the model of an ideal Catholic.  She turns the other cheek, but still has a sense of self-preservation.  The Imps terrify her as she thinks she has the Second Sight which is a great idea to explore, but nothing is really done with it.  She does get a chance to use psychic powers to defend herself and Chalmers is having a lot of fun when playing the role.  Chalmers actually has three roles in this story which just goes to show how much of a good actress she is as the characters are distinct.

 


Ben Porter plays the kindly Father D’Arcy who really has one purpose of getting the Doctor and Leela into the plot which is a real shame as there is potential for the character to make an impression, but nothing really comes out of it except a sad ending to a character.  The rest of the good guys in the supporting cast are the Harney’s who are just a good family and to be honest a little bit bland.  The human villain of William Redcliffe is much more interesting as he plays the head Catholic Hunter.  He’s just a character that has a lot of potential fulfilled and I just cannot help but love as he gives off this air of evil.  The influence is obviously from the Imps and Vitupeon who make him do things that really he wouldn’t do naturally.  The Doctor and Leela also have yet another good outing together.  Leela, while being the savage woman from another planet, calls this version of England primitive which is apt for the situation as you see just how much she has grown as a character with Big Finish.  Vitupeon is the real villain and he and Tom Baker have sparring matches to rival those of Sutekh, Morbius, and Harrison Chase.  It’s really what keeps the story going and saves a lot of the stories problems from being noticed.

 

To summarize, The Devil’s Armada cannot be nearly as good as The Ghosts of Gralstead, using the time it has in a way that causes pacing problems with the story and drag in Part Three.  The acting is great and the villain is just thrilling overall.  The sound design paints a vivid picture for your mind to visualize when listening as well as any BBC budgeted historical story could have.  Baker and Jameson are on top form with great performances coming from Big Finish regular Beth Chalmers to add to the quality of the story in general giving the story 80/100.

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