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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