Oh Charley Pollard, a
character with an extremely tight character arc. Any stories that would have been inserted
into the arc would possibly loosen everything if it was deep in the story. Solitaire
however is a story that nicely inserts itself just after Embrace the Darkness, but not before The Time of the Daleks making for at
least some interesting results. The
story also works as a pilot for a series of adventures staring India Fisher as
Charley on her own without the Doctor. John
Dorney does this by only allowing the Doctor to appear as a ventriloquist’s
dummy in the corner with Fisher providing a voice through the side of her mouth
while events unfold become necessary for the intervention. Many stories from Big Finish bring back past
villains and this story is Charley versus the Celestial Toymaker in a game set
in a toy shop.
Sometime before the audio
opens the Eighth Doctor, who has complete faith in Charley, makes a deal with
the Celestial Toymaker to be turned into a doll and to let Charley play a game
without any of his help. If Charley wins
they can go free and continue to travel, but if she loses they have to stay
there forever. The action of the plot
mimics the premise of The Celestial
Toymaker, but unlike the Trilogic Game which was a puzzle that the Doctor
could easily figure out in the allotted moves, the game of Solitaire is much more dastardly.
Charley doesn’t know what the name of the game is, nor the rules or
objective so she can win. It’s an
impossible task as Charley and by extension the listener don’t know if what
she’s doing is in the right direction or if it’s completely far off from
everything that has to be accomplished.
It creates a real sense of chaos that at any moment she could lose the
game, but what John Dorney adds to the story is the toyshop being alive. After a period of time the shop will decrease
by 10% and continue increasing until Charley is crushed to death. This adds a real sense of tension to the
story as it refuses to say when the building will shrink again.
Charley Pollard has a
great characterization here as she and David Bailie really are doing a full
cast audio that just happens to have two characters. Charley is resourceful in her own situation
with the Toymaker, applying basic logic and analyzing the Toymaker’s answers to
her questions to find solutions. Dorney
also allows her to make missteps while allowing the audience to guess where the
story will go next. What improves is how
sometimes once Charley thinks she has a solution it turns out that, yes, she
was several steps in the wrong direction and has to back up if she wishes to
continue. India Fisher steals the show
as she refuses to be broken until the very end when it is absolutely necessary
for her to win, not even when she thinks she’s killed the Doctor by throwing
him into a disintegration cabinet, which is actually the TARDIS. David Bailie as the Celestial Toymaker is
also great in this story as he brings menace to the role. This is his chance to really imitate Michael
Gough in this audio which really makes the character work. You see the Toys rebel against the Toymaker
yet Bailie always keeps a mood of coolness that is chilling when listened to.
To summarize, Solitaire is really just a story for
Charley to be Charley and go against a foe for all ages. The writing and acting of this story form a
perfect combination to allow one of the best stories for Paul McGann even if
McGann isn’t in the story. Fisher and
Bailie are guided under Nick Briggs’s excellent direction to create a story
with a surreal tone and just a lot of great imagery that stays in the mind long
after the closing theme plays. 100/100
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