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WHO HOME | BIG FINISH AUDIOS
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JUBILEE is a fitting title for the first Big Finish release of DOCTOR WHO's 40th year. But the Doctor isn't the only one celebrating an anniversary, so it's also appropriate that it features the Daleks. Robert Shearman has been Big Finish's most consistent writer, which is no mean achievement when you consider the level of that consistency. JUBILEE also sees him sharing directorial duties with Nicholas Briggs, so we know who to blame if the whole thing's a load of old rubbish... Fortunately that isn't the case at all, as JUBILEE is well up to the standards of Shearman's previous audios. The Jubilee in question is the 100th anniversary of the Doctor's defeat of the Dalek invasion of 1903, and act that started the English Empire on the way to realising its full potential. However, this isn't another one of those "go back in time, find out where history changed and put it right" stories; JUBILEE is so much more than that. Robert Shearman's author's notes highlight the fact that the Daleks have become safe, funny and camp. This is definitely the case in the trailer that opens the story, with the Daleks ("scarper, scarper") only there to be defeated by the Doctor and his beautiful assistant, Evelyn Smythe. It turns out that this is a reflection of how the English Empire regards Dalek: something to flog merchandise and to scare the kids off to bed ("make sure the Daleks don't bite"). However, JUBILEE doesn't send the Daleks up. Some of the lines ("merchandise with Daleks on it always sells well, especially in jubilee year") are dead funny, but the story actually looks at what makes the Daleks tick. This is primarily achieved via the sole survivor of the 1903 invasion, kept alone and de-armed in a cell, and Shearman manages to make the listener feel outraged by the Dalek's treatment. Maggie Stables gets a lot of scenes with the Dalek, and this is probably Evelyn's best story since her debut. Colin Baker's performances in previous audios have been great, and here he puts in another strong performance, both as the Doctor who arrives in 2003 and the one kept imprisoned by the English Empire. The story reunites Baker with his VENGEANCE ON VAROS co-star Martin Jarvis, who really throws himself into the role of the paranoid Rochester. Jarvis' wife Rosalind Ayres plays Rochester's wife, Miriam, and manages to reflect the character's intelligence and silliness. Her proposal of marriage could have come across as just ludicrous, but it comes as being entirely in character. Even so, it's totally hilarious. The story dips a little towards the end, but overall JUBILEE gets the 40th anniversary year off to a good start. BACK TO THE TOP |
JUBILEE |
