The Monthly Adventures #057 - “Arrangements for War" by Paul Sutton

Doctor Who can be many things; it can be funny; it can be clever; it can be fun. It can pastiche cheap 1950s monster movies and crime capers and pulpy horror novels, but very rarely can it emulate something such as prestige TV. Arrangements from War is a madly brilliant little story from the gap between seasons of the Divergent Arc that feels straight out of a new, unseen HBO show, with all the scope, bloodshed and character drama to warrant a run on prime time TV. A world at war leads to a script unlike anything we’ve gotten before and, unfortunately, probably unlike anything we’ll ever have again.

Determined to take some time away from the Doctor, Evelyn convinces her travelling companion to land somewhere interesting and free of some great foe they need to defeat. The Doctor chooses Világ, a planet fresh out of war that will remain peaceful for weeks to come. But when the Doctor accidentally causes the collapse of a vital peace treaty, the whole world begins to slip into the throws of armageddon.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Can I begin with saying that this audio is bizarre to me? Doctor Who is a good show, it’s an amazing show, but its best episodes are always the conceptual, the brilliant, the clever, never a small-scale political love story. Arrangements for War is pulled straight from a different show and I couldn’t be happier. It is a ridiculously expansive script, portraying an entire world at war, without visuals, in the space of 120 minutes. Astonishing. In such little time, Sutton is able to create the entirely believable, interesting and well-constructed world of Világ and for that I can only praise him. On top of that, the story is a utterly fantastic whirlwind of political espionage and forbidden romance. The political backstabbing, plots, threats and shenanigans here are incredibly entertaining and despite being somebody who usually turns their nose up at classic romances, Sutton writes such likeable, realistic characters that I’m just absorbed by their dynamic, not even thanks to the brilliant performances. And I mean brilliant, Arrangements for War could very well have the greatest cast in a Doctor Who project. Ever. Not only do Colin Baker and Maggie Smith deliver what is undoubtedly their best performance, we have Gabriel Woolf as the caring and sympathetic Rossiter, who acts a fantastic romantic interest for our very own Dr. Smythe, but we also have the intoxicatingly endearing Krysta and Marcus, who sell the main dynamic with their chemistry alone, and the duplicitous, slimy Plenipotentiary Suskind, who acts as a brilliant two faced villain that’s far more complex than just your average, tyrannous, power-hungry politician. And the story is a masterpiece too; despite dealing with wars, invasions and espionage, it’s really a real low-key story about a young couple in love, and how it affects the Doctor and Evelyn. It is expertly told, spanning months but being cut down to a couple hours without feeling rushed; this could take up a whole miniseries but by skipping over the right moments and giving just enough exposition, Sutton manages to compellingly tell his story in a tenth of the time. Plus, this story uses sound expertly to tell a narrative, making the whole thing feel undeniably dynamic in how it builds soundscapes and distance; you can picture the scene and camera movements of what an episode would look like (though a story of this size would never make it onto screen). And of course, after the long dreaded invasion of Part 4, we get perhaps the most heartbreaking end to an episode of Doctor Who ever. Both Marcus and Krysta are shot down in the invasion, leaving the Doctor, having finally given into grief, to try and go back in time and save them. In the end, he is stopped by Evelyn, and they simply watch the couple, happy and unknowing as the travellers finally overcome the differences they’d been having in the story. Arrangements from War takes place directly after Project: Lazarus and, unlike any lesser story, does not sideline this conflict for the sake of the plot, instead having the Doctor and Evelyn’s argument central to the whole story and finally resolving in this scene, as the Doctor talks to Evelyn about grief and the two consider what the right thing to do when somebody you love dies is. It’s a stunningly beautiful, shocking and all together staggering ending that leaves me with no words every time I hear it. Paul Sutton is an incredible writer and here it shows unlike any other story.

However, I do have one major problem and that’s that I dislike Part 4 far more than the rest of the story. Detailing the Killoran invasion that the last hour and half had been building up to, it really doesn’t do justice to its set piece, despite the last three parts so effortlessly building a whole world. It’s over too soon and we see very little of it, making the supposedly blood thirsty Killorans somewhat of a non-entity (I know they’re in the Benny range, but I haven’t listened to that) and the invasion is ambiguously defeated. And if I was really nitpicking, I’d say the secondary antagonist - the bloodthirsty Commander Pokol - was leagues below the rest of the characters. Surprisingly one note and really a walking, talking plot convenience; his final appearance of suddenly returning from being supposedly dead, shooting Krysta and then immediately getting killed was an awkward way of achieving that conclusion, however poignant it ended up being. He’s a weird stain on an otherwise pretty perfect story.

And that’s just what Arrangement for War is: pretty perfect. It’s of unknown quality for even Big Finish, taking a direction unknown for Doctor Who, with little bug eyed monsters or tin dogs in sight. It’s a stunningly poignant love story under the guise of a political thriller that does some absolute wonders for what might be the best TARDIS team; Jubilee be damned, for specifically the characters of the Doctor and Evelyn, this is their best story. Arrangements for War is a uniquely brilliant time, and one that deserves to be far more talked about than it is.

10/10

Pros:

+ Insanely expansive, impressive audio

+ Incredible world building

+ All around brilliant performances

+ Wonderful political espionage

+ Earth-shattering ending

+ All time great cast of characters

+ Expertly paced and cut down

+ Fantastic sound design

+ The perfect exploration of one of Who’s best TARDIS teams

Cons:

- The final Killoran invasion is very underbaked

- Pokol was an odd secondary antagonist