The Monthly Adventures #74 - "LIVE 34" by James Parsons and Andrew Sterling-Brown

The worst thing about the second bracket of The Monthly Adventures is the seeming decision to stop so frequently using new and experimental formats the second half of #1-50 so often employed. Besides a couple towards the start, #51-100 has been distinctly more formulaic, even the supposedly innovative Divergent Saga actively avoiding experimentalism. This is probably why I found LIVE 34 such a refreshing story, because it does something I truly have never seen before and makes total use of its format in a way I am utterly floored was not attempted sometime before this.

LIVE 34: news every hour, broadcasting to all of Colony 34 live and accurate updates on the most recent events. Now we go to the latest updates on the election between Premier Jaeger and opposition leader: the Doctor.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

The first thing anybody will notice about LIVE 34 is the thing that lets it stand out amongst the crowd: it’s presented to you as a live news broadcast, in real time. Immediately, brilliant idea, I love Big Finish stuff that takes advantage of it being audio only and this excels. The fact nobody thought to do something like this in the experimental run of #1-50 is shocking to me frankly, but I’m happy with it here, especially since we get a writer who can actually pull it off. Two, actually; James Parsons and Andrew Sterling-Brown aren’t names familiar to me, which is a real shame since LIVE 34 is an utterly fantastic and intelligent script that makes full use of its concept, something a lot of other stories fail to do.

I also appreciate how it writes our main trio, as it splits them into three distinct subplots separated by parts and each leaves room to really develop them. Seven is peak Seven here, as a master manipulator using his abilities for good (can we get a Seven and Trickster story please) he absolutely rocks in the revolution story that always wanted him. The counterculture of the 80s is on full display and the Doctor taking up the role of politician and trying to arrange things from the inside is absolutely perfect material for McCoy to play with. As for our other characters, they also get a nice amount to do and are all fantastically characterised: Ace takes up the role as leader of a resistance within the impoverished districts of the the colony and Hex starts work as an ambulance driver; the character work isn’t exactly in your face but is subtly brilliant stuff.

The actual narrative though is incredible. The structure’s a little iffy - each part doesn’t feel particularly cohesive and the constant time gaps tend to really slow the story down - but the plot is a fantastic portrayal of the creep of facism, slowly working its way into people’s lives in the name of peace and sanity. It’s honestly terrifying to see this innocent colony slowly succumb to hate and terror, and see such obvious censorship take effect that excellently mirrors real world dictatorships. This is all spearheaded by the wonderfully awful Premier Jaeger, whose slimy, showmanship politics are an absolute tour de force and cement a lot of the commentary of this story in real world leaders and oppressors.

I would give LIVE 34 a 10/10, I really would, but there’s one or two problems that really trip it up for me. Firstly, I commented on the structure before and as much as I love the concept and execution of this story, it becomes quite tiresome by the third part. The need to constantly put in unnecessary dialogue and fluff in order to keep the story moving is what really brings it down, pacing is not this script’s strong suit. It’s probably worse during Part Three, which really has very little meat to it but is inflated by the need to simulate an entire ambulance ride and so just fills it with menial conversation.

And then we get onto Part Four, which is really the thorn in this story’s side. I can get past the pacing issues, they’re pretty unobtrusive, but what’s really the kicker is how they wrap this whole thing up. So, all of our main characters are dead or captured, Jaeger’s basically rigged the election and Colony 34 is going to keep on living in their voted-in hell. How do our heroes save the day? Well, apparently it’s by just walking onto stage and monologuing for fifteen minutes straight. Yeah, the whole last part is just a massive exposition dump revealing all the things the Doctor had gotten up to in perhaps the most unsatisfying, inorganic way possible. Not to mention the kitschy dialogue switching between members of our TARDIS team as they express how Parsons and Sterling-Brown couldn’t work out how to wrap up their story.

Not to mention the absolute disparity in tone this final part presents. So, up until now, this has been a grim story that relied on its realism to work and I praised it for its mirror to actual fascism. And then it’s revealed that the Premier Jaeger we’ve been following and loathing is actually an imposter - an actor hired by the government to impersonate the real Premier, who’s been slowly dying of a degenerative illness. This cartoonish, utterly bizarre twist is an absolute tone breaker that significantly decreases the stage presence of our main villain and only works to further confuse and worsen the finale.

LIVE 34, whilst its conclusion is utter wank, is mostly one of the best Monthly Adventures in a while and a nice reminder of what this range is capable of. Great use of our main characters and a format pushed to its max, this is absolutely a stand out from this run and it’s disappointing the creative team behind it rarely got work again because this is a truly fantastic example of what Doctor Who can do when given the right talent.

9/10

Pros:

+ Brilliant concept and execution

+ Taps into Seven’s revolutionary leanings well

+ Uses each member of our TARDIS team effectively

+ Great depiction of the slow creep of fascism

+ Jaeger was a brilliantly despicable antagonist

Cons:

- The final part is literally just exposition

- Drags in a lot of places

- The actual reveal is weirdly cartoonish for such a grounded story