Bloodtide

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Apocalypse Element

Charles Darwin and the Silurians, a pair so perfect for each other that they're doing it again in a book coming out this month. This story is actually really interesting in how it handles Darwin encountering the Silurians, at the start he's skeptical of God, but still believing in him and by the end he believes that religion is a lie. It's fascinating to hear this happen over the course of the story and Miles Richardson's excellent performance as Darwin really helps this story stand out. Colin Baker and Maggie Stables remain an extremely fun pair to listen to.

I was surprised to find out that this was one of few Classic Silurian stories on audio, they feel like such an iconic villain that you'd expect them to appear in more. I do really like how accurate this story is to the sound design of the Silurians. The voices are on point and this story even includes the infamous third eye laser noise responsible for so many ridiculous Classic Who cliffhangers. While the inclusion of Darwin definitely makes this story stand out, it still follows the typical format of a Silurian adventure. There's always one good Silurian and one bad one that argue a bunch. The Doctor tries to be the voice of reason. Somewhere along the way a virus gets released and it ends in explosion.

Overall, I like so many things about this story (the atmosphere, the way it uses Charles Darwin, the accuracy to the TV show no matter how silly) but I can't help feeling it's a bit derivative.

Next Story: Project: Twilight

15.06.2022

Meh. Charles Darwin is in this story and he comes up with a theory of evolution throughout the course of the play. It is realised with a subtlety of a brick. Also Homo Sapiens were created by one Silurian guy, like kettle. Not naturally evolved. Specifically crafted. One could even say, divinely. A strange idea to put into the same story as Darwin's Origin of Species creation.

As for the plot, it's forgettable and skippable. The villain is a bleak evil scientist. The culmination is a stuff of kindergartens. 1/5

MR 022: Bloodtide

The thing I remembered most from this audio is the way that lady says "Devils." Still pretty B tier coded, but at least Colin and Evelyn are here so that's pretty nice. It's also the first use of the Silurians. Unfortunately, it's pretty standard as far as Silurian stories go, especially classic who Silurian stories.

The Beagle is doing its tour of the Galapagos Islands with Charles Darwin, yes, that Darwin. They end up uncovering some Silurians that have been woken up from their slumber and are working on killing all of humanity with a plague. Again. That's really all there is to it. The thing that makes it pretty standard and definitely too long, like a classic who story, is that it has the Doctor get captured... and then Evelyn goes after him with Darwin and they get captured. And then the Doctor escapes and he goes after them. It's just a waste of time. It could have easily been cut down to an hour, again, like a lot of classic who.

That said, there's some good ideas here. I particularly liked Darwin in the middle of having an existential and religious crisis of faith in the middle of being captured by the Silurians. Indeed, juxtaposing Darwin himself with the Silurians is a great idea. The story does the correct thing in comparing natural selection with artificial selection or animal breeding. Darwin talks about the way that animals are domesticated, becoming more calm because of human intervention. And he compares that to the finches becoming more afraid of humans over time by their presence on the islands.

It's particularly interesting because the story says that humans used to be the Silurians' food and that one Silurian decided to advance their evolution and give them intelligence. So humans themselves are a product of artificial selection, breeding by Silurians. That would absolutely send Darwin into a crisis of faith.
I also found the myrka pretty hilarious considering, you know, Warriors. Just don't drop kick it. They do manage to make it feel threatening as an actual giant sea monster rather than two guys in a panto horse costume. It just is pretty superfluous.

The Doctor gets to make some fun jabs at humanity. How can humans be intelligent when they enslave each other ect ect. How is eating humans any different than eating cattle. Stuff you'd expect of Six, which I'm here for. I enjoyed the outraged ship captain trying to come up with reasons to justify why eating humans is wrong and eating cows is ok. It is so good to finally have Colin back. It's been EIGHT audios since we had him. And not coincidentally Holy Terror was the last truly good one. And yes, I do like Paul McGann quite a lot, who doesn't, but his first four audios here left a lot to be desired.

The Monthly Adventures #022 - "Bloodtide" by Jonathan Morris

As we go through the Main Range, we’re bound to run into some pretty notorious writers that have gone on to make a massive name for themselves in Doctor Who expanded media. One of these names happens to be Jonathan Morris, who has become somewhat of a favourite of mine over my years, famous for his bleak writing and horror notes. His highlight that I’ve thus far experienced would absolutely be Protect and Survive, that is one bleak little horror story, but his first audio outing was here: a historical half-remake of Doctor Who and the Silurians.

Visiting the Galapagos Islands, Evelyn finds herself making friends with Charles Darwin as the Doctor discovers familiar enemies at work deep beneath the Earth surface and a secret that could change the course of history.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Bloodtide, aside from having an incredibly cool name, is not a stand-out story by any means. It traipses through a number of clichés and feeds off the plot points of a number of more iconic stories to build its narrative, but it is certainly an interesting entry. When I call it a remake of Doctor Who and the Silurians, I mean it traverses most of the same narrative beats except for basically any of the Hulkian political subtext; human accomplice, Silurians with conflicting morals, a deadly plague set upon the Earth people, you can see where Morris drew a lot of inspiration from easily. It actually does emulate a similar tone to that story, the Galapagos Islands make for a great setting and very naturally slide into that grungy, prehistoric atmosphere the Silurians give off. Not to mention the incidental score and the voices of the Silurians feel like a somewhat improved version of the 70s episode. However, I’d say that the most interesting part of this story by far would be our historical figure Charles Darwin. He is absolutely the best character here, which I can rarely say in stories with a person from history featured, as usually they’re just somebody for the Doctor to fawn over, but Darwin has a genuinely great little character arc and a really likeable personality. It’s not often the historical figure gets this much praise from me so I can definitely give Morris props for that. Also, he managed to make the Myrka an actual threat, so well done to him, he’s clearly a talented writer.

However, I’ll say again, Bloodtide is nothing special. The plot, which, as I mentioned before, is almost parasitically feeding off Malcolm Hulke’s original script, feels oddly aimless, like the Doctor and Evelyn just walk in on this situation and wander around in it until it’s over. I've definitely heard tighter stories. Also, the part three reveal that the main Silurian - Torka - genetically engineered the human race and is basically now our lizard god is really strange, because that feels like a step too far scientifically; a real “the moon is an egg” situation. Not every single event in human history needs to be a conspiracy, guys. Also, we just so happen to have some classic bad Big Finish accents. Jane Goddard as Greta was absolutely painful to listen to and her vague South American accent was teetering on offensive.

Overall, Bloodtide is not a special episode. Jonathan Morris would go on to write more interesting and more original stories than this in the future and this early work of his is definitely one of his weaker one’s. There are a couple diamonds in the rough - the episode is dripping in atmosphere and there are a couple great characters - but it’s not a story that will stick with you like some of Morris’ other works.

7/10

Pros:

+ Charles Darwin is a surprisingly interesting character

+ Emulates the feel and tone of Doctor Who and the Silurians incredibly well

+ Unique and interesting setting

+ The Myrka is actually quite threatening

Cons:

- The reveal that Torka engineered the human race was confusing more than anything

- The story feels somewhat aimless

- Greta was ceaselessly annoying

🙏🏼(6.4) = OKAY!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

Part 1 deftly establishes the mood, with a Silurian facing retribution for his unsuccessful scientific experiments and a human captain administering a similar punishment to one of his crew members. Meanwhile, the TARDIS transports Six and Evelyn to the Galapagos Islands during Charles Darwin's expeditions. This is a pseudohistorical narrative that serves as the Big Finish introduction to the Silurians.

Since this is a reintroduction to the Silurians, we meet another isolated society that has awakened from deep sleep, unaware of the other colonies. This serves as both a sequel and prequel to The Silurians (1970), and it also spins some of the same themes.

It's fun to hear about an adventure centred around Darwin's work at Galapagos and his formation of the theory of evolution, which is a pivotal part of scientific history. Morris also explores the setting and era fairly well, and the actors do a fantastic job of bringing it all to life.

The opening installment is quite a slow start to the story. It then concludes with a very classic cliffhanger.

Bloodtide doesn't grow very exciting, and aside from its unique setting, surprisingly stringent atmosphere, and characters, there's little here that sticks.

Colin Baker is in top form, and Maggie Stables is so warm, eager, and wonderful. Jane Goddard (best known for her many turns voicing Alpha Centauri) is back from Dust Breeding, voicing Greta Rodrigues. Miles Richardson, a frequent collaborator with Big Finish, appears in one of his earliest roles as Darwin in this story. I appreciate his frequent appearances, the integration of his philosophical and scientific debates into the dialogue, and Evelyn's indirect assistance in formulating his renowned theories.

The portrayal of the Silurian characters is excellent, and I appreciate the Doctor's interactions with them. I also appreciate how the story gives them a pivotal role in mankind's evolution.

Part 4 reinvigorates the plot somewhat and amps up the tension for the final stretch.

I just listened to this the first time recently, and it might be my favourite out of the initial main range's first 25 audios or so. What particularly works for me about it is that not only is it just a solid Silurian story, it has a lot of fun ideas marrying these lizardmen to Charles Darwin’s work as a scientist. It is really, really cool and in my opinion well done how the Silurians cause a crisis of faith within Darwin and that becomes the emotional centre of the whole audio.

The stuff with the Silurians creating humans was a little wonky and underdeveloped as an idea that feels like it should be a bigger deal.  It didn't feel like the best decision for continuity, but not so much it ruined the experience for me.  It's a strange choice, but not a prohibitive one.

We are back again in the company of the 6th Doctor and Evelyn (who we only left in 19th century Scotland two stories ago) as they pitch up on the Galapagos Islands at the same time as a certain Charles Darwin.  What then ensues is an ‘almost retread’ of Doctor Who and the Silurians, with a splash of Warriors of the Deep and a dash of the current series fondness for a celebrity historical  and for a Doctor who’s been setting a few things up prior to the story we are enjoying (although this was written and released long before the new series aired).

I use the phrase ‘almost retread’ with a hint of trepidation.  I don’t want people to think this is a carbon copy of …and the Silurians but have to admit that in many aspects, particularly at the start, it feels very much like aspects of the Malcolm Hulke original have been ‘borrowed’.  Dr Quinn is replaced by Governor Lawson; a local encounters the Silurians which brings forth terrible race memories; there is a ‘bad’ Silurian and a ‘good’ Silurian; the Silurians plan to release a virus to destroy the humans.  However, there is much more to this story which helps disguise the fact that these elements are copied a little too closely.

Most obvious is the presence of Charles Darwin.  Alongside the Beagle’s captain, Fitzroy, he forms a bond with the Doctor and Evelyn which is akin to that seen with Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare or Agatha Christie in the new series.  The two of them join forces and battle the Silurians and are performed superbly by Miles (Braxiatel) Richardson as Darwin and George Telfer as Fitzroy.  The running theme of ‘descent by modification’ and of how this adventure leads Darwin to forumulate the Origin of the Species is played out throughout the story, with Evelyn and the Doctor giving him the odd nudge in the right direction.  To be honest, it is written a little heavy handed for my taste.  I’m not 100% convinced by this story’s assertion that all human life on this planet is a result of Tulok’s (the evil Silurian scientist who is the villain of the piece) genetic experimentation.  It is quite a pill to swallow in terms, not only of the Doctor Who universe, but also in terms of real life.  I know real life and Doctor Who are separate entities, but rarely do I feel slightly uncomfortable with what the series is suggesting might be the ‘truth’.  It’s not like the Daleks emptying the Marie Celeste, or even Scaroth’s spaceship jump-starting life on Earth.  The Silurians made Homo Sapiens just seems a step too far.  Maybe its because I’m a Christian.  This story goes to great pains to show Darwin renouncing his faith because of his discoveries (not just of the fictional Silurians but also the real life flora and fauna of the islands).  It is interesting to note that, in later life, Darwin did not completely renounce religion and described himself as agnostic, rather than atheist, suggesting that after these events he actually took a far more balanced view of science vs religion.  Doctor Who writers don’t often go out of their way to denounce religion as hocus pocus and mumbo jumbo for the masses but just occasionally a story’s implications sit a little uncomfortably with me and Bloodtide’s central tenets is one example.

That aside though, I do rather enjoy this story.  The Silurians are one of my favourite returning monsters and Bloodtide does some good things with them.  Not least is the rehabilitation of the Myrka.  A horrifying sea monster like the Myrka is supposed to be, obviously works a billion times better on audio than it was ever going to on screen in the 1980s.  I’m not even sure it would be carried off convincingly in the new series.  However good the CGI can be, I can’t help feeling it would turn into a bit of a Lazarus Monster (a creation which never convinced me as ‘real’).  Voiced, partly by Rob Shearman, the Myrka in this story is huge (an adult, apparently) and audio allows the listener to modify the visual memory of Dobbin the Pantomime Sea Dragon into something far more terrifying.  And the Myrka kills Greta, so that’s good.

Greta, ah yes.  Jane Goddard, wife of Rob Shearman, popped up a lot in the early days of Big Finish – she’s the brilliance behind Keri Pakhar, a character from the Bernice Summerfield audios, and has done all sorts of roles here and there.  But her performance as Greta is terrible.  Her South American accent is horrendously over the top and she spends two episodes wailing and moaning about eMEEEELLLLLLEEEOOOOOHHHHH, her brother.  She dies sacrificing herself to the Myrka and, to be honest, when I came back to the audio a day later to listen to the second half, I completely forgot she was even in the story!

The rest of the performances, though, are pretty good.  Daniel Hogarth’s Tulok and, Big Finish regular, Helen Goldwyn’s Shvak – the two main Silurians, do well to give good performances buried, as they are, under voice distortion (a very good recreation of the original Silurian voices).  Julian Harries as Governor Lawson is a glorious baddie – noshing away on roast tortoise whilst sending local fishermen to their doom.  When he is abandoned by the Silurians, his pathetic response is a little chilling.

Colin Baker is on top form as the Doctor and this is also a good story for Evelyn, paired as she is with Darwin for much of the story.  It’s good to see her written properly here.  As a history lecturer it is believable she would have a fairly good knowledge of Darwin’s voyages on the Beagle (although him being a personal hero of hers seems a little odd – if she was a scientist it might be more feasible) and it shows how nonsensical it was for her to be completely ignorant of Burke and Hare in Medicinal Purposes.

The sound design is excellent.  Of particular note is the way the various Silurian sound effects have been recreated and I also like the touch of ‘kazoo’ in the incidental music.  The Myrka’s attack on the Beagle and the flashbacks to prehistorical times are absorbing and contrast with the light airiness of the early scenes of the Doctor and Evelyn exploring the island.  It really is a superb production and another good example of a story giving sense of time and place (although possibly more with the place, than the time).

Bloodtide is a good example of Big Finish making Doctor Who for the fans – a rehabilitated 6th Doctor, a fun companion, returning monsters and references to old stories.  Bloodtide isn’t revolutionary or stand-out but it is a solid adventure, comfortable to listen to and, relatively, traditional in its writing.