Farewell, Great Macedon

In Farewell, Great Macedon, Big Finish have done an amazing job at recreating a Hartnell historical. Even though it is merely three actors – William Russell, Carole Ann Ford and John Dorney (as Alexander) – they evoke the atmosphere of the first season of Who effortlessly. The script has echoes of Marco Polo, The Aztecs and The Crusade with the TARDIS crew fulfilling similar roles as they do in those stories – the clearest being Barbara’s position as the ‘expert’ stemming from her history teacher background. Indeed, Alexander himself is reminiscent of characters like Marco Polo and King Richard – a real person with shades of grey; neither good nor evil.

The story plays as a real tragedy with the unavoidable death of Alexander at the close of the story but also with the systematic dispatching of Alexander’s nearest and dearest, the blame – unsurprisingly – being placed on the strangers in Alexander’s camp.

The main plot of the conspiracy to murder Alexander and take power seems based on actual theories that Alexander was poisoned in real life. The majority of characters are based on real people: Antipater, Ptolemy, Hepheastion, Cleitus.

The setting of the Babylon, and the TARDIS’s landing place of the Hanging Gardens allows the series to tick off another of the ‘famous’ landmarks of history – as only Bernice Summerfield had visited Babylon prior to this point.

This is much philosophy in the script. There is discussion of Socrates statement that ‘I know that I don’t know’ and how the world is full of mysteries – nicely foreshadowing when Alexander realises that the TARDIS crew have knowledge beyond the bounds of his world and time’s experience. There is also a reasoned discussion from Ian of the rights and wrongs of slavery (which contrasts with an over-emotive one argued by Jason Kane in the Bernice Summerfield audio, Walking to Babylon).

The stock scenes of historical ‘epics’ such as this are present and correct – feasts, whispering conspiracy behind pillars, gardens, ‘gladiatorial’ games and aspects of Greek life are dropped in here and there. There is quite an emphasis too on Alexander’s dream of a united world, reflected in the diversity of characters – Indians and Africans for example, and highlighted by Alexander’s toast to the Greek, Egyptian and Persian gods.

I wonder how much of the original script made it through to the Big Finish version. There is such an overwhelming feel of Season 1 in the production – Susan mentions the 57th century; the Doctor gets Ian’s surname wrong. The latter of these feels like a modern inclusion, the first a hangover from the early days of the series (the pilot episode included a line about the Doctor and Susan originating in the 57th century).

There is also a fascinating discussion at the beginning of the first episode about Heaven. Susan believes the TARDIS to have landed there but the Doctor dismisses her. Not, however, because he doesn’t believe in such a place, but because he doesn’t yet know the way. He ponders that one day the Almighty will take him to the afterlife and there is no question that the Doctor and Susan’s culture believes in an afterlife and indeed the implication is that is a Christian idealogy. I wonder if, had this been made for television, this section would have been removed as not tying in with the educational aspect of the series. I cannot think of a single Hartnell story where there is any suggestion the Doctor is religious at all, let alone a Christian.

There are also subtle hints towards the relationship between Alexander and Hepheastion. It is not described as love in the sexual or romantic way but Alexander’s reaction to his death is far more extreme than to any of the other deaths. This is something that probably could have made it to screen – especially seeing as the early series did not shy away from sexually implicit situation – Vasor’s treatment of Barbara or the domestic violence hinted at in The Keys of Marinus, for example – and these were relatively explicit compared to the restraint shown in the script for this story.

The story does take time to tell a tale which could comfortably fitted into four episodes, but in reflecting the era this story was originally written for, the extended length is another echo. At no point does it feel padded but there are times when the pace slows to a leisurely stroll.

The final episodes of the story include the entertaining image of the Doctor firewalking to prove his integrity to Alexander, followed by Ian besting various athletes at wrestling. Ian as the action man is, again, very reminiscent of the early series but I do wonder how many other talents he has hidden under his bushel.

The last part of the story also includes some interesting discussion as to whether history can be changed. Barbara believes they can do nothing but it is the Doctor who decides he will do all in his power to save Alexander’s life. Even after Susan points out that his death at this time is historical fact, the Doctor holds to his Hippocratic oath taken when he briefly studied medicine. This is a contrast to the positions Barbara and the Doctor take in The Aztecs. Apparently Farewell, Great Macedon was being written whilst Marco Polo was airing on television, meaning The Aztecs had yet to go into production. Maybe these roles would have been reversed in light of that story’s central theme.

Farewell, Great Macedon is simply marvellous and a jewel in Big Finish’s crown. This is a historical story as valid as anything transmitted on television and should stand shoulder to shoulder with the greats of that era.

Un-made Doctor Who stories are always interesting - a lot of the time you can tell why they might not have been produced (and sometimes that it was a good thing they weren't!); but sometimes you get something incredibly special. Both stories in the first Lost Stories First Doctor Boxset are special; but Farewell, Great Macedon is really quite remarkable. The production by Big Finish is also good - especially considering that its one of their longer stories at over four hours.

This is a true historical that fits well with the others from the first season of Doctor Who. It is based around the last days of Alexander the Great; around a plot from a number of people in his court to kill him and his heirs in order to take power in the Macedonian Empire for themselves; and is excellently paced throughout with some very good cliffhangers. It manages to stand out narratively speaking from the other true historicals at that time - one example of this is that unlike the other stories the TARDIS crew aren't prisoners forced to stay in the time they are in: other than a brief period where they are accused of Hephisteon's death (where Alexander never truly believes them to be the culprits) they are theoretically free to go but want to spend time with Alexander.

John Dorney's portrayal of Alexander is very good: he gets him across as someone that can inspire loyalty and emotion; while also being difficult at times. Considering the small size of the cast (this being the period where First doctor Big Finish stories weren't full cast - unfortunate as a full cast version of this could have been excellent) this is key - William Russell does a good job as Ian (and his First Doctor works as well - although not as good as others); and Carole-Ann Ford as Susan and Barbara also works. The sound design is brilliant - I listened while watching the TV series and while it's clearly a modern production it doesn't feel that out there relative to the TV shows. The end of the story is very emotional - Alexander going to his own death and refusing the help of the Doctor and Ian; the immediate collapse of the Empire that he built and the death of a dream of world unity worked very well.

There are a few points that might be negatives - I think there's a risk that stories like this may white-wash some not great periods in history (but then again; this is remarkably accurate for a Doctor Who historical); and this story had religious overtones at times that felt out of place for even 60s Doctor Who (and I understand there were even more removed from the draft script) and the format of three actors + narration might not click for everyone - but if it does and you like your early Doctor Who this is a must listen.

I struggle with narrated lost stories but this one is amazing

An absolutely phenomenal historical story. It does almost everything right. It lets you experience a historical period, teaches you something new about that era and the people involved and makes it personal for both you and the characters involved.

It is surprisingly lengthy, but that length never feels padded. Alexander is well established and the cast interacts with their surroundings in interesting ways. It is just plain fun, and a very good example of how pure historical should be done.

It benefits from its audio roots. It can go up in scale without fluffing the story up. It also performed really well. Special props to John Dorney, who plays an impressively convincing Alexander. His speech at the end about Alexanders ambitions is phenomenal, and a true highlight for this season.

It’s funny, for as long as it is and how much I enjoyed it, I don’t really have much to say about it. Maybe that’s because it feels like it sets a standard. An incredibly solid base that future stories could take note from. That probably won’t be done, because the pure historical died out, and this story was recorded years later. Still, if the show ever decides to pick the historical back up, there would be way worse inspirations than this one.

The only nitpicks I have with it are minor. Barbara knows history, but stays quiet for quite a while, which doesn’t really make sense. Also the members of the conspiracy group have similar sounding names, and without each having a distinct voice actor, they kind of blend together. Still, these are minor and don’t really detract from the story. Which is a masterpiece.

Wow, what an audio. Sitting at one of Big Finish's longest audios this may seem like a daunting task but if you have a spare 4 hours I would wholeheartedly recommend you settle down and enjoy this magnificent audio.

Whilst I'm not the biggest fan of William Russell as 1 you can overlook his slightly weaker impersonation compared to Purves as it doesn't detract that much from the overall listening experience.

However, the standout performance from this audio has to be John Dorney as Alexander. How one man can be such a good writer and actor will never cease to amaze me but in this audio he gives the performance of his life. A performance that is filled with such nuance and depth. A performance that moved me to the verge of tears. I would say this is one of the best performances I've ever heard in an audio.

Overall, this is a fantastic audio if recommend to anyone.