The 8th Doctor Adventures #1.6 - "No More Lies" by Paul Sutton

Emotion’s a hard thing to write. In fact, it may just be the hardest thing to write; trying to capture the impossible complexity of the human soul on paper is a fool’s errand, that only a few masters can even begin to grasp. Paul Sutton has already proved himself to be worthy of this task with Arrangements for War, one of the most polished and beautifully written things to ever come out of Doctor Who, so seeing that one of his few other efforts was a low rated entry into the first season of the 8DAs, I just knew I would have to check it out. And despite its issues, I think No More Lies lived up to my expectations.

On the tail of a fleeing criminal, the Doctor and Lucie find themselves in the centre of a bizarre temporal paradox, all centering around a garden party in a luxurious, countryside manor, who’s owner is their target - only thirty years older.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

No More Lies opens with a bang, quite literally. We are immediately thrown halfway into an adventure, with the Doctor and Lucie on a crashing ship chasing down time tech thief Dr. Zimmerman - a generically evil bad guy. Now, this opening seems to be what threw a lot of people off and yeah, I can definitely see why. We are shoved into the middle of an action sequence with very little time or space to understand where we are and what’s going on. I managed to recover from this pretty quickly but it seems a lot of people were permanently thrown by it, which, whilst understandable, is a real shame because once we get off the ship, this story is mostly gold.

At the centre of it all is Zimmerman, who we end up finding having crashed on Earth and lived a full life, even marrying a wealthy local he met upon his landing. This dynamic alone fascinates me and seeing a purposefully bland villain turn over a new leaf and end up living a decent life is a wonderful dilemma to play with, which absolutely stuns whenever it becomes the centre of attention. Zimmerman himself is the reason this works so well, he’s fascinatingly written, constantly ambiguous as to whether he truly has changed or not, and his performance is pretty damn solid. Eventually, it’s revealed the time loop he’s stuck in is of his own making to save his wife from a terminal cancer, and he has to close it if he wants to save himself from the alien species hunting him. The final scene, of him and his wife embracing as they realise they’re not going to be together anymore, is as heartbreaking as anything from Arrangements for War, and it is currently my highlight of Series One.

I also find that this episode has a nice few bells and whistles that make it feel a lot more polished than some other episodes this season. For one, it’s got a great, snappy momentum that never dragged but left time to let things develop. As for score, Tim Sutton provides an excellent accompaniment, complete with a melancholic yet playful harmony of woodwinds and strings. And on top of all that, the Vortisaurs return, which I feel added some nice cohesion with Eight’s Main Range run.

However, if I had to give No More Lies one big criticism is that it tries to shove in action where there is none. Whilst we have glimpses of all-time great character work, we’re stuck fighting the time-hopping Tar-Modowk, who feel painfully generic and stand around explaining their backstory instead of actually engaging in the hunt they're meant to be doing. It’s annoyingly intrusive because if this story scrapped the monster men and was just about the central dilemma faced by Zimmerman, I think this could’ve been something amazing; instead, it feels like a brilliant bit of character writing squandered by a B-tier action plot infecting it like a cancer.

No More Lies, I think, is a fantastic piece of writing that is hampered by an attempt to spice up a script that did not need any help. When it focuses on its central concept and really works with it, it’s an excellent little story that not nearly enough people talk about but the moment it tries to turn itself into an action-packed romp, it loses a lot of its nuance and depth. It’s not story breaking, but it’s enough to really hurt the score.

7/10

Pros:

+ Zimmerman is a surprisingly deep character

+ The central dynamic is brilliantly engaging

+ Nice momentum that keeps pace

+ Enjoyed the return of Vortisaurs

+ Great score

Cons:

- Confusing opening with poor direction

- The action elements severely damper the story

Underdeveloped.

Honestly, it could've been a good script if it had better explained and introduced practically everything in the story. I didn't read the synopsis before listening, but had to towards the beginning because I had no idea what was happening. It jumped around too much, and just dropped us in the middle of the adventure. I thought I had the tracks mixed up!

Once we get off the ship, it's easier to understand. And an okay story, nothing great really. Good cliffhanger for next time though! That's about it.

I had to check three times that I didn’t have the chapters on shuffle as I can’t make head nor tail of this story jumping randomly between a garden party and an attack on a spaceship.

someone with more patience than me may find the pay off worth it.

I was curious how the two strands of the story were going to intertwine, it’s a pleasure when they first collide, especially given that you join the story mid-way and feel like you’re playing catch up for the first half. Once it all resolves though it feels a little looser and lightweight in its final form than the build up suggested. We just have the two part finale left for the series now - I hope it ends with a bang.