Before listening to this Companion Chronicle, I had wondered about the title and the reason behind it. The blurb made it clear that this was a story set in pre-war Berlin with the 1st Doctor and Susan experiencing the beginnings of the facist regime which would give rise to the Second World War.

Where did alchemy fit into this? I’ll admit, I would often misremember the title and conflate it both with ‘the Anarchists’ and with the other Companion Chronicle: The Anachronauts.

But it is all to do with gold. Gold to fund power and bring about the reparation that Germany so desperately desires in a time of immense hardship and bitterness resulting from the Treaty of Versailles.

I’m pretty well-versed in what Germany was made to do as a result of the First World War due to teaching it to 10 and 11 year olds on a yearly basis. We start our lessons on the Second World War looking at what happened at the end of the First World War and thinking about how a man like Hitler came to power and the promises he made in light of Germany’s punishment.

The Alchemists clearly depicts this period of German history and presents a country on an inevitable path. With ‘brown shirts’ (proto-Nazi/SS types) patrolling the streets; barely-concealed contempt and outright racism towards Jews and an almost obsessive desire to learn a way to extract gold from anywhere, it’s a horrible place that Susan finds herself in.

The Doctor very much disappears into the background of the story. A desire to visit a scientific conference – echoes of The Mark of the Rani – leads him to being kidnapped and Susan left abandoned in a foreign land. A simple conceit allows her to have plenty of local currency to pay her way but it is the people she meets along the way that decide her fate and lead to some unpleasant situations where she is interrogated.

It’s quite a linear story. The Doctor and Susan arrive, visit the science conference, the Doctor is kidnapped, Susan meets a British artists , is drugged, ends up in the company of the brown shirts, finds the Doctor and they leave.

There is a little time spent on considering whether history can be changed and it directly addresses the Doctor’s stance in The Aztecs (with the conceit that Susan is writing this story as a letter to Barbara and Ian) but apart from that I didn’t feel there was a huge amount of depth to the story.

It does touch upon how the evil of Nazism is creeping into the society and Susan does reflect on the fate of a child she meets who she suspects will be old enough to fight in the war when it arrive in a few years time but I do feel a little more could have been done with it. Maybe it’s the choice of narrator for this story. Susan’s naivety doesn’t really allow for it and there is a sense that Carole Ann Ford is fighting the script a little. There’s a sense that the actress wants to imbue Susan with more outrage at the society she finds herself than the script actually portrays. Carole Ann was born in 1940 so her relationship with the Second World War will be extremely personal I imagine.

Of course WW2 and the events which caused it were not something the TV series was ever likely to tackle during her time on the show with it being far too recent an event and far too personal to the people involved in making the show. Indeed, it took until 1989 before there was a story actually set during WW2. Even the War Games shied away from that period, only managing to dip its toes into WW1.

With this being a pre-Unearthly Child story there is a rather nice scene where the TARDIS materialises in Berlin and has disguised itself as a continental cylindrical advertising pillar. There is a lovely touch where the posters ‘pasted’ on it are blurred and out-of-focus. It’s a brilliant image and a clever way of playing with a concept from the TV series that we never actually saw (aside from Attack of the Cybermen).

Overall, The Alchemists is quite a matter-of-fact approach to the events occuring in Germany during this time which would lead them along the path to war. It will be interesting to see how other stories set in this pre-war period deal with the upcoming events. I expect a lot of foreshadowing in those focussed on the countries involved but possibly, as with World War One, a number of stories for which the world events barely get mentioned.

The story has some interesting elements, good performances from Carole Ann Ford and supporting artist, Wayne Forester (in a dual role) and a sense of history playing out but I didn’t feel this was an essential Companion Chronicle meeting the high standard often set by this range.

The Alchemists - ★½☆☆☆

The Alchemists is a historical episode set a few years before World War II, during the rise of Nazism, that I would define as an unfocused political thriller. The Doctor and Susan land in 1930s Germany and decide to visit one of the local scientific centers where they meet Fritz Haber, a real historical figure who was important for developing a process for synthesizing ammonia that, although initially of interest for agriculture as a fertilizer, ended up becoming a key element for the production of explosives during the World Wars. Things take an unexpected turn when, during this visit, the Doctor is kidnapped and Susan now has to rescue him. A very good premise but one that I don't feel was well developed.

Susan's wanderings through the streets of Berlin are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, I find the direction very atmospheric and evocative of the social tensions of the 1930s, especially with regard to Hitler's rise to power and the naturalization of barbarism. This is palpable, for example, in the way several characters demonstrate a certain ambivalence towards Haber; an apparent moral contradiction – from the point of view of these CHARACTERS, I want to make it clear, not mine – between him having played an essential role in Germany's development in the previous years but being a Jewish man. The white characters constantly expect him to betray the country, a lack of character that they assume is inherently racial. Likewise, there is a refinement of cruelty in this story when, after receiving help from a group of children, they guide Susan to the Brownshirts, a paramilitary organization. In the specific case of the characters we see here, they're Hitler Youth who wants to take control of justice on the streets of Berlin into their own hands – the real story of the Brownshirts is a little more complicated than that, but that's how they are characterized in this story.

The Alchemists is set in 1933, just a year before the Night of the Long Knives, when political tensions between internal factions in Nazi Germany culminated in the purge of political rivals, including prominent members of the Brownshirts. It was therefore an important group in Hitler's rise but its power was quickly stifled when it became an obstacle to the Third Reich. The cruelty, of course, lies in the naturalness of the whole thing and in these characters, all children, being used as political pawns. Not only that, but this entire hostile environment that takes over Berlin is closely interconnected with the famine that gripped the country after World War I; an element not so present in the script but still subtly represented - whether in the children following Susan in the hope of earning some money, or in the resentment that characters in the adult cast demonstrate for the German defeat, blaming the recession that followed in the rest of the world and, mainly, on the Jewish people.

Just as much as I find the atmosphere very well constructed and immersive for the historical context in question, I find the unfolding of the events in the particular narrative of The Alchemists weak and the acting questionable. I found it bearable now, after listening to the story for the second time, but the German accent of some characters, especially Strittmatter, was very irritating at first and kept distracting me. As much as Susan's wandering around Berlin raises all the positive points that I discussed in the previous two paragraphs, it is also pointless. It may even be a realistic approach to how Susan would be lost in a situation like that, but as character development it is a big no-no. All the resolutions of the plot are independent of her, she is just being carried here and there by the characters that really matter. And the worst thing is that I find this easy to solve.

In the final minutes of the story, it is revealed that a shopkeeper that the Doctor and Susan met while exchanging their coins for German coins was the one who kidnapped the Doctor. This is justified by the fact that word had spread among society that Fitz Haber was studying a way to transform materials into gold, supposedly to boost the German economy – or perhaps he was going to give the secret to enemy countries?! The shopkeeper, Strittmatter, jumps to conclusions when the two idiots show up with brand new and perfectly preserved Roman coins – because they are, they are coins that they obtained when visiting Rome on previous trips. Obviously, no German in 1933 would imagine that he had met two time travelers, so the conclusion he comes to when the two go to visit Haber is that the scientist has found a way to produce gold. I think it is a very clever plot developed through real historical facts – Haber did in fact try for years to find a way to extract gold from the sea. So when Susan returns to the store with more coins to exchange for more money and ends up kidnapped too, I think it's a shame that the story doesn't make this intentional on her part. She's very intelligent, smart, she could have deduced who the kidnapper was from previous dialogues – as she realizes shortly after – and come up with a plan to save her grandfather. Voilà, a tiny change in the script and she gains a much more active role in the resolution of the story.

Another problem is a character I haven't mentioned yet, a double agent named Pollitt who also wants to discover the secret to producing gold and whose main interest seems to be profiting from the impending war. I think he's a character who fits well into the worldbuilding of 1930s Germany, but I feel like he doesn't have much of a role in the plot other than being a villain who's a bit more threatening than Strittmatter. It's no wonder I described the entire story of the audio in the previous paragraphs without mentioning him. I wouldn't eliminate him from the plot because in my correction of Susan's role he would be important for her to deduce who kidnapped her grandfather, but I admit I don't know what other additions I would make to the character to make him a bit more important. But maybe that would be enough, since his confrontation with Susan and the Doctor at the climax of the story is, perhaps, my favorite moment of it.

The final scene in which the Doctor comforts Susan with the prospect of better years awaiting the world after the War is well-intentioned and it's understandable where it comes from, especially from the outside perspective of two time-traveling aliens with a moral system naturally different from ours, but it is too complex an idea to be discussed in such a short scene and so it feels somewhat insensitive. Millions of people died in the war, heinous crimes were committed. There is no such thing as looking on the "bright side" of a tragedy of this magnitude. Hunger, hatred and death are not, and should not be, tools of progress. I do not think, again, that this was the point of this ending, but it does feel insensitive.

Unfortunately, for me the negative elements have a much more significant weight in the story and my conclusion is that, what a shame, I really don't like The Alchemists.

The First Doctor #18

'The Alchemists' (2013) from The Companion Chronicles.

Very nice to have another Pure Historical, and another Doctor-lite story. Really enjoying Carole Ann Ford's narration in these Companion Chronicles stories - she seems to be having a lot of fun with it. The Berlin setting is nice and the morals of time travel and war coming up are interesting, especially to see the First Doctor's opinions on it and compare that with how his opinion seems to have, not necessarily changed, but become more compassionate in incarnations like Ten down the line. Wraps up a little too quickly which I think has been the main issue with all of these stories so far, but a fun twisty-turny story overall.

This story is told in a letter format too a future companion Barbara, meant to be read if Susan leaves or dies its interesting to think that she had that on her mind during s1. The story takes place before Unearthly Child with the Doctor n Susan looking for a place to stay commenting how funny it is that the Tardis keeps coming back to Earth. The Tardis lands in Berlin, the Doctors as giddy as a school boy. Love the idea of the Doctor still looking through that first contact disk from The Beginning and learning about earth history though that explaining how he knows historical figures from the time.

The pair go to an exchange shop to exchange some old gold coins to modern currency, meeting the man behind the till who agrees to help the doctor go to the National Socialist party where earth greatest minds gather, Einstein and Heisenberg to name a few. When arriving the Doctor tries to pay the doorman to get in which is kind of funny and some how works, with a passing of a letter. When they get in Susan is kind of swarmed by these business men to talk about science, but of course Susan is smarter then them and slowly manages to get away. She meets a man called Pollitt they both end up talking about art and how Berlin treated the Jewish religion horribly, Susan starts to feel disorientated and tries to leave and find the doctor but this leads to her and the Doctor being separated. I find that happens a lot in these stories set before s1.

Susan decides to stay and work out what to do leaving Pollitt, a young boy named Rudi suggests Susan should ask the brown shirts (the SA) for help. This extremely interesting listen so far because it being set just before world war two Germany with everything being on the horizon, its so unnerving as we know where history is leading. Rudi leads Susan too his brother in the SA to help reality set in that hes just a boy, anyway this leads too Susan getting help from the SA via her money.  Brief detour I don't know what music plays in this story but its extremely nostalgic to me like old Youtube nostalgia music. Anyway this leads Susan to meeting Pollitt again, they go to a dingy nightclub, I love the soundscape of this story you really can hear the scene changes. Anyway its revealed Pollitt drugged Susan and does it again with a rag of chloroform. When Susan wakes up Pollitt has put her in an interrogation room. I loved this part of the audio it feels like hours go by the in the matter of seconds, this leads to Susans best moment yet of her escaping Pollitt with some mind games and a rope.

We also had a bit of Tardis lore as well with the key also changing shape when the Tardis does, its something I've never thought about but find it genius. Susan goes back to the exchange shop leading to all of this story being about the money the Doctor n Susan exchanged its revealed the man behind the till and Pollitt where working together and have the Doctor captive.

The Doctor has to talk his way around saving Susan from Pollitts gun which is very 1st Doctor this leads to Susan throwing chemical jars while there distracted, also using Pollitts lack of chemistry knowledge to his advantage to get away. When they get away Susan makes a good point in the letter to Barbara about changing history. Its quite a sweet story really and honestly has some really good moments for Susan n the Doctor, Susan has her best moments in the whole franchise this far too.

This story is a prequel written in the form of a letter to Barbara. It refers to a time before 1963, and tells a story of the Doctor and Susan landing in pre-WWII Germany.

As with the last story, the setting is the strongest part. It shows poverty, distrust and the beginnings of unreasonable hate. But it also feels kind of shallow. It feels like it takes very carefully chosen snippets to expand, like the science fair, a café, a street with beggars and 3 nazi soldiers, but it fails to make it a cohesively presented whole. It is all there, but it doesn’t feel as impactful as it should.

Maybe part of that is the portrayal of fewer characters than usual. We have a team of 2, but the doctor gets kidnapped after a little bit, so that leaves us with Susan. Since we have a single character and just an hour of story, perhaps perspective has to give way for a more personal tale. Still a bit of a shame, but it’s okay if the personal tale works.

Putting aside that the kidnapping of a character feels almost routine at this point, Susan’s journey alone feels disjointed and aimless. We eventually solve the mystery of the kidnapper by accidentally meeting up with him and Susan getting kidnapped as well. It isn’t really a earned resolution and makes Susan look weak. She’s in some perilous situations and knows how to escape, but we know she’s smart as well! So show that in the tale. Instead, it’s wandering around in an unfulfilled setting, then getting kidnapped, then the Doctor saving the day.

The real big gaping problem in this story, however, are the really botched morals. We basically get a “War is good for the growth of the people, so not all conflict should be prevented” message from the doctor, and Susan agrees.

That’s just f**ked up! I know this is an early doctor, and this message isn’t even out of place for him. According to him, you can’t change history.

The problem is that the story agrees with him. This statement isn’t questioned, reflected upon or challenged in any way. It’s just a fact. A fact that was apparently so important, that Susan put it down in a letter for next generations to learn. That’s just vile!

Look at how this kind of situation is handled in other stories. Last of the Romanovs, Farewell Great Macedon. They have similar situations where history is cruel. But this always makes the characters reflect! There’s always time to discuss this, because this is important! Changing history always needs to be handled with care, logic and respect. By both the characters and the writer. Here it isn’t.

This story is a mess. The morals already drop it down the rating list, but it really has nothing else. Setting is flimsy and non-cohesive. The actual story would not even require Susan, but she’s our main character. There’s even little things I haven’t discussed, like the terrible accents and the retroactive softening of the first doctor.

I can forgive most of these though. But I can’t forgive these morals. This is forever the story where the Doctor and Susan tell us that 50,000,000 people deserved to die, so that our science and world could grow. And that is unacceptable. Don’t listen to this.