MR 069: Three's a Crowd

Well I feel personally attacked. Living in isolation isn't natural my ass. What do you think a hikikomori is then? Hmm?????

We have a society of people living in isolated rooms on their own. They barely ever see each other and then only on video screen. Sometimes they get to see each other in person but only ever two at a time. There's talk of a rebellion against this by having EIGHT people in the same room at the same time. Crazy. Sounds like hell to me.

The colony is run by an older lady called "Auntie" on a space station overseeing the planet. Most of the story just involves characters examining what's going on in this society and how bad it is to live in isolation. Characters have panic attacks because other people are in their space. Indeed, they start getting panic attacks as Peri and Erimem pull them out of their rooms and into corridors or even, heaven forbid, outside.

The main core of what's going on here, as well, with the three main characters is Erimem's and the Doctor's seeming reluctance to want to travel together. Erimem is recovering from The Roof of the World where she's confronted by her father, or something. It's been awhile since I heard it, although I do remember liking it. I'm not sure where the Doctor's attitude is coming from. Perhaps he just wants one companion after going so long with having multiple at the same time. He says he's pretty ok with Erimem being there, but he's a little forgettful about her and even does the "hey do you want to stay here and rule" thing at the end of the story, like he does to Steven on the actual show. He's been with Peri and Erimem for some time now but he's only having these feelings now? Ok, I guess?

It's ironic that this is a Doctor Who story about isolation being bad when the Doctor usually just travels alone or with one other person. He's not one for settling down and forming a community. The Doctor himself is the ultimately example of an introverted shut in, seeking out just one person at a time or, in this Doctor's case, multiple people to share his life with.

The story just kind of turns into a generic alien invasion thing when it's revealed that there are lizard aliens eating the human colonists. Auntie knew all about it and made a deal with them because they were on their own, communication cut off from other humans with their terraformer not working. They've been periodically sending colonists "home" but they've just been going to become food for the lizards. There's a lot of running around and getting chased by lizards. Very fun. Until they kill the lizards and then kill the lizard babies with radiation poisioning and lack of oxygen.

It's not really that interesting. The concept itself is pretty ok, but hits too home for me. At least it's not too triggering in a way that makes me unable to listen like Vincent and the Doctor, but what's here is just not that engaging. Normal Doctor Who alien stuff. It's at least a step up from the norm for Peri and Erimem, who despite being a fun team consistently get middling to terrible stories. Ah well, hopefully they get a better one next time.

Dessa vez o destino dos viajantes da TARDIS é uma espécie de Colônia Espacial que possui apenas 16 tripulantes. Cada um deles são separados tendo seus próprios quartos onde foram criados desde que nasceram pela sua líder chamada de Auntie (em português Tia) – A comunicação entre os tripulantes é apenas por meio de um sistema de voz, algo bem parecido com o Discord. Interpretada pela nossa querida Deborah Watling, a líder possui todo o controle da Colônia, desde dos robôs mordomos que servem suplementos e alimentos a sua tripulação até o controle de rastreamento de tudo que ocupa o espaço do local. Por incrível que pareça Three’s A Crowd vem sendo a história que teve a melhor primeira metade apresentada nessa minha run da Erimem, isso é claro sustentado pelo seu fantástico conceito que comentei anteriormente – O áudio possui toda uma mensagem de socialização, quando os 3 personagens principais se inserem na realidade de alguns tripulantes notamos que ao terem um contato presencial com os companions, logo acabam sofrendo ataques de ansiedade e crises de pânico. Obviamente o motivo disso tudo é pelo fato de terem sidos criados deis de que nasceram em seus próprios quartos, essas pessoas nunca tiveram um contato social, nunca saíram pra fora de seus curtos espaços. Ok tá bom, até o momento tudo estava sendo bem interessante e instigante, confesso que ao termino de sua primeira metade eu soltei um “Uuuh, será que estou diante de áudio que ganhará o selo de Obra Prima??” Como pode visualizar a nota que dei...É claro que não! – Tudo começa a desandar quando conhecemos os vilões os Khellian, repteis do tamanho de humanos que possuem uns trajes espaciais e armas lasers. É... É bizarro?? Sim...e não, pois nós fãs de Doctor Who estamos acostumados e vimos coisas piores na série. O problema mesmo está em como seu enredo se desenrola até o fim, basicamente são os personagens correndo pelos corredores ajudando os tripulantes a superarem suas fobias sociais e se deparando com os lagartos desviando dos disparos de suas armas lasers, enquanto o Doctor investiga tudo e também se depara com os lagartos. ⚠️ [SPOILER] No fim descobrimos que a Lider fez um acordo com os Khellians uma troca de favores, nesse tempo todo os lagartos estavam enganando ela, pois o real objetivo das criaturas eram usar seus tripulantes como alimento – Eu achei maneira de como a Líder resolve toda a situação bem estupida, vamos explodir tudo eeeee ⚠️ [FIM DE SPOILER]. Em resumo por mais que o áudio entregue uma mensagem muito interessante sobre a importância da socialização nos fazendo até mesmo refletir sobre avanço tecnológico que estamos tendo nos dias de hoje, sabemos que existem casos de pessoas trancadas em suas próprias casas que se socializam iguais aos tripulantes – Infelizmente toda a problemática envolvendo os vilões da história trouxe um desenrolar bem bobo a Three’s A Crowd.

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

Previous Story: The Roof of the World

This started off really well. The TARDIS scenes at the beginning were a highlight and I love how often the TARDIS is being explored in this run. There was a pretty nice moment between Peri and Erimem here and I like that it touches on some of the stuff that happened in the last story. I'll still maintain that I don't think anything in the last story has really changed her character but it's nice to see it being explored regardless.

The story remains really good even when we get to the actual plot, the idea of people so isolated physically that they are afraid of being in a room with another person is a interesting if unsublte commentary on things like the Internet and mobile phones allowing you to talk to people without needing to go and visit them.

We meet Deborah Watling as the leader of the colony, Auntie. She gives an incredible performance and it's hard to believe that she's the same actress who played Victoria Waterfield. I really enjoy Big Finish bringing back older companion actors to play different roles, it's a nice way to get them involved before the existence of companion chronicles or recast Doctors and it ends up being some of their best performances.

After such a terrific start though, this story devolves into generic running about. The betrayal of Auntie is a good moment but she quickly realises her mistake so it doesn't even really matter. I don't know how I'd do it differently but for me the alien felt really bland and uninspired. Overall though, I'd say it's not a bad listen if only for the excellent performances.

Next Story: The Council of Nicaea