WRITTEN BY

STEVE LYONS

 

DIRECTED BY

LISA BOWERMAN

 

RECOMMENDED 

PURCHASE

BIG FINISH 'COMPANION

 CHRONICLES' CD 3.9 (ISBN 1-84435-378-1) RELEASED IN MARCH 2009.

 

BLURB  

February 1944: France is occupied by the 3rd Reich, the Gestapo has an iron grip and the resistance attempts to RESIST the GERMAN invaders.

 

On one quiet winter's night, a British plane crashes, leaving aN officer desperate to escape THROUGH the evasion lines.

 

Separated from the TARDIS, Ben and Jamie, the Doctor and Polly find themselves with enemies on all sides. Trapped in one of the darkest times in history, Polly discovers that humanity can be just as dangerous as any ALIEN threat. She resolves to make a difference, even if it means leaving the Doctor forever...

 

 

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Resistance

MARCH 2009

  (2 EPISODES)

 

 

                                                       

 

 

Well, Resistance certainly has kerb appeal. Simon Holub, who seems to design almost all of the Companion Chronicles’ covers, has really excelled himself with this one. His artwork tells listeners everything that they need to know about this production, whilst just happening to look incredibly stylish and striking at the same time. And with a name like Steve Lyons’ proudly emblazoned upon it, who of course penned the seventh Doctor and Ace’s outstanding wartime adventure, Colditz, it’s hard to imagine how anyone could resist the urge to purchase this one.

 

Set entirely within war-torn France, Lyons’ wholly historical tale is different enough from the likes of Colditz and The Empty Child to be able to carve out its own, distinct identity. Here intrigue takes precedence over incident, the author’s plot focusing heavily on the intricate relationships between the Milice, the Maquis, and the French Gestapo, and the variety of threats that they each pose to the TARDIS crew.

 

However, the heart of the story lies with Polly Wright, the companion of the chronicle, and it is here that it truly impresses. Of course the Second World War is a much closer event for Polly than it is for us, and as such it’s enthralling to listen to her narrate a tale that saw her thrown into her family’s recent past; a past that she’d convinced herself she was destined to change by saving the life of her uncle, Randolph Wright, whom we learn died in a Nazi PoW camp.

 

As Resistance is chock-full of twists and turns, I don’t want to reveal too much about what happens here, but suffice it to say that Polly’s actions and in particular her dealings with John Sackville’s character culminate in a very surprising and remarkably effective ending – one that bears little semblance to Father’s Day, The Aztecs or any other Doctor Who story that broaches similar subject matter.

 

For her part, Anneke Wills gives an astounding performance. Her voice hasn’t aged a day since she left the series in The Faceless Ones, nor has her grasp on Polly’s character loosened. Indeed, I understand that the actress was most vocal about how Polly should be portrayed here, even sharing a number of “creative differences” with series producer David Richardson concerning the character’s footwear as written.

 

In all seriousness though, Wills’ rendering of Polly is perfect in sound and in spirit; I couldn’t believe it when I listened to the CD Extras and realised that, when she recorded Resistance, Wills hadn’t played Polly since 1966 - a staggering forty-two years earlier. Thanks to her many memorable turns as Lady Louisa Pollard in the eighth Doctor’s adventures and even her extraordinary appearance as the Galyari director, Nrosha, in The Sandman, Wills has unwittingly become part of the Big Finish furniture; so much so that one forgets she started out in the Whoniverse as swinging 60s’ chick Polly Wright – a fact that, I’m very pleased to say, Resistance is sure to remind everybody of.

 

Copyright © E.G. Wolverson 2010

 

E.G. Wolverson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Design

 and Patents Act 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

 

  

This story’s blurb places its events between the television serials The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones. Within this gap, we have placed them between the novel The Roundheads and the Big Finish audio book The Three Companions: Polly’s Story, which it was released in between.

 

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