Doctor Who - The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance

WRITTEN BY

MORIS FARHI

ADAPTED FOR AUDIO BY

NIGEL ROBINSON

DIRECTED BY

JOHN AINSWORTH

RECOMMENDED

PURCHASE

BIG FINISH 'THE LOST STORIES #2.1: THE FIRST DOCTOR BOX SET'

(ISBN 1-84435-452-8) RELEASED IN NOVEMBER 2010.

BLURB The re. Fragrance is a paradise world – a utopia that the travellers are loathe to leave after a relaxing stay.

But the way of life is different here. And so is the way of love – as Barbara discovers when the Fragile Yellow Arc is broken...

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The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance

NOVEMBER 2010

(40-MINUTE EPISODE)

The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance is the most exceptional Lost Story that Big Finish have produced thus far. Unlike its predecessors, which had all been constructed from the ashes of solicited submissions to the Doctor Who production office, this one-off episode was penned by Moris Farhi simply to show the series’ original script editor, David Whitaker, would he could do. Accordingly it isn’t so much a Lost Story as a sparkling little piece of ephemera.

The story shows a very different side to Farhi than that evident in Farewell, Great Macedon. Instead of scouring historical texts with a view to building up a vivid picture of a bygone age, The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance sees Farhi forge an alien world, and it’s every bit as rich and as detailed as ancient Babylon – and every bit as florid as the story’s title suggests. By modern standards, there is little here to arouse – this piece calls to mind more episodes of Star Trek and its subsidiaries than I’d care to reel off – yet the core conceit is still a most attractive one. Fahri paints a picture of a paradise world where war, terror and famine have all been wiped out. Everyone is tall, blonde and beautiful, and happily married by the age of thirty. However, the price of this paradise is that when the fragile folk of Fragrance fall in love, they must have their love reciprocated, lest they die. And so when Barbara Wright strolls out the TARDIS looking all glam, there won’t be any prizes for guessing what happens next.

The tale is very much a character piece, largely devoid of outright peril or incident. The Doctor gives a few inhabitants of Fragrance a tour of the TARDIS (taking in its never before seen engine room) in the hope that they’ll help him fix its “co-ordinator”, which he holds accountable for his failure to return Ian and Barbara home; Rhythm frets over his unreciprocated love for Barbara; and Rhythm’s family ponder the ethics of forcing Barbara to remain on Fragrance. It’s an engaging piece nonetheless, and not without its surprises – the blazing finish stands out in particular.

With the adaptation, Nigel Robinson has once again excelled himself. This time, though, he seems to have invested a lot more in his prose - his altiloquent narration reflects the poetic feel of the story beautifully. The performances are all first rate too – once again Bill Russell and Carole Ann Ford do wonders with their own characters and those of their late friends, and Helen Goldwyn gives a duly exotic turn as a couple of female locals. For his part, John Debney impresses as Barbara’s suitor, but given that I listened to this production soon after I did Macedon, I couldn’t help but hear Alexander in his cadences. It would have been preferable – though probably not as economic – for Big Finish to cast a fresh face here.

This story’s CD also houses The First Doctor Box Set’s extras, which comprise a number of interesting interviews conducted at various points during the recording of Farewell, Great Macedon with the cast, crew, and even Doctor Who Magazine’s Lost Stories guru, Richard Bignell. The preponderance of these discussions focuses on the showpiece marathon, but this curious one-parter does get one or two proportionate and enlightening mentions.

Having decided to adapt Farewell, Great Macedon, tackling The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance too must have seemed like a no-brainer to David Richardson and his team. It may not match up to its fellow release’s sheer class, but it’s a fascinating little story all the same, and one hell of a calling card for Fahri. You really could do a lot worse than to stick this one in your CD player and set the controls for the blazing heart of the sapphire sun.

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

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

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