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Sisters of the Flame

JULY 2008

(50-MINUTE EPISODE, PART 1 OF 2)

This episode’s working title, Kidnapped, would have been a very apt one indeed.

With Paul McGann’s Doctor held captive by the returning Sisterhood of Karn throughout,

this episode is carried entirely by the strength of Lucie’s character. This is Big Finish’s version of the ‘Doctor-lite’ episode. This is Sheridan Smith’s Turn Left…

“The case of the missing Doctor…”

Nicholas Briggs’ narrative focuses entirely on Lucie Miller once she has been cast adrift in deep space. In a lot of ways, this idea reminded me a lot of the ‘lost Sam’ story arc that ran through a handful of the early BBC Books eighth Doctor novels, though Sisters of the Flame is much more fun, even considering the momentous undercurrents of the larger story.

A lot of this is thanks to the pairing of Lucie and the Trell detective, Rosto. Rosto is the ten-foot tall centipede gloriously depicted in Grant Kempster’s evocative cover illustration and portrayed by none other than Star Trek: Deep Space 9’s Doctor Julian Bashir, otherwise known as Alexander Siddig. Rosto’s calm and logical deportment is beautifully offset by Lucie’s panic and fear, making for a truly compelling and often rather droll adventure.

Indeed, Sisters of the Flame

is replete with many deft little

flourishes of humour. The Time Lord Straxus, played as he was

in Human Resources by the

mercurial Nickolas Grace, is

certainly right at the top of his game in that regard, and what’s more the script is littered with a multitude of wry witticisms. I particularly liked the quip about the planetary real estate market being depressed; very now.

“Karn he we come!”

Looking at the bigger picture, Sisters of the Flame begins to move the pieces into place

for next month’s finale. Zarodnix, the self-professed “richest man in the galaxy” and leader

of the Cult of Morbius, has just bought the planet Karn, former home to the Sisterhood of the same name, and the Time Lords are running scared. So much so, in fact, that they dare not travel by TARDIS, instead limiting themselves to travel by way of Time Ring…

And so whilst the CD’s liner notes claim that this season of stories doesn’t feature any two-parters, this doesn’t appear to be quite true. In terms of plot, Sisters of the Flame is little more than a slow build-up to what will no doubt prove to be a nail-biting finale next month, and more to the point the episode ends with a gloriously traditional cliffhanger. Now that sounds like a two-parter to me, at least working on the new series’ looser definition. And bearing in mind that we’re talking about a ‘Doctor-lite’ episode here, I think that new series rules apply…

Copyright © E.G. Wolverson 2008

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