Dust Breeding

Honestly Ace, where’s your sense of adventure?

The Seventh Doctor

Synopsis

On 19th century Earth artist Edvard Munch hears an infinite scream pass through nature. Centuries later his painting of that scream hangs in a gallery on the barren dust world Duchamp 331.

Why is there a colony of artists on a planet that is little more than a glorified garage? What is the event that the passengers of the huge, opulent pleasure cruiser ‘Gallery’ are hoping to see? And what is hidden in the crates that litter the cargo hold?

The Doctor’s diary indicates that the painting is about to be destroyed in ‘mysterious circumstances’, and when he and Ace arrive on Duchamp 331, those circumstances are well underway.

Review

This mask I wear can be misleading. People take it to mean that I am disabled in some way, infirm perhaps. I assure you, I am anything but.

The Master

Whilst there is a good central idea at the heart of Dust Breeding, there is an awful lot going on that distinctly isn’t. The story almost feels like Mike Tucker is trying to prove his Doctor Who fan credentials, throwing in references to Tereleptils, City of Death and the Daleks where they aren’t really necessary. The story, by it’s very nature and the reappearance of the Master, albeit it returned to his decayed regeneration, necessitates a reference to The Keeper of Traken to place where the Master is in his own timeline. The first part of the story seems to spend time ensuring that the characters are either just arriving or enroute to Duchamp 331 which almost seems like an unusual start to the story. It is usual practice for the Doctor and their companions to join a group of workers or inhabitants already in the story’s main setting. There are bits that work well, and I think the idea of a corpse full of dust, which then reanimates itself is one of the story’s most effective cliffhangers, along with the reveal of the Master. In addition, the reveal of the Warp Core being imprisoned in Edvard Munch’s Scream is a great idea, and that the painter used that painting to trap the powerful force inside. That painting is distinctly creepy and Doctor Who gives us a reason for it to be so, depicting Munch’s mental anguish. However, I don’t feel that the narrative needed to explain the origins of and how the Warp Core was imprisoned within it three times – this almost feels as though the story is asking “are you getting this at the back?”

The guest cast are pretty good, but Ian Richardson particularly stands out as the one who has the knowledge of Duchamp 331 and its history, having lost his partner to the dust in the years previously. I must also mention Caroline John, playing Madam Salvadori, who puts in a good performance, albeit it with a bizarre accent. Perhaps she or the director were concerned about John sounding a bit too similar to Liz! I’m not sure that the inclusion of Bev is entirely necessary and I don’t believe that either of her appearances that I’ve heard so far are at all memorable. Equally, I’m not sure that story needed Damien Pierson massively and his artistic collective.

The sound design works really well here though. Whilst it is not as polished as more recent Big Finish releases, there is a haunting scream which sounds almost Dalek in nature, alluding to the history of the planet, which really hammers home the inhospitable nature of the planet.

Oh my dear Doctor. Always the good Samaritan, always stepping into other people’s misfortune.

The Master…

A delightful, if unexpected pleasure.

The Master and the Seventh Doctor

One thing that really does work though is the reintroduction of the Master, and the twist at the end of Part 2 works well even if you know that it is coming or have recognised Geoffrey Beevers’ dulcet tones as distorted behind the mask. The decayed incarnation of the Master is one that cannot rely on his charm and is forced to rely purely on his skills of cunning and guile, something which comes across really well in this story. The Master highlights and exploits the hypocrisy of Madam Salvadori for being obsessed with increasing her own status and ultimately uses her for his own means. Beevers has got such a great voice which really crackles with menace. Whilst the story does not need to explain what happened to the Master to return him to this state – many Master stories before and since Dust Breeding have left the Master’s survival of the last story open – the way it does so is really good and works around the fact Ainley did not wish to return really elegantly. It probably helps that Beevers gets the story’s best lines!

Sylvester McCoy is good here and really ups his game when he is confronted with the Master. It’s a nice touch for the Doctor to go around and save and store artworks before their destruction, storing them in the TARDIS. I don’t think that this is an essential Seventh Doctor story by any stretch of the imagination, however, McCoy does solid work here and is nothing less than engaging.

Another element where the story doesn’t quite work is with regards to Ace. Ace feels written a little bit too young and this feels a little bit jarring, and makes it not entirely clear where this falls in terms of her time with the Doctor. It probably doesn’t help that Sophie Aldred leans into this, but some of the dialogue she is given, especially in the first three parts doesn’t help. The character suddenly matures in Part 4 when she has to lead Bev and Madam Salvadori through the Gallery which is being attacked by the Krill and Ace is certainly a bit better written here, and it’s a shame she couldn’t have been written like this throughout.

Verdict: Dust Breeding has a good central concept but tries to overcomplicate it by throwing too much else into the mix as well. There are good performances from McCoy, Geoffrey Beevers and Ian Ricketts, but they can’t elevate this story to loftier heights. 7/10

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Geoffrey Beevers (Mr. Seta/The Master), Caroline John (Madame Salvadori), Louise Faulkner (Bev Tarrant), Ian Ricketts (Guthrie), Mark Donovan (Klemp/Ambassador), Johnson Willis (Damien Pierson), Gary Russell (Jay Binks), Alistair Lock (Albert Bootle), Jez Fielder (Skredsvig), Jane Goddard (Maggie), Gareth Jenkins (The Krill), Jacqueline Rayner (Lift Computer) & Mark Wyman (Museum Announcer).

Writer: Mike Tucker

Director: Gary Russell

Producers: Jason Haigh-Ellery and Gary Russell

Composer: Russell Stone

Parts: 4

Monthly Range Release Number: 21

Release Date: 18th June 2001

Behind the Scenes

• This story marks the first appearance of the Master in a Big Finish audio production. Anthony Ainley was approached to reprise the role of the Master, however, he and Big Finish were unable to reach an agreement. As a result, it was decided to revert to the Geoffrey Beevers incarnation of the character.

Cast Notes

• Caroline John previously played Third Doctor companion Liz Shaw. She was also married to Geoffrey Beevers until her death in 2012 and they are the parents of Daisy Ashford, who has gone on to play her mother’s role of Liz for Big Finish.
• Louise Faulkner has appeared in numerous roles for Big Finish, most frequently as Bev Tarrant. She has also appeared in Davros, The Butler Did It (The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Travel in Hope) and The Nightmare Fair.
• Mark Donovan has also appeared in The Sandman, The Wormery, The Harvest and Survival of the Fittest.
• Gary Russell has appeared in a number of Big Finish stories, including The Marian Conspiracy, Spare Parts and Master.
• Alistair Lock has appeared in a number of Big Finish stories, including The Land of the Dead, The Apocalypse Element and Loups-Garoux.
• Jez Fielder has also appeared in a number of Big Finish stories including Phantasmagoria, The Marian Conspiracy and The Defectors.
• Jane Goddard has portrayed the role of Alpha Centauri for Big Finish, in the stories The Bride of Peladon, Run (The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Travel in Hope) and the Peladon boxset. She has also appeared in Bloodtide, The One Doctor and Jubilee, amongst other stories.
• Gareth Jenkins has also appeared in Seasons in Fear and Bang-Bang-a-Boom!
• Jacqueline Rayner has also appeared in Whispers in Terror, The Holy Terror and Minuet in Hell.
• Mark Wyman also appeared in The Church and the Crown.

Best Quote

You’ve spent your life looking at masks, Madam Salvadori, without the merest thought of what might lie underneath. See what lies beneath my mask…

The Master

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