Dreamtime

If this is paradise, something tells me we should’ve found it sooner. Before it fell into such a state of disrepair.

Hex

Synopsis

The Dreamtime is living Time. The Dreaming is living myth.

A city travels the stars, inhabited by stone ghosts. At its heart, an ancient remembrance of Earth. Mythical creatures stalk the streets and alien visitors have come in search of trade. But there is nothing to trade. There is only fear. And death. And the stone ghosts.

For Hex’s first trip in the TARDIS, it’s about the strangest place he could have imagined. Weird and very far from wonderful. Adjustment to his new life could prove tough. But he will have to adjust and do more, just to stay alive, and Ace will have to be his guide through this lost city of shadows and predatory dreams. And the Doctor is the first to go missing.

The Doctor has crossed into the Dreamtime.

Review

Dreamtime is an example of the experimental storytelling that Doctor Who can experiment with. Unfortunately, it is largely unsuccessful. I really struggled with this story as it failed to engage me and I found that it was hard to care about anything that was happening.

It’s not a problem that Big Finish wanted to try doing something new, and at Dreamtime‘s heart is a story with a really simple image – a city flying through space on an asteroid. Writer Simon A Forward has taken that idea and applied it to Aboriginal Australian ideas. Ultimately, the story does not do enough to make it resonate with the listener. It has some large concepts, but it doesn’t feel as though it takes the time to explain them before building on them. Whilst she was not regularly appearing in Big Finish, it almost feels that the story needs someone like Janet Fielding’s Tegan to really ground the story. The fact that there’s no-one to provide an explanation in the early parts of the story does negatively affect the story. It was only when researching this story that I found out about the links to Australian Aboriginal culture, and what Uluru was and its’ importance to Aboriginal beliefs. Everything is handwaved away and left unexplained. That’s not the only thing that doesn’t really work. There are moments where it’s really unclear what’s going on, such as at the end of the second part, where the cliffhanger just seems to happen. That seems to sum up Dreamtime. It is utterly forgettable. It’s a story that feels like it is trying to rush towards a conclusion, but doesn’t feel as though it has any interest in taking the listener along with it. The result left me feeling like I did when I watched Silver Nemesis – utterly flat and like the story is convinced that it has something meaningful to say, but ultimately has no real substance.

I think that carries over to the guest cast. There are no real standout characters, and I struggled to remember everybody’s names. I particularly struggled with the lizard race, the Galyeri. I understand that they have appeared in another Main Range release also written by Forward, and originated in stories written by him. Whilst it was nice to have an alien race present to add variety to an otherwise human cast, the Galyeri ultimately feel inconsequential. Everyone in this story struggles to make any impact at all with me, even with Baiame, who is actually an important individual in Aboriginal myth – not that the story gives you any of this information. Ultimately, the characters all feel indistinguishable.

In terms of our main cast, this doesn’t really advance any of their stories in any way. I suppose I’d better start with Hex, as this is his first journey in the TARDIS. The moments in the first part where Hex is talking about how he is coping with this experience are good, but I just felt sorry for the character and Philip Olivier that this was his first trip in the TARDIS. Neither Hex nor Ace have an awful lot to do in this story, and whilst Hex adds a nice new dynamic into the relationship between Ace and the Seventh Doctor, it is not really explored here. The trio spend a lot of time in this story apart, and due to the issues with the story and the dialogue, it doesn’t really feel like a seminal story for any of them. McCoy is good in parts – it is a rather subdued performance, but he is capable of blustering and bickering with Baiaime when he needs to.

Verdict: Dreamtime is a deeply flawed story which takes some interesting concepts but doesn’t ever take the time to explain them to its audience. It is a rather unforgettable story, and a distinctly underwhelming first adventure for Hex. 2/10

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Philip Oliver (Hex), Tamsin Griffin (Trade Negotiator Vresha), Jef Higgins (Co-Ordinator Written), Brigid Lohrey (Dream Commander Wahn), Josephine Mackerras (Toomey), Andrew Peisley (Dream Commando Mulyan), Steffan Rhodri (Commander Khorsal) and John Scholes (Baiame).

Writer: Simon A Forward

Director: Gary Russell

Music and Sound: Steve Foxon

Original Release Date: 5 March 2005

Main Range Release Number: 67

Behind the Scenes

• The Doctor mentions the Green Cross Code to Ace and Hex. Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor, would go on to appear in a Green Cross Code Public Information Film in 1976, introducing SPLINK.

Cast Notes

• Jef Higgins played a waiter in The Gathering.

Best Quote

Baiame, you cannot inflict a wound like this on the Earth! Not without repercussions and you take those repercusions with you!

The Seventh Doctor

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