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beccaelizabeth5, Tegan, Nyssa and Marc, in stories The Lost Resort, The Perils of Nellie Bly, and Nightmare of the Daleks.
I listened to these spread out over several days because they're handily seperate tracks and I slept in between.
The Lost Resort sort of creeps up on you, and then I was having Many Feelings. It's all grief and loss and refusing to let go and so being unable to move on. It fits well with the emotional place the Doctor was left in about the whole having companions concept. Adric is haunting the narrative even before he is literally haunting the Doctor. The realisation of how much of the story is actually happening, a realisation made possible by a little boy who is a robot made because of grief... Advanced tech making memory ghosts, that raise questions about what is real that River Song in the library or real world AI also elaborate on... All the different forms and angles of grief... The ways people couldn't grow up, the family conflicts between siblings who found each other annoying, being the heir or spare to a legacy you do or dont want but cant live up to either way, grieving parents, grieving partners... So many feelings.
And then there's a whole extra layer about servants/slaves/cyborgs/androids and who does and doesnt count them as people. Freedom and the lack thereof. Marc understanding the important bits of andoid life. Wanting a life of their own but being tasked with staying one step removed, carrying others memories and serving their needs. Excellent complications. Meanwhile Nyssa is working to discover what is effecting them, and making friends just by treating people equitably, since whatever class system Traken had going on it didnt involve being rude. And Marc gets to use his upgrades in a way he doesnt hate, which is big for him.
The ending where it's Adric's choice again, everything between the Doctor and Adric there, that managed to carry the weight of a moment and relationship that's been pivotal for so long. Big emotional.
It's a big feelings story where I felt the plot hung together very well.
5/5 for that section.
Nellie Bly seemed a light bit of run around where I ended up not liking any of the time local characters. The contrast with the stories before and after does it no favours either. But it's okay.
I listened Nightmare of the Daleks yesterday and while it had lots of good elements I felt like I wanted to unravel it and plait it up again, possibly with some strands more prominent from earlier on, or with a few extra shiny bits in. It's building up to a glorious ending where Marc realises that far from having lost his humanity he is so full of feeling he can use it to defeat all the hate of the Daleks. Which is grand and epic and good.
As an idea. But I wasn't feeling it, and I fell asleep after wondering how I'd rearrange or re emphasise the parts to make it build up to that.
Honestly it felt like fear and anger were too large a part of his reactions to do a love conquers hate kind of ending. And when the people he met gave their potted life history and told him about life and love and children back home, a, it was so neat you knew they'd be exterminated in the next bit, and b, I don't remember how Marc reacted. Like, did he share memories of home? Did it remind him of his own dreams? I don't know. And I felt that the comparison between the working conditions on the rig and Marc's economic background should have come up rather. But I can't quote Marc's opinions on any of it. So the ending didnt quite land with me because, on the whole, Marc hasnt.
Which is sad because as previously stated it was otherwise glorious and the story had all the right parts. Dalek ghosts compared of pure hate climbing into your nightmares: I don't know about you but 8 year old me had that exact nightmare a lot. Excellent creep factor.
And it resolves with the Doctor acknowledging his companions autonomy and bravery and saying he sometimes thinks they're the best of him, which wraps the emotional arc after Adric and Marc neatly.
Maybe it'll work better for me on relisten?
I did need to sleep yesterday.
I'd rate the three stories differently but the set is good.
I listened to these spread out over several days because they're handily seperate tracks and I slept in between.
The Lost Resort sort of creeps up on you, and then I was having Many Feelings. It's all grief and loss and refusing to let go and so being unable to move on. It fits well with the emotional place the Doctor was left in about the whole having companions concept. Adric is haunting the narrative even before he is literally haunting the Doctor. The realisation of how much of the story is actually happening, a realisation made possible by a little boy who is a robot made because of grief... Advanced tech making memory ghosts, that raise questions about what is real that River Song in the library or real world AI also elaborate on... All the different forms and angles of grief... The ways people couldn't grow up, the family conflicts between siblings who found each other annoying, being the heir or spare to a legacy you do or dont want but cant live up to either way, grieving parents, grieving partners... So many feelings.
And then there's a whole extra layer about servants/slaves/cyborgs/androids and who does and doesnt count them as people. Freedom and the lack thereof. Marc understanding the important bits of andoid life. Wanting a life of their own but being tasked with staying one step removed, carrying others memories and serving their needs. Excellent complications. Meanwhile Nyssa is working to discover what is effecting them, and making friends just by treating people equitably, since whatever class system Traken had going on it didnt involve being rude. And Marc gets to use his upgrades in a way he doesnt hate, which is big for him.
The ending where it's Adric's choice again, everything between the Doctor and Adric there, that managed to carry the weight of a moment and relationship that's been pivotal for so long. Big emotional.
It's a big feelings story where I felt the plot hung together very well.
5/5 for that section.
Nellie Bly seemed a light bit of run around where I ended up not liking any of the time local characters. The contrast with the stories before and after does it no favours either. But it's okay.
I listened Nightmare of the Daleks yesterday and while it had lots of good elements I felt like I wanted to unravel it and plait it up again, possibly with some strands more prominent from earlier on, or with a few extra shiny bits in. It's building up to a glorious ending where Marc realises that far from having lost his humanity he is so full of feeling he can use it to defeat all the hate of the Daleks. Which is grand and epic and good.
As an idea. But I wasn't feeling it, and I fell asleep after wondering how I'd rearrange or re emphasise the parts to make it build up to that.
Honestly it felt like fear and anger were too large a part of his reactions to do a love conquers hate kind of ending. And when the people he met gave their potted life history and told him about life and love and children back home, a, it was so neat you knew they'd be exterminated in the next bit, and b, I don't remember how Marc reacted. Like, did he share memories of home? Did it remind him of his own dreams? I don't know. And I felt that the comparison between the working conditions on the rig and Marc's economic background should have come up rather. But I can't quote Marc's opinions on any of it. So the ending didnt quite land with me because, on the whole, Marc hasnt.
Which is sad because as previously stated it was otherwise glorious and the story had all the right parts. Dalek ghosts compared of pure hate climbing into your nightmares: I don't know about you but 8 year old me had that exact nightmare a lot. Excellent creep factor.
And it resolves with the Doctor acknowledging his companions autonomy and bravery and saying he sometimes thinks they're the best of him, which wraps the emotional arc after Adric and Marc neatly.
Maybe it'll work better for me on relisten?
I did need to sleep yesterday.
I'd rate the three stories differently but the set is good.