152. Doctor Who: House of Blue Fire
Feb. 21st, 2025 05:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI relistened House of Blue Fire, which introduced Sally Morgan. https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-house-of-blue-fire-320
It has its good points but I feel like it interrupted its own momentum to tell a different story, and that the fears could have been chosen better for audio. Mirrors in particular, they did grand with the soundscape considering, but you can't get an audio listener to be afeared of what the character sees in the mirror, we're never looking.
Also, the Doctor stayed clever and in control throughout, which is... not fully exploring the premise. He should have had the wheels come off and have had to face the fear that actually the problem here is him. Like yes by the end as it's DW not TW we can all be sure there's a real monster, but it's more fun in the middle if he's worried this is simply the fear drawn from *his* mind, less of a fear bullet than a fear nuke.
The characters are all vivid enough quite fast, but never feel like they add up to more than their introduction, or come together, for instance to reflect the Doctor in fragmented ways.
I just kind of want to spend the middle of one episode persuading the Doctor he's crazy and that the people he's trying to save are just memories, and then have them surprise him to prove they're real.
Playing with fear while the Doctor stays unafraid is... okay, it's one way to present the Doctor as saviour, but it's shallow. Make him face his own fears again.
But his stated fear that the Dark Times could come again does explain a lot about 7's machinations.
So now I know it's part of an arc it does it quite well.
Pretty okay adventure but it gave me the writer feel where you want to unplait it and use it for parts.
It has its good points but I feel like it interrupted its own momentum to tell a different story, and that the fears could have been chosen better for audio. Mirrors in particular, they did grand with the soundscape considering, but you can't get an audio listener to be afeared of what the character sees in the mirror, we're never looking.
Also, the Doctor stayed clever and in control throughout, which is... not fully exploring the premise. He should have had the wheels come off and have had to face the fear that actually the problem here is him. Like yes by the end as it's DW not TW we can all be sure there's a real monster, but it's more fun in the middle if he's worried this is simply the fear drawn from *his* mind, less of a fear bullet than a fear nuke.
The characters are all vivid enough quite fast, but never feel like they add up to more than their introduction, or come together, for instance to reflect the Doctor in fragmented ways.
I just kind of want to spend the middle of one episode persuading the Doctor he's crazy and that the people he's trying to save are just memories, and then have them surprise him to prove they're real.
Playing with fear while the Doctor stays unafraid is... okay, it's one way to present the Doctor as saviour, but it's shallow. Make him face his own fears again.
But his stated fear that the Dark Times could come again does explain a lot about 7's machinations.
So now I know it's part of an arc it does it quite well.
Pretty okay adventure but it gave me the writer feel where you want to unplait it and use it for parts.