In which Hex meets one of his heroes and Ace gets chatted up by Tolstoy!
Now this is a story I should really love. Set during the Crimean War, this is partly a homage to Tolstoy’s ‘Sebastapol Sketches’, which I’ve read a couple of times – I became obsessed with Tolstoy for some reason in my early 20’s. This is a period that is also covered in another favourite book of mine – Beryl Bainbridge’s ‘Master Georgie’. The big headline plot component is Hex getting to meet and work with his hero – Florence Nightingale (played very well by Jeanny Spark). With appearances from various other real historical figures and set in an interesting conflict on the cusp of the modern world, it should be great. And yet, it isn’t quite as successful as some of the other stories I have reviewed. Why is that?
Well if there is a fault with the story, it is that it somewhat squanders the strongest cards in its hand and loses coherency at the same time. There was a lot of mileage in both Hex struggling to transform the standard of healthcare at the military hospital (sometimes with anachronistic technology) and the eventual arrival and meeting Florence and yet a relationship never quite develops, he is tongue tied and embarrassed throughout and that starts out as fine, but gets wearying very quickly. She is an interesting, forthright character – a real force of nature, but doesn’t really get the time she deserves in this story. Likewise, the setup in Sebastapol with Ace and her rescuer/captor – a young Leo Tolstoy. Instead of being trapped in a besieged town, we have a rather pointless chase across Russia and multiple time periods. I suppose in part the split storytelling is already in place through necessity, with the hospital being in Turkey (having to link in with Florence’s story) and the main war in Crimea (to allow Tolstoy and the siege to be shown), that is done quite successfully, splitting the travellers as the Doctor and Ace go to Sebastapol and back in time a month to investigate a mystery setup when they first arrive at Scutari.
The main issues arrive as the Doctor ends up involved in a plot at the British embassy in Petersburg and some quite confusing timey-wimey stuff, involving different time periods and a character they meet in Scutari and in Russia. It just seems to meander and wander too much, when it should have been tight and focussed. Sebastapol and the hospital in Scutari (now part of Istanbul) are where the war is at and nice as it to have the Doctor hob knob with the Tsar (great performance from Hugh Bonneville), it just seems to dilute what should be the main story.
It also falls foul of the problem that ‘The Settling’ neatly sidestepped, what to do with the seventh Doctor in a historical story. He gets involved in all sorts of court and state intrigue and separated geographically and temporally, with the TARDIS lost in an attack in Sebastapol. And inevitably viewed as a spy by both sides in the conflict. It all just gets a bit messy though. Eventually I had to admit I just got a little bit lost where everything was happening and when. All this despite listening to it while I was on my own driving across Western Iceland and so I really could concentrate on the plot without much distraction. It isn’t the non-linear structure per se that is the issue, I will be reviewing some stories soon that make very good use of that technique, it more feels like an issue with execution here.Having said all of that, it is still a very enjoyable play, just that it doesn’t make the most of the setup.
As in ‘The Settling’ Hex is the focus, but here he gets to use his medical skills to try to improve the lives and life expectancy of the wounded. Fighting a slightly losing battle and ‘holding the fort’ until Florence arrives – he becomes ‘The Angel of Scutari’ at the hospital in Turkey where the British wounded are sent. It is a decent performance by Philip Olivier, who is good addition to this TARDIS crew – he’s not quite in the same league as the likes of Charley, Erimem and Evelyn, but a nice character all the same and adds something to the traditional Seventh Doctor/Ace line-up. Some of the other characters though get rather wearying – William Russell – the Times correspondent is a bit one-note, turning belligerent every time the script needs him to be, likewise the psychologically damaged British spymaster – Brigadier-General Kitchen, who plays an important part in the plot.
Overall, an interesting period of history and a decent, but not great story. It is still entertaining and well worth a listen though and as I read back the review, I feel that I might have been a little harsh on it –8 out of 10 stuff.
A Journal of Impossible Things 