whozagreus

ZAGREUS by Alan Barnes & Gary Russell

Story 50

Synopsis:
Charley hides from Zagreus in the TARDIS, which soon shows her scenes from the past in the form of hologrammatic projections. In the meantime, the Doctor tries to divest himself of the Zagreus infection, with little success. Charley learns that there is another universe where the Divergents live, and whom Rassilon wishes to destroy. He has communed with the Doctor's TARDIS, also stricken by the anti-time explosion, and willing to forsake the Doctor to serve a new master. Rassilon manipulates President Romana, to regain his Ring, and reopen his Foundry. He sets Zagreus to a task, forging a special blade. Charley has been cast into the Death Zone with three people she saw in the projections, each of whom has a part of the Doctor's psyche. Together, they are able to help Zagreus shake off the infection, and put a stop to Rassilon's plan. But the Doctor fears he will be consumed again, and decides to willingly enter the Divergent universe, to see what can be done. Romana warns him that if he returns, there'll be trouble. What he doesn't realise, as he sets off in the TARDIS, is that Charley has stowed away on board, to help him.

Review:-
Celebrating both 40 years of Doctor Who and the 50th Big Finish Dr Who release, this 3CD epic lasts for over 3 and a half hours, and includes cameos from all manner of names from the Dr Who cast.
But is it worth it?
The chief problem with this story is what it is, and what it was expected to be. The idea of including so many old faces and creating a kind of anniversary special leads to certain expectations. But the necessity of resolving the cliff-hanger from Neverland (the Doctor taken over by anti-time to become Zagreus) should be at the heart of the matter, and it doesn't suggest a jolly time. Nor does it turn out to be.
The prospect of a newly restored Charley able to overwhelm Zagreus by herself is too tall an order to take seriously, so she is soon ably assisted by convenient representations, led by the Brigadier (who she met in Minuet In Hell, of course). Though at first these seem to be tangential to the main problem, it slowly becomes clear that the solution to Zagreus will be part of a wider problem.
The first visit is to Cardington, where she learns of the time experiments of Professor Stone, who is assisted by Reverend Townsend. He is driven by the mystery of the variety of life, and thus causes a dangerous experiment which goes unexpectedly wrong. This is Charley's first intimation of the strange case of the Divergents.
She learns more in the second scenario, set in Gallifrey's past. Here, three sceptics of Rassilon's industry gather to investigate his Foundry, including Provost Tepes, a vampire. This brings in Rassilon's experiments and how they may relate to the Divergents.
Things take a very strange turn in the third skit, as the far future of Gallifrey appears to be the final resting place for a ghastly kids theme park, in an unsubtle parody of Walt Disney (see Burning Heart for similar non-humour). Here, the animator, Walton Winkell, resides in suspended animation and his creations fight each other to the end to pass time. Winkell awakens and is aghast that things have not gone according to plan.
By now, Charley has discerned that the Divergents come from a Universe not like our own, and Rassilon wanted to destroy them. He manipulates current President Romana to enable him to re-enter his Foundry so he can finish his work.
In the meantime, the Doctor tries to get Zagreus out of his head, with only moderate success. His efforts become doomed when he realises that his TARDIS was also affected by the anti-time, and through the vision of the Brigadier, has been using Charley to find out what it wants to know, to serve its new master - Rassilon.
This all comes together in the last part, where Charley struggles through a Matrix version of the Death Zone from Gallifrey, in the company of Townsend, Tepes and Winkell - Tepes explaining where they appear to be.
Meanwhile, Zagreus has been enslaved by Rassilon to create a weapon against the Divergents. But Charley's three aides are all facets of the Doctor, and persuade Zagreus of his true identity. It's then up to Charley to stop Zagreus from helping Rassilon - but can she kill the man she loves, just because he's been possessed?
Her decision echoes that which the Doctor faced in the preceding tale, but she decides to strike. Fortunately, this allows the Doctor the time to pull himself together and stop Rassilon - but at the cost of surrendering control to Zagreus.
And so the Doctor is off on his new mission to deal with the Divergents - with a warning from Romana not to come back ever. And a stowaway...
Much imagination has gone into these three episodes, with a little help from Lewis Carroll. The Cardington section works as an intriguing slant on military and scientific experiments, with Peter Davison and the rest of his TV companions bringing their characters to life, even if it all descends into confusion towards the end.
The Ancient Gallifrey section is rather more interesting than one might expect, and Colin Baker brings a vehemence to his vampire character that unfortunately makes Rassilon seem more sympathetic. As to the lunacy of Winkell's world - Sylvester McCoy seems frail and doddery, but then that would fit a sad old man resurrected to witness the futility of his dreams.
Against all this, Paul McGann makes good work of his dual role, though having to react to barely-audible footage of the late Jon Pertwee is the nadir of the whole show. He improves as his predicament improves, but feels rather disconnected from the story. India Fisher, by contrast, is the heart and soul of the quest, as she puts the pieces of the jigsaw together, improvising as she goes along. She feels less the 1930's adventuress now, but then that's understandable.
The other main vocal efforts are Nicholas Courtney as the ersatz Brigadier, and Don Warrington as the rascally Rassilon. The former is all too compelling as friend turned foe, and the latter brings a chilling smoothness to the maniacal Gallifreyan legend.
So, what, in the final analysis, can be said fairly about this story? It doesn't quite resolve the issue of the anti-time infection, forcing the Doctor instead out in a bold new direction (that was planned to run for years - but sadly, not actually to be so). The story is a turning point, much as the EDA range tried with The Ancestor Cell, and by putting a wall up between Gallifrey and the Doctor, it seems meant to leave continuity behind in favour of a new beginning. A nice idea, but doomed and silly.
The acting is variable, as is the plot. The duration is insanely long, at least for a 3-episode saga. The play asks perhaps too much of the audience's patience, never mind their imagination. As a celebration saga, it has merit for being different, but the need to be too many things at once is where it fails. Better execution would have achieved similar results with a greater satisfaction. All one comes away with is a hope that any such attempt in future should be approached with more sense than this.

Disclaimer: I own a copy.