Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions
Written By: Jonathan Morris
RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)
Release Date: October 2013
Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online
Review Posted: 31st October 2013
“November 1963, and the Soviet space programme reigns supreme. Having sent the first animals, then the first men beyond Earth's atmosphere, now they're sending a manned capsule into orbit around the Moon.
Just as Vostok Seven passes over into the dark side, however, its life support system fails. Only the intervention of the Sixth Doctor and Peri, adopting the identities of scientists from Moscow University, means that contact with the capsule is regained.
But something has happened to the cosmonaut on board. She appears to have lost her memory, and developed extreme claustrophobia. Maybe she’s not quite as human as she used to be…”
* * *
The year is 2013 here at the time of writing this, but it stubbornly remains 1963 in the land of Big Finish now, with this, the second of their 1963 Main Range trilogy, taking us to Russia, Earth and far beyond…
Whereas Fanfare from the Common Men was nostalgic for the birth of The Beatles and the explosion of the huge cultural shift they were at the epicentre of, The Space Race is focussed instead on... well, on the space race. Ahem. It takes us far away from the cosy nostalgia of England, screaming fans and musical genius to Kazakhstan, espionage and scientific genius. It all feels a bit more serious, a bit less cosy, a lot more dangerous, cloaking a landscape in which women and men aspire towards being the first to visit the Moon and beyond, to stake their claim upon the wider universe... if they can stop betraying and killing one another first. At the heart of this tale of great aspiration is the petty mechanics of politics, and humanity’s shamefully cruel streak. It makes a nice contrast and reminds you of both the best and worst that mankind has to offer simultaneously.
It also manages to take a potentially really, really silly plot device, and make it both sad and terrifying, which is exactly what Doctor Who is so very good at. It comes as no surprise to me that Jonathan Morris pulls it off so well here whilst writing an article in the 50th Anniversary celebratory edition of Doctor Who Magazine about the show’s quirks and central facets. He knows his subject back to front, and plays it out somewhat beautifully.
His script is well supported, too, by a great cast. It almost goes without saying that Nicola Bryant and Colin Baker are both brilliant (but I’m going to say it here anyway, and hope it doesn’t come across as too sycophantic), but I was most impressed by Samantha Béart, who is so key to the story and walks the lines in just the right way. That said, I loved her as Random in the final radio series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and, more recently before financial woes led to it being cancelled, the stage show of that same series, so it’s not such a surprise that she impressed me here, too. It would be great to hear more of her in the future, so touch wood.
It didn’t all work for me, I’ll be honest. There’s a potential love interest for Peri, which is wrapped up rather clumsily, or rather not really at all: it just sort of stops without any consequence, which was a pity. That said, it’d be hard to deal with that strand without annoying the continuity purists, so perhaps Morris was wise. I know that there are still people out there, baying for poor Nev Fountain’s blood after writing the frankly marvellous The Kingmaker, which just goes to show that some people are wrong.
What 1963: The Space Race really shows though is that Big Finish have chosen a good theme to work with, one with lots of potential and drama. 1963 was an important year for the world, not just for Who fans, and I’m intrigued to see how Big Finish wrap things up next month.
