12. The Fires of Vulcan.

4 episodes. Approx. 102 minutes. Written by: Steve Lyons. Directed by: Gary Russell. Produced by: Gary Russell.


THE PLOT

Pompeii, 79 AD. Exactly one day before the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, which will wipe Pompeii from the Earth, killing thousands of people. Those people, oblivious to their fates, are going about their business, obsessed with their own concerns and ambitions.

The High Priestess Eumachia (Lisa Hollander), representing the "pure" Roman gods, is resentful of the acceptance and popularity of "the foreign goddess," Isis. She sees that the masses embrace Isis over Jupiter and needs a way to discredit the goddess to advance her own station. She finds what she needs in the form of two strangers, who have arrived in a mysterious blue box and have been hailed as messengers of Isis. A perfect chance to discredit the goddess by destroying the two strangers.

For the Doctor and Mel, Eumachia's machinations are a minor concern. They are all too aware of the imminent eruption, particularly when the TARDIS is buried under rubble after one of the city's frequent tremors. Mel wants to find a way to recover the timeship, but the Doctor reacts with resignation. He tells Mel that in 1980, the ongoing excavation at Pompeii uncovered a most unusual artifact: A police telephone box. Time has already spoken. The TARDIS was fated to disappear in Pompeii, not to be seen again for almost 2,000 years!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: One challenge this story faced was in making a "serious" 7th Doctor fit at least somewhat into the Season 24 characterization. I think the story succeeds in this. There are some (occasionally awkward) bits of physical business referred to in the audio, particularly in the Doctor's humiliation of the gladiator Murranus (Steven Wickham). There's also an attitude of a generally ineffectual Doctor, one who reacts with philosophical resignation to his apparent fate. This seems to fit the Season 24 Doctor, who is not yet fully formed, more than the later McCoy Doctor. McCoy is at the top of his game, though his difficulty at conveying anger mars his confrontation with Murranus at the end of Episode Three.

Mel: I've never shared the Mel hatred - it's clear even in her weakest outings that Bonnie Langford is a far better screen actor than, say, Matthew Waterhouse - but she did suffer from poor (often nonexistent) characterization on television, featured in arguably the weakest run of stories in the entire series. As the first audio to feature the character, this story not only had to use her well - It had to rehabilitate her. 

Mel's major traits here are the same as in the television series: She's earnest, emotional, and compassionate to a fault. But writer Steve Lyons tones down Mel's, ah, enthusiasm, and highlights her compassion by giving her a friendship with the young slave Aglae (Gemma Bissix). Mel gets herself into trouble when she rushes headlong into a confrontation with Eumachia - but she does so to protect Aglae from this genuinely horrible woman, and so her headstrong acts make us like her more, rather than less as was often the case on television. Langford's performance is outstanding from start to finish, and it's little surprise that this one audio did so much to change her reputation among Big Finish listeners.


THOUGHTS

The Fires of Vulcan is one of Big Finish's early audios, #12 in a run that now encompasses hundreds of stories across multiple Doctor Who ranges. Revisiting it in the wake of all that followed, it does stand out how much simpler the sound design was. Effects are basic, with usually only one or two background effects occurring at a time rather than the complex soundscapes that would develop later. This is an audio play and, like the stage, background effects are there to suggest atmosphere rather than to fully recreate the place and time. In contrast, many of Big Finish's later efforts would be audio movies. One approach isn't inherently superior to the other, but it can be relaxing to revisit this simpler approach.

The Fires of Vulcan largely follows the format of an Irwin Allen disaster movie. There's a natural disaster on the way that will kill off most of the characters we're spending time with. But before that disaster strikes, we spend a lot of time watching (listening to) the characters indulge their own agendas, with a lot of scheming and conniving to complicate the simple survival goals of our heroes. Only in the final part does the disaster finally strike, at which point we revisit the major characters to see which ones get a chance to escape and start anew and which ones will receive their just desserts.

The structure may be familiar, but Steve Lyons' script is good. Eumachia may be a bit of a one-note villain, but other characters have more to them. Celsinus (Andy Coleman) is introduced in a way that suggests he will be a villain as well. However, despite Mel labeling him "the local creep," his character emerges as a sympathetic one. Murranus seems for most of the story to be a cliched violent thug. But an exchange in Episode Three allows us to see the reasons for his obsessive wrath at the Doctor, and his reasons make sense within the context of his background and circumstances. As a result, Murranus momentarily becomes a sympathetic figure - though once he becomes violent again in late Episode Three/early Episode Four, that sympathy quickly vanishes. 

Overall, The Fires of Vulcan is a good story. The sound design may be much sparer than later audios would offer, but the effects and music are well-used to create atmosphere. The regulars are on very good form, with Langford reinventing Mel for Big Finish listeners within the space of one story. A much-maligned companion is made into a likable and relatable figure, and a tragedy is brought to life and put into context by the 1980 bookends. Some of the conniving among guest characters is a bit theatrical, but it's balanced out by moments of reflection and genuine maturity.

Even after all these years and a myriad of later releases, this still stands out as an audio while worth a listen.


Rating: 8/10.


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