18. The Stones of Venice.

4 episodes. Approx. 111 minutes. Written by: Paul Magrs. Directed by: Gary Russell. Produced by: Gary Russell, Jason Haigh-Ellery.

THE PLOT

The Doctor takes Charley on a trip to Venice - specifically, to Venice in 2294, on the eve of its final sinking. 100 years previously, the ruling Duke Orcino (Michael Sheard) gambled away his beloved wife, Estella, in a game of chance. Shocked at his betrayal, Estella cursed Orcino and his city to 100 more years of life, followed by destruction. In the decades since, a cult has developed worshipping her as one would a goddess, insisting that she will return to save them all.

The Doctor has little interest in obscure cults, sinking cities, or old curses. But he is interested in saving the duke's art collection, presided over by the long-suffering Churchwell (Nick Scovell). His eye is captured by paintings that don't belong - paintings that literally should not exist on Earth.

Meanwhile, Charley is drawn to Pietro (Barnaby Edwards), a gondolier who observes that she and the Doctor seem less frivolous and more thoughtful than most of the gentry. The gondoliers have evolved into an amphibious underclass, awaiting the waters will close over the highest of Venice's spires and the city will become theirs. Pietro fears that Orcino may yet find a way to break the curse, but Charley's arrival presents an opportunity - one he takes by drugging the girl and presenting her as the reincarnation of the Lady Estella!

CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Separated from Charley, pursued by cultists, and faced with the prospect of confronting a corrupt and apparently deranged Duke... and this Doctor is all but flying on the joy of it. He exults to Churchwell about the exhileration that comes with the danger, seeming genuinely surprised that the other man doesn't share the feeling. He remains protective of Charley, clearly feeling responsible for her well-being - but his evasive response to her comment about eventually returning home shows that he still hasn't decided what he's going to do with her.

Charley: Feels genuine compassion for the gondoliers, oppressed for centuries by a decadent ruling class. But her headstrong nature makes her easy prey for their plan to distract the duke. She sneaks away as soon as she sees an opportunity, and to her credit is able to talk Pietro into seeing the pointlessness of his attempted distraction, but quickly changes gears when the Doctor arrives. Gets possibly her best scene to date in Episode Four. When Orcino barks threateningly at her, she doesn't get behind the Doctor, but instead stares the aristocrat down, pointing out how this entire situation is the fault of his own moral weakness.

Duke Orcino: Michael Sheard, who guest-starred in Who stories in the '60's, the '70's, and the '80's, gives his final series bow in the only form in which it existed in the early 2000's: audio. The dissolute Count Orcino wallows in his own guilt and depression - in the words of the waspish Miss Lavish, wasting all the extra years cursed upon him by his beloved Estella. That curse could as easily have been a gift: With an extra century of life, a more driven or ambitious man could have accomplished much. All Orcino has done is pined after the woman he lost through his own foolishness, lounging uselessly on his meaningless throne. The rising waters are irrelevant - This man has already drowned himself in a dingy sea of self-pity: The story's theme of corruption and decay in human form.

THOUGHTS

"The hands of the clock are meeting... And the clock chimes out for the death of Venice!"

-The Doctor, realizing that time has run out for the sinking city.

The Stones of Venice has long stood as easily my favorite of the four stories making up Paul McGann's first Big Finish "season." It's another wonderful production, the soundscape bringing to life the canals of the gondoliers, the gaudy palace of the duke, and the catacombs in which the cult makes its lair. McGann is at his most enthusiastic, and writer Paul Magrs' script is a wonderfully literate modern fairy tale.

It is easy to see that this may not be for all tastes. With a story involving what is essentially a witch's curse, foregrounding themes of corruption and decay in a city that's perpetually sinking, this is much more a modern fable than science fiction. The narrative voice is best personified in the character of Miss Lavish (Elaine Ives-Cameron), a waspish crone who observes the city's final night and the actions of the characters (Doctor and Charley included) with sardonic disdain:

"Crazed aristocrats, madmen, inveterate revelers, all of them here for the final carnival of all... Expecting to see the place rise to its former glories all of its own accord, magically. There isn't any such thing as magic... Nothing is going to happen here. The pattern is set, more's the pity!"

Mind you, that very sardonic distance undercuts any sense of threat or tension. Much as I enjoy this story, I can see why some find it slow going. The actual narrative is paper-thin, with the characters largely just waiting for dawn and the death of Venice. The closest thing to a villain the story has is the cult: A generic bunch, whose bearing and masked garb is mocked even by the Doctor. There's an end twist of sorts, but I have difficulty believing anyone hadn't figured it out by the end of Episode One, let alone by the time it finally comes to fruition in Episode Four.

But narrative drive isn't the focus, and it isn't the very basic plot that provides the pleasure in listening. It's the atmosphere. Paul Magrs' characters don't speak to advance plot points: They soliloquize, building pictures and moods with their words and lending flesh and form to this fairy tale future Venice. Russell Stone's score adds further layers to the ambience: light and sprightly when following the Doctor and Charley, so vivacious that they seem to all but dance as they speak; slow and melancholy when enveloping the dissipated Orcino or the embittered Miss Lavish, as if they are standing witness to a funeral in heavy rain.

For me, the almost literary use of language and the marvelously atmospheric production easily outweigh the sketchy plot, leaving me awarding a generous...

Overall Rating: 8/10.

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