Arrangements for War [AUDIO/2004.5.?]

★★★★☆

  How marvelous is it, the success story of the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smythe? The warm, mellowed traveller of verbosity and theatrical brave heart(s), and the wise historian who has proven time and again to be an intellectual and emotional equal; at this point, Big Finish was riding high on the glory of this very special TARDIS duo, and Arrangements for War proves just how magical both Colin Baker and Maggie Stables can be when the stakes are at their highest.

  Emotional journeys are always a double-edged sword, when one takes into account the tendency of many writers to include scenes of emotional damage and torture just for the sake of it. I'm a bit sad to admit that Paul Sutton's script eventually gets to that point near the end and very important characters are killed just for the sake of getting the Doctor to act emotionally; although I don't feel terribly offended by it in any way, I do feel that the decision stands out among other, much more organic moments of sadness. Apart from minor gripes like that, though, this is pretty much an airtight script that balances both a fascinating idea of the Doctor and co. landing in a part of galactic history before a gigantic event and the emotional attachments and fallout that pertains relationships with new characters and consequences from the Doctor and Evelyn's past exploits. With the excellent music from Steve Foxon, there's nothing quite like Arrangements for War. This'll probably go over some readers' heads, but an adventure with this specific atmosphere and emotional melody could only have been made in the early-to-mid-2000s. The music along brings back early Playstation 2 memories.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  Anyone would find Arrangements for War a beautiful but painful thing, but this is bound to be absolutely heartbreaking for those who have followed the Doctor and Evelyn's adventures from The Marian Conspiracy. This feels like a more polished, confident twin of the typical new series finale two-parter that focuses on characters, particularly the Doctor and the companion that's about to leave them. Since the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn's adventures are essential to Big Finish newcomers in my eyes, this too is a necessary step in understanding the highs that this audio company has reached, and can still reach.