Creatures of Beauty [AUDIO/2003.5.24]

★★★★★

  Creatures of Beauty may still be the best script Nicholas Briggs ever penned; it really must be talked about more whenever people discuss the best of Big Finish. It says something about how I think about his usual Terry Nation-inspired action and bombast when his best work for me is a total outlier amongst his stories, doesn't it? I'm not saying that Briggs doesn't bring out absolutely stunning works every once in a while (I'm still reeling from the emotional shock of listening to Lucie Miller / To the Death again, what a classic that is), but I am of the opinion that his adventures are more often than not content to wade in the same, safe and tested waters.

  This audio story, however, is very different. Not only is it a complete inverse of the typical Doctor Who adventure, it also crafts a fascinating world with generational wounds and bigotry (bolstered by powerhouse performances), and truly questions the Doctor's positivie influence on those around him. It's especially poignant that the most well-meaning and mild-mannered Fifth Doctor gets to be both protagonist and antagonist of this tale, and that narrative strength was apparently not lost on Peter Davison. He's commanding throughout, keeping a level head amidst the chaos and demanding answers. How ironic, then, that the most important clue to the mystery (and I must say that opting for a non-linear structure was a genius move on Briggs' part) is never revealed to the Doctor: that as he casually tells his companion Nyssa that they've probably had no influence in events at all, he unknowingly creates the explosion that covers Veln with toxic gas and causes all the hatred and deformity that led to the story's proceedings.

  It's a gruesome tale, this, not just in terms of hard moral questions but also in its graphic content (I think a trigger warning before the beginning would be good for new listeners who might not like depictions of self-mutilation). It's a masterfully crafted tale of the Wes and the Not-Wes, the rich and the not-so-affluent, the beautiful and the ugly -- and for once, the Doctor's actions are not brought into question when it's needed the most. That is perhaps where the brilliance of Creatures of Beauty lies... in confronting by not confronting.