Other Lives [AUDIO/2005.12.13]

★★★★☆

  I have a great fondness for Doctor Who historicals which take place in time periods and locations I've always had an interest in. It's a particular pleasure of mine to see the Doctor and their friends wander about historical locations and meet historical people I've only read about in books or learned of in school. Therefore, I suspect my experience listening to the Eighth Doctor, Charley and C'rizz get up to all sorts of trouble within the famous Great Exhibition of 1851 may be a tad bit more positive than the average Big Finish listener, but that's because I've always loved the idea of the Great Exhibition, and also that I'm a sucker for atmosphere pieces. Other Lives has plenty of atmosphere, that austere and unpredictable power of history to shape and predict your present's every move, and David Darlington's soothing tunes bring that out with style. The ambience in the exhibition itself -- how wonderful! This is why I love audio dramas so much.

  There's plenty of danger in this story; political assassins are about, the TARDIS is lost in time with none of its residents inside it, and the Doctor and his friends are forced to adopt new personas and lead new lives, at least for a few days. Charley meets the Duke of Wellington and is coerced into pretending to be the wife of a French ambassador who's went missing (they're onboard the TARDIS), C'rizz is captured and faces a rather unfortunate fate of becoming a sideshow attraction under duress, and the Doctor's released from prison by a woman who's convinced that he's her husband. These ridiculous scenarios all three actors to let their proverbial hair down a bit and have fun with the material (since they've been primarily tackling pretty heavy stuff at the time), and their performances are simply sublime as a result. Other Lives is a rare pure historical for the Eighth Doctor -- possibly his only one, if I remember correctly -- and it's all the most enjoyable for that fact. No world-ending stakes, no life-threatening aliens, just history taking its course and very human interests leading the Doctor and co. to unpredictable events.