The Innocent [AUDIO/2015.12.14]

★★★☆☆

  God bless Sir John Hurt. He has more talent in a single ho, hum and huff than most of us could muster in our entire lifetime. Here he is, portraying a very broken, forlorn Doctor who has all but lost his sense of excitement and joy, and he does it so effortlessly. Say what you will about the overall quality (i.e. level of your enjoyment) of The Innocent, but I don't think many can deny that Nicholas Briggs did a good job in capitalising on Hurt's immeasurable talent for drama. It was certainly a bold move to start the War Doctor series with what's mostly a two-hander between Hurt and Lucy Briggs-Owen's Rejoice, a contemplation of what the Doctor has become (while showing, ironitcally, that the War Doctor is not that far off from the "real deal") away from the fanfares and heavy machinery of war... that comes later. I'm just glad something truly left-field came out of Nicholas Briggs' idea bag, considering my normal misgivings about his standardised version of Dr. Who.

  With some gorgeous sound design, music and performances, The Innocent eases the new listener into the chaotic, doom-laden world of the Time War by taking place nearly completely away from the action. This way, the toll the war's had on the Doctor is more apparent (he seems grief-stricken at the fact that he can't simply wander off into an adventure with a new companion, he is practically allergic to the title of 'Doctor', etc.), and the whole Keska situation gives him a chance to relax a bit before the war comes crashing down on him again. A simple, but effective strategy to flesh out the character first and foremost, and Briggs did a service to himself by setting this particularly type of story as the first installment before doubling down on the 'World War II in space' infiltrations and explosions of the succeeding adventure. The Innocent, in this sense, has an oddly soothing quality whenever I listen to it. I frequently revisit the sequence with the Doctor and Rejoice on the boat; it's such a well-directed and beautifully performed moment. It's a very good starter to a series, I can give it that.