For a very very long time
I was put off from ever purchasing the novel of The Ultimate Evil as I had seen
it often classed as very poor Doctor Who fodder. But when I finally decided to
heed my often-used mantra of never believing what anyone says about a story
till you find out its true for yourself I was hugely surprised. Because The
Ultimate Evil is not in any way shape or form just another 'run of the mill'
Lost story. In fact, I consider it to be one of the best as its extremely well-paced
and has several brilliant moments and a very strong central premise indeed.
For starters the villain
of the piece, the slimy creep intergalactic salesman Mordant is a truly
unremittingly vulgar and nasty creation in the very best vein of memorable
baddies. Absolutely no moral core and the ringer he puts the Doctor and Peri
through and the inhabitants of Tranquela is utterly abhorrent. Robin Sebastian
is clearly delighting in the role and he truly makes the fiend totally
repulsive and easy to loathe. He has the same sort of silkiness to his
performance that Roger Delgado gave as the Master in the classic era of the TV
show. Maybe he is Sil in another body?!
Colin Baker gets to act
deranged and evil and he, as one would rightfully come to expect, is sublime.
He always was and it’s so much of a full on treat to have so many lost
treasures unearthed and given the audio magic that Big Finish is so adept at
creating and blessing our ears with. And wonderfully predictably Nicola Bryant
as Peri remains his perfect foil. It is a very novel idea at the start that for
the first time ever in the show's long history that the TARDIS is working
perfectly! I chuckled at this scene. Honestly Colin and Nicola always enhance anything
they grace with their presence. Their chemistry remains perfect and they aid
each other so commendably that its always joyous to tune into their adventures.
It's also good to hear the two friends at ease and just getting on in the
opening TARDIS scenes too, and its so comedic that the Doctor is off at his
ship for working 100% efficiently!!
Paul Panting's Ravlos
makes a good impression as one of the myriads of old friends the Doctor has
scattered through the multiverse. And it’s good to hear him portrayed as a
competent scientist, as is also the case with Issy Van Rhydwick's Koreelya. Its
superb when Koreelya is the first one to realise there is something wrong with
the "Ball" that the Doctor was given by Mordant in a previously
unseen adventure. I always like to see some characters being given good sense
and so they don’t become laughable or mere cardboard cut-out characters.
Gary Burgess too shines as
the lying and scheming Escoval. Honestly its now so routinely easy to lose
track of how many superb actors shape these detestable villains so we will
always recall how deliciously unpleasant they were. You can never have enough
black hearted villains in Doctor Who!
Jack Forsyth-Noble also
gives Locas a backbone and a heart full of likeable pathos. When he is grief
stricken at what he thinks is the loss of his fiancée he is extremely credible.
He is also a very decent character. Without giving too much more away too I
really liked his final scenes. Sublime character acting.
The Amelierans perhaps
should have been in the story just a little more, as one isn't really given an
adequate viewing of what the enemies of the Tranquelans are like. But that is
largely about the only serious quibble I can find with this story. The other
element I really enjoy about this story is its non-violent conclusion. It’s
good to have the Doctor halt a madman's scheme simply by pointed and confident
conversation. Even better to hear a foe sent packing without a massive effusion
of loss of life.
Maybe the plot isn't completely
earth shatteringly different but as with so many stories it is very reliably
entertaining and never anything less. I will never be one of those it has to be
something new else I'll hate it people.
I was extremely saddened
to learn of the very recent death of Wally K Daly. Judging by the strength of
this tale he could have had a whole lot more to offer the show. It’s so so
thrilling that Big Finish have decided to resurrect The Lost Stories. It’s one
of my favourite series because of its discovering what might have been aspect.
I have greatly enjoyed all but one of them and we as fans should be grateful to
have these jewels in our collections. The Ultimate Evil has a lot that is very
good in it. It serves as a great memorial to Wally. Thanks, so much Wally for
this superb story, the Doctor Who universe is enriched by it...
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