Tempting as it is to draw some sort of a connection between this rather curious Rutans Versus Sontarans line of releases from Big Finish, and the much larger Time War umbrella, there are, in fact, no connections whatsoever between the two strands, and this second wave of Rutan/Sontaran stories from the publisher is actually something that, in principle, anyone can dip into and sample a given release. Despite being a part of a greater storyline, they do just about work as stand-alone releases. Thankfully.
And so with the promise of an Eighth and Second Doctor meeting, this is the release I found very hard to resist, as these two Doctors do somewhat reflect the other and both their Big Finish ranges have become favourites of mine.
Surprise was then followed by surprise, as I had thought this was a two-disc release, when actually it’s a one-disc 60-minute affair. Additionally, I had also assumed this was an Eighth Doctor-focused release which featured the Second Doctor, but, as the opening credits began, the sound of the original Troughton-era theme tune makes it clear this is a Second Doctor release, featuring an appearance by Paul McGann’s Doctor. So there’s a fair bit to get to grips with here.
Opening with the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe making a bumpy landing aboard a stationary ship out in deep space, Rendition begins in a very similar way to John Peel’s recent BBC Audio, The Mind Trap, but this is more polished in the writing and is greatly enhanced by being performed with a full cast. While the script does get progressively bogged down as it gets to the halfway point — and a little hard to follow in places, thanks to there being too many factions under discussion and injured shape-changing Rutans experiencing identity crises — it is the strong cast of actors who come to the rescue and carry the whole production on their shoulders, to the finishing line!
The main cast are absolutely terrific. A pleasure to listen to. As if transported from the late 1960s, Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines join leading man Michael Troughton in recapturing their television era chemistry effortlessly. It is this element that stands out with this Big Finish release; the plot itself is serviceable. Rutans on a voyage of self-discovery and discovering poetry is entertaining enough for what it is, but it’s the effortless chemistry between Troughton and his two companions that shines the brightest. What particularly stood out for me was how different this story is to the ongoing Second Doctor Adventures series from Big Finish; set in his earlier years, there is a freedom from the claustrophobic format of that ongoing series, and here, Michael Troughton has far more dialogue, is more central to the storytelling, and this, as a result, is a story that is very faithful to the feel of one that could have been seen in 1969, when this Doctor was free to roam, and was the mentor and companion to his two young companions.
Michael Troughton’s delivery captures his father’s more childlike delivery of the era, and so gives the story some of the children’s television aspect that the era often had. It’s a performance that is light, curiously a little too childlike perhaps as Troughton is trying too hard to capture his father’s performance, I feel; and yet, in spite of the emphasis on those qualities, it does still feel legitimate. The performances of all three cast members are near impeccable and fully capture both the feel and the voice of the television series of the day.
The three travellers discover that they have landed on a hospital ship, positioned in a galactic warzone out in space, and which has found itself favouring Rutan casualties. A bias which contravenes any claim at neutrality and is now making them a likely and inevitable target for the approaching Sontaran front… “The Sontarans rarely tolerate independents, Zoe,” the Doctor warns.
With a dropped detail about there having been Seven World Wars, we learn this is set in Earth’s far future, but this setting is on the fault-lines of a Rutan and Sontaran conflict; as you might suspect when shape-changing Rutans are involved, things are not often as they might seem…
There’s great sound design, lots of echo being used to create the sense of the confined environment, and then Paul McGann arrives mysteriously in the final quarter. The Eighth Doctor appears in time to help Zoe finish a magnetic field system that will repulse the advancing Sontaran fleet. There isn’t much of an explanation given for him being here initially — that comes in a coda at the end of the story, but the interaction between he and Zoe is memorable, and honours the reality that Zoe has no idea about the Doctor’s ability to shift appearances, and therefore struggles in a refreshingly plausible manner with who this stranger is, and why he is so reminiscent of the Doctor… Perhaps the mysterious Doctor has a brother he doesn’t talk about, she quietly wonders.
It’s a neat way of doing a two Doctors story. While the Second Doctor is left oblivious to his other self being present on the ship, and Zoe cannot make a clear connection between the two, the audience does get the pleasure of measuring McGann’s mature Doctor against the more childlike manner of his second self. Which makes this another memorable point of interest in this release.
It’s written by an old hand, Tim Foley, and the quality and confidence are very evident. Rendition is far from being one the best things he has written for Big Finish, but neither is it at all bad. I can solidly recommend this story, as, at just 60 minutes, it is perfectly manageable.
It does seem the Eighth Doctor is guiding the greater Rutans Vs Sontarans storyline, and is hopping backwards through the Rutan timeline, thus explaining why he is appearing here in such odd and sudden circumstances. In one sense, the insertion of him into this release is more complicated and enigmatic than it needs to be; and yet on the other, the dynamic between him and Zoe is very well done and leaves the audience wishing there was more of it.
The star of this release, though, is the wonderful Wendy Padbury — among a uniformly solid cast, she manages to stand out thanks to the combination of a central role in the unfolding proceedings and an actress who has achieved a good deal of assurance and confidence in playing in this audio medium. The result is that Zoe Herriot is fast becoming one of the new standouts in Big Finish’s overall wide cast of heritage companions. It would be very sensible of Big Finish to capitalise on this renaissance of the character, and an actress who is now at the very peak of her powers…
