“We formally announce our intention to seek a dialogue with the Rutan Host. A ceasefire will go into immediate effect… All Sontarans are to await further instructions.”
For a story that looks at what sustained war does to the psychology of the two sides fighting in it, Peace At Last, the concluding chapter in Big Finish’s Rutans vs Sontarans series, works very well. Right from the opening, featuring an immediately immersive explanatory monologue from Paul McGann, the production radiates quality. A major Sontaran military world has exploded, the consequences of which mean the Sontaran Empire cannot continue on a war footing, and so has to begin seeking some middle-ground peace terms with its Rutan adversary. The premise is clearly mirroring Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country, which focuses on the collapse of the exhausted Klingon Empire and its immediate approach to the Federation for a final peace treaty and a move for greater cooperation going forward.
And so our setting is the neutral ground of a space station that is fixed above a gravity anomaly in space, and a storyline that treads reassuringly familiar political espionage ground as the Eighth Doctor, Charley Pollard, and C’rizz embed themselves into the environment and are engaged in monitoring and investigating potential plots to disrupt the talks taking place… which, of course, there are!
It’s quite a large cast of characters for this story, and at a single disc 60 minute release, the usually strong writing of Tim Foley falls victim to some badly misjudged plotting: by the halfway point, what seems like a comprehensible story of possible political intrigue and betrayals suddenly ruptures and heads off into several different strands involving a Rutan faction separated from their collective! Distinguished Sontaran Generals being used as pawns by their kinsmen! A time-travel paradox involving the Doctor’s travels through Rutan history! A baffling assassination method involving radiation or… something! And whether it is due to a lack of script editing discipline, or the final edit of the play, the whole narrative almost collapses through the rapid-fire eruption of multiple sudden explosive plot strands. We are given mad Rutans with multiple personalities jabbering away, and multiple reveals of secret motivations to try and follow for the various cast, so in the end, what you get is a story that starts strong, turns almost incomprehensible by the halfway point, and rallies a little by the end as the Doctor delivers a duty of care, and an effective judgement, on the mad isolated Rutan who is revealed as being largely at the heart of the crisis…
It is to the benefit of this release that it is held up by a uniformly excellent cast. Paul McGann is on form as usual and Conrad Westmass surprised me by being perhaps the balancing force of the three TARDIS travellers — he’s an effective voice of reason here; not central to what is going on, no, but still a character with a valuable contribution to offer to key characters as he acts as observer and mediator.
Dan Starkey is also standout, as he has to play a veteran Sontaran General, who comes to show a surprisingly multi-faceted character thanks to Foley’s unfolding reveal of Rutan/Sontaran history. Starkey has put some real thought into how he can put this degree of depth into a weary soon-to-be-retired (or “retired”?) General, without compromising the militant martial aspect to the character.
It isn’t necessary to have listened to previous releases, as this can stand on its own terms to a degree. But it’s the way in which a fairly lean and clear story premise so suddenly switches into a chaotic explosion of baffling set-pieces and multiple character strands that makes it a hard one for me to actually recommend to the potential customer. I would argue that this is one for those who are fans of this TARDIS team really; for anyone who wants to revisit them. Other than that, you will find that you will need to relisten to this release again, in order to fully get to grips with who does what at the halfway mark, why they are doing it, and whether you care about their desperate and very extreme motives in order to get some abstract sense of a “victory.”
But it’s also a very nice platform for the Sontarans and their society. We learn more about the realities of a species that has become completely reliant on cloning and serving a life that is devoted to serving in war and conflict. We learn of the hard realities of a Sontaran’s lifespan, and there is the underlying message that despite the endless recycling of their race, Sontarans aren’t necessarily soulless. Not completely.
If you love the Sontarans then you will be rewarded by this release. The Rutans on the other hand…
Rutans vs Sontarans: Peace at Last is out now from Big Finish.
