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Post by number13 on May 28, 2019 10:54:55 GMT
Back on my occasional quest to fill all my listening gaps to '100', in sequence, by the end of this 20th anniversary year. 'Primeval' was one of those early MR stories I went into knowing nothing about it at all beyond the (unrevealing) cover - and found another great story from the dawn of time (in more ways than one!)
Traken is one of the best-imagined worlds in the classic era which richly deserves a return visit, Peladon-style, and since the Master erased its future, what a great idea to go far back into the past and explore the beginning of the stable system we saw almost collapse in the TV series. Very good that it was a Five/Nyssa story, with Nyssa as solo Companion her 'return' to an early Traken can get the focus it should. And once again the lure of the Source is drawing 'infinite evil' towards Traken like moths to a flame...
What a great surprise to find Stephen Greif playing the villain! And such a colossal villain - do we take it from Kwundaar's talk of opening pathways for others etc. that he is the first of the Elder gods (the Prime Evil! - someone else must have made that pun by now ) and this is the first battle in the long war fought against them mostly by the Seventh Doctor? I felt sorry for his followers, serving their god and believing that all they did in his name must be right even when it clearly isn't; their story is as involving as that of the world they're told to invade.
I liked the idea that, just as in the TV series set thousands of years later, the very stability of Traken can be its greatest weakness - the Consols (again) simply cannot cope with change and effectively see all change as 'evil'. Beyond Traken there is at least some evil everywhere in the Universe, so to their enclosed minds (not closed but enclosed by the safety of the Traken Union, as the sacred grove is surrounded by a wall and locked gates) it's only a small step to judge anything that comes from outside or has knowledge of evil as being 'evil'. Whether that's the Doctor or Kwundaar, they are just as likely to condemn their best hope of survival, as to condemn their enemy.
The many forward references to KOT were fun of course - and I loved the twist that the Doctor was effectively the first Keeper of Traken. Naturally, it would be him wouldn't it?!
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Post by Ela on May 28, 2019 15:14:13 GMT
I've merged @causality's thread with the pre-existing thread on this release.
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ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
Likes: 5,062
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Post by ljwilson on May 28, 2019 16:50:02 GMT
This is one release that I keep adding to the app but never listen to it. It seems I should give it a go sooner rather than later.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2019 0:40:35 GMT
This is one release that I keep adding to the app but never listen to it. It seems I should give it a go sooner rather than later. Highly recommended. Lance Parkin doesn't turn up often, but when he does, his stories are always groundbreaking.
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Post by Kestrel on Mar 27, 2022 13:36:25 GMT
I'm not sure what I was expecting going into this one. Dinosaurs? Neanderthals? So I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be ancient Traken. We spend too much time in Earth's past--it's nice to see the other planets also have proper histories to explore.
And it's a great way to explore Nyssa's character, and tease out some of aspects of her character and her trauma that were almost entirely glossed over in the TV show.
Anyway,despite the fun premise and solid characterization, I think this story had a few hiccups. There are some weird logical (like how would a "black" sun be visible against the darkness of space?) and ethical issues (I am not a fan of stories that treat morality as some kind of objective quality--evil is never so easily identified). And the plot doesn't really hold much water: Quandar's entire plan is contingent in successfully manipulating the Doctor, but the Doctor cannot be present here to be manipulated because Quandar's plans have already failed in the Doctor's past. The story doesn't even acknowledge this paradox, let alone try to explain how it might be negated or otherwise mitigated.
It also (in what is something of a pattern) sets up these omniscient demi-god aliens as potential recurring villains, specifically targeting the Doctor and Nyssa, but insofar as villains go they're not terribly interesting, as far as I can remember they don't show up again later (at least in what I've listened to) so it's basically just a weak, fairly pointless cliffhanger,
Still, it was a good Nyssa story and it did leave me wanting to explore more of Traken's history, someday.
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