Big Finish Audio Plays: Scherzo - Rob Shearman
Who_Daily: < a href="http://persiflage-1.livejournal.com/142217.html">Scherzo - Rob Shearman by < lj user=persiflage_1>
Scherzo is the first of the stories taking place in the Anti-Time or Divergent Universe: the Doctor and Charley are there on their own and even the TARDIS has gone.
I think, had I been presented with the task of writing a story to follow Zagreus, I'd have quailed quite a bit. Whether or not you like Zagreus, it's an epic story with a hell of a lot going on and a lot of people too. Scherzo works beautifully in counterpoint to that by being a two-hander (hence the visual pun on the cover of the CD) starring just the two leading characters.
Initially the Doctor can't understand how Charley can be with him - after all, he sacrificed himself for her, so what's she doing here with him? He feels betrayed and that she has squandered his sacrifice by stowing away and ignoring his final request. When he asks her why she did it, she says it is because she loves him. He loves her too, which is why he sacrificed himself, but does not know if he can ever forgive her for her betrayal. They have some very painful exchanges on the subject, such as this one:
The Doctor: "So you love me."
Charley: "Yes. Yes I do."
The Doctor: "And is that it?"
Charley: "Isn't that enough? If you knew how hard it was for me to say that..."
The Doctor: "Not half as hard as it was to listen to."
The Doctor, who had told Charley in Neverland that he loved her, denies his love, which angers her, although it's not entirely clear whether or not he actually means what he's saying or if he's just uncertain. Early on in this play he tells Charley that his declaration of love in Neverland was made simply because she was about to die, which seems very cruel (and very Tenth Doctor-ish too).
In fact, I couldn't help comparing Eight and Charley with Ten and Rose (something that I've found myself doing more and more as the Eight and Charley arc moves forward. The Eighth Doctor is generally seen as "the Romantic one", largely (I suspect) because of his propensity for kissing Grace Holloway in the TV Movie, but, like all incarnations, Eight has his darker moments too. Now you could argue that at this point, Eight's still got some of Zagreus' personality inside him and that's what makes him so harsh and even cruel to Charley, but I couldn't help thinking of Rose, doing everything she could to get back to the Tenth Doctor, despite being told that to do so would destroy two universes - and I couldn't help thinking that if Ten had been a bit harsher with her, then maybe she wouldn't have helped Torchwood to build a dimension-jumping cannon. At least by the end of Scherzo Charley is clear that she and Eight are only going to be friends (although I can't help feeling there's nothing "only" about being friends with a Time Lord!), albeit very good friends who are there for each other and can rely on each other to survive.
There is a lot of silence in this play, which is deployed very well, as is the small amount of music. I also liked the "story within a story" narrated by Paul McGann, in which a King foolishly bans music from his Kingdom, and then when he negotiates its return, it kills everyone... As a rabid music lover that sent major shivers down my spine!
All in all this is a fascinating, thought-provoking story - and even moreso, I think, after the end of Season 4 than it would have been had I listened to it back in 2003 when it was first released.
Scherzo is the first of the stories taking place in the Anti-Time or Divergent Universe: the Doctor and Charley are there on their own and even the TARDIS has gone.
I think, had I been presented with the task of writing a story to follow Zagreus, I'd have quailed quite a bit. Whether or not you like Zagreus, it's an epic story with a hell of a lot going on and a lot of people too. Scherzo works beautifully in counterpoint to that by being a two-hander (hence the visual pun on the cover of the CD) starring just the two leading characters.
Initially the Doctor can't understand how Charley can be with him - after all, he sacrificed himself for her, so what's she doing here with him? He feels betrayed and that she has squandered his sacrifice by stowing away and ignoring his final request. When he asks her why she did it, she says it is because she loves him. He loves her too, which is why he sacrificed himself, but does not know if he can ever forgive her for her betrayal. They have some very painful exchanges on the subject, such as this one:
The Doctor: "So you love me."
Charley: "Yes. Yes I do."
The Doctor: "And is that it?"
Charley: "Isn't that enough? If you knew how hard it was for me to say that..."
The Doctor: "Not half as hard as it was to listen to."
The Doctor, who had told Charley in Neverland that he loved her, denies his love, which angers her, although it's not entirely clear whether or not he actually means what he's saying or if he's just uncertain. Early on in this play he tells Charley that his declaration of love in Neverland was made simply because she was about to die, which seems very cruel (and very Tenth Doctor-ish too).
In fact, I couldn't help comparing Eight and Charley with Ten and Rose (something that I've found myself doing more and more as the Eight and Charley arc moves forward. The Eighth Doctor is generally seen as "the Romantic one", largely (I suspect) because of his propensity for kissing Grace Holloway in the TV Movie, but, like all incarnations, Eight has his darker moments too. Now you could argue that at this point, Eight's still got some of Zagreus' personality inside him and that's what makes him so harsh and even cruel to Charley, but I couldn't help thinking of Rose, doing everything she could to get back to the Tenth Doctor, despite being told that to do so would destroy two universes - and I couldn't help thinking that if Ten had been a bit harsher with her, then maybe she wouldn't have helped Torchwood to build a dimension-jumping cannon. At least by the end of Scherzo Charley is clear that she and Eight are only going to be friends (although I can't help feeling there's nothing "only" about being friends with a Time Lord!), albeit very good friends who are there for each other and can rely on each other to survive.
There is a lot of silence in this play, which is deployed very well, as is the small amount of music. I also liked the "story within a story" narrated by Paul McGann, in which a King foolishly bans music from his Kingdom, and then when he negotiates its return, it kills everyone... As a rabid music lover that sent major shivers down my spine!
All in all this is a fascinating, thought-provoking story - and even moreso, I think, after the end of Season 4 than it would have been had I listened to it back in 2003 when it was first released.