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THE FIRES OF VULCAN (BF AUDIO)

4 episodes. Approx. 102 minutes. Written by: Steve Lyons. Directed by:
Gary Russell. Produced by: Gary Russell.


THE PLOT

Pompeii, 79 AD. Exactly one day before the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius,
which will wipe Pompeii from the Earth, killing thousands of people.
Those people, oblivious to their fates, are going about their
business, obsessed with their own concerns and ambitions.

The High Priestess Eumachia (Lisa Hollander), representing the "pure"
Roman gods, is resentful of the acceptance and popularity of "the
foreign goddess," Isis. She sees that the masses embrace Isis over
Jupiter and needs a way to discredit the goddess to advance her own
station. She finds what she needs in the form of two strangers, who
have arrived in a mysterious blue box and have been hailed as
messengers of Isis. A perfect chance to discredit the goddess by
destroying the two strangers.

For the Doctor and Mel, Eumachia's machinations are a minor concern.
They are all too aware of the imminent eruption, particularly when the
TARDIS is buried under rubble after one of the city's frequent
tremors. Mel wants to find a way to recover the timeship, but the
Doctor reacts with resignation. He tells Mel that in 1980, the ongoing
excavation at Pompeii uncovered a most unusual artifact: A police
telephone box. Time has already spoken. The TARDIS was fated to
disappear in Pompeii, not to be seen again for almost 2,000 years!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: One challenge this story faced was in making a "serious"
7th Doctor fit at least somewhat into the Season 24 characterization.
I think the story succeeds in this. There are some (occasionally
awkward) bits of physical business referred to in the audio,
particularly in the Doctor's humiliation of the gladiator Murranus
(Steven Wickham). There's also an attitude of a generally ineffectual
Doctor, one who reacts with philosophical resignation to his apparent
fate. This seems to fit the Season 24 Doctor, who is not yet fully
formed, more than the later McCoy Doctor. McCoy is at the top of his
game, though his difficulty at conveying anger mars his confrontation
with Murranus at the end of Episode Three.

Mel: I've never shared the Mel hatred - it's clear even in her weakest
outings that Bonnie Langford is a far better screen actor than, say,
Matthew Waterhouse - but she did suffer from poor (often nonexistent)
characterization on television, featured in arguably the weakest run
of stories in the entire series. As the first audio to feature the
character, this story not only had to use her well - It had to
rehabilitate her.

Mel's major traits here are the same as in the television series:
She's earnest, emotional, and compassionate to a fault. But writer
Steve Lyons tones down Mel's, ah, enthusiasm, and highlights her
compassion by giving her a friendship with the young slave Aglae
(Gemma Bissix). Mel gets herself into trouble when she rushes headlong
into a confrontation with Eumachia - but she does so to protect Aglae
from this genuinely horrible woman, and so her headstrong acts make us
like her more, rather than less as was often the case on television.
Langford's performance is outstanding from start to finish, and it's
little surprise that this one audio did so much to change her
reputation among Big Finish listeners.


THOUGHTS

The Fires of Vulcan is one of Big Finish's early audios, #12 in a run
that now encompasses hundreds of stories across multiple Doctor Who
ranges. Revisiting it in the wake of all that followed, it does stand
out how much simpler the sound design was. Effects are basic, with
usually only one or two background effects occurring at a time rather
than the complex soundscapes that would develop later. This is an
audio play and, like the stage, background effects are there to
suggest atmosphere rather than to fully recreate the place and time.
In contrast, many of Big Finish's later efforts would be audio movies.
One approach isn't inherently superior to the other, but it can be
relaxing to revisit this simpler approach.

The Fires of Vulcan largely follows the format of an Irwin Allen
disaster movie. There's a natural disaster on the way that will kill
off most of the characters we're spending time with. But before that
disaster strikes, we spend a lot of time watching (listening to) the
characters indulge their own agendas, with a lot of scheming and
conniving to complicate the simple survival goals of our heroes. Only
in the final part does the disaster finally strike, at which point we
revisit the major characters to see which ones get a chance to escape
and start anew and which ones will receive their just desserts.

The structure may be familiar, but Steve Lyons' script is good.
Eumachia may be a bit of a one-note villain, but other characters have
more to them. Celsinus (Andy Coleman) is introduced in a way that
suggests he will be a villain as well. However, despite Mel labeling
him "the local creep," his character emerges as a sympathetic one.
Murranus seems for most of the story to be a cliched violent thug. But
an exchange in Episode Three allows us to see the reasons for his
obsessive wrath at the Doctor, and his reasons make sense within the
context of his background and circumstances. As a result, Murranus
momentarily becomes a sympathetic figure - though once he becomes
violent again in late Episode Three/early Episode Four, that sympathy
quickly vanishes.

Overall, The Fires of Vulcan is a good story. The sound design may be
much sparer than later audios would offer, but the effects and music
are well-used to create atmosphere. The regulars are on very good
form, with Langford reinventing Mel for Big Finish listeners within
the space of one story. A much-maligned companion is made into a
likable and relatable figure, and a tragedy is brought to life and put
into context by the 1980 bookends. Some of the conniving among guest
characters is a bit theatrical, but it's balanced out by moments of
reflection and genuine maturity.

Even after all these years and a myriad of later releases, this still
stands out as an audio while worth a listen.


Rating: 8/10.

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