Doctor Who - Death Comes to Time (An Original BBC ... (ISBN 0563528230)

Wonderful first episode, but ultimately unsatisfying!:
Though I'd heard mixed reviews of this story, the initial episode of "Death Comes to Time" (as presented online by the BBC) had left me so genuinely intrigued that I bought this CD release. Sadly, I must concede that the nay-sayers largely had it right. While the first episode is wonderful, the subsequent episodes become increasingly unsatisfying until reaching an ending that's worse than virtually everything else that led up to it. After introducing so many promising plot threads in the opening installment, the producers seem to have lacked the ability and/or desire to pull the threads together into a coherent whole. The resulting epic tale doesn't so much unfold as unravel, leaving none of these ideas properly developed. This is a shame, since many of these ideas were quite interesting. Even the invasion story-line felt right for the way it took a "Star Wars"-like set-up and made it feel like classic Doctor Who. As the story progresses (and I use the term "story" loosely), one almost feels that the producers felt they needed to cram all of their ideas for Doctor Who into this one story, for fear they'd never get another chance. Instead of adding scope and scale, however, these competing threads dilute the story's focus. The attempt to link them all through another invasion that must be stopped feels less like the inevitable flow of the drama and more like a shameless attempt to please fans by working in a popular character from Doctor Who's past. With regard to fan appreciation, while I consider myself a fan, I have tried to avoid looking at this story through the lens of previously established continuity. The one exception to this is the approach of presenting the Doctor as some kind of god-like figure. This point was jarring, not so much because of any contradiction of continuity, but rather because it changes the whole premise of Doctor Who. The Doctor is a hero, not because of his power but because he doesn't let a lack of power stop him from fighting for what's right. To change him into a demi-god, even one with great restraint who wrestles with his conscience, makes the character less fun and less special. As such, my favorite part of "Death Comes to Time" remains the moment early in the first episode when the Doctor makes his entrance. With a few words and low-key deeds, he turns the tables and gives good a chance to prevail. That to me is the essence of the show, and it's something of which this ambitious drama displayed far too little.

How The Seventh Doctor Era Should Have Ended:
Death Comes To Time was the BBC's first serious attempt at bringing Doctor Who back after the 1996 TV movie., it aired first as a webcast in 2001 and 2002 before being released first on audio CD and then on MP3. Since then it has seemingly divided fans that have seen / heard it into two groups: those who love it and those who hate it. I fall into the former category and here's why: because Death Comes To Time does two very important things. First it sets out to be something different and more importantly it offers a more satisfying end to Sylvester McCoy's seventh Doctor. To begin, this story features one of Sylvester McCoy's best performances as the seventh Doctor. Long known to fans as both a master clown and as a dark manipulator during his TV era, McCoy finds the right balance between the two here. There are moments where McCoy's comical side shines brightly (especially in his scenes with Antimony) without it being either forced or intrusive. Yet that is just the tip of what makes McCoy's performance so good. The Doctor of this story isa tragic figure: a tired old man who is watching everything he has spent his life fighting for being brought to the edge of destruction. McCoy conveys this tragic sense well and no more so then in the final moments of the story. The result is a much finer exit, both writing and acting wise, for McCoy's Doctor then was provided in the TV movie. On top of McCoy's performance there is one of the best casts ever assembled for a Doctor Who story. Sophie Aldred returns as the seventh Doctor's companion Ace and like McCoy gives one of her best performances as older, wiser Ace training for a new destiny. John Sessions plays Tannis, the villainous Supreme Commander who is not only bent on universal domination but is far more then just another megalomaniac. Stephen Fry gives an apt performance as the Minister as does Leonard Fenton as Ace's poetic Time Lord mentor Casmus. Then there's the Doctor's newest companion: the naively happy fisted Antimony played with great humor (and even sympathy before the story is over with) by Kevin Eldon. Then there are also strong performances from Britta Gartner, Robert Rietti, Charlotte Palmer and Peggy Batchelor. Add on cameos from Antony Stewart Head, Jacqueline Pearce and even Nicholas Courtney and the result is one of the strongest cats ever assembled for any one Doctor Who story. Death Comes To Time seems to have received a lot of flack from some fans for doing something different. To begin with this is a story with an epic feeling. Many have called this epic feeling more akin to Star Wars, but in the past we've seen Doctor Who successfully emulate things like the James Bond films and this story proves Doctor Who can do epic stories just as well. For a story like this it needs to be. It travels from Santiny to Micen Island to the Canisian Empire to Earth in a story that crosses space and time in a epic fashion not previously seen in the series. That brings us to the most controversial aspect of this story: where (or rather if) it fits into and mucks about with the established continuity of the series. First and foremost is the fact it gives the Time Lords seemingly god-like powers over Time. Now to be fair this isn't the first time we've seen them with such powers and this is also not the first time the series has tried to rewrite its own continuity either. In fact Ace's training and the Doctor having god-like powers were both aspects that would have been explored had the series not been canceled after the airing of Survival in 1989. In fact the Doctor's new abilities bring a new aspect to a character we think we know. Now for the ultimate question: is Death Comes To Time cannon? I approach that question from the angle of does something have to be cannon to be enjoyed? In the final analysis, I believe that this can be enjoyed whether or not it fits into the continuity of the series. Cannon or not, there can be no doubt that there is something truly special about of Death Comes To Time. From strong performances to a galaxy spanning story, here is a story that takes much that we know about our favorite series and gives us something new and different. It proves to be both something different from other stories of the series and a more satisfying conclusion to the Seventh Doctor's era. For fans of McCoy's Doctor looking for something different from their favorite show, Death Comes To Time is recommended.