Hornet's Nest
Apr. 26th, 2010 05:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitLast night I listened to the final installment of the 5-part audiobook Hornet's Nest, written by Paul Magrs and starring Tom Baker as the Doctor and Richard Franklin as Mike Yates.
I'm probably the only person who listened to this because of Magrs and Franklin (MIKE YATES YAY!) rather than because of Tom Baker's landmark return to Doctor Who. In fact, I didn't even know it was Tom Baker's landmark return to Doctor Who until I looked up some details last night; I knew he'd kept his distance from the franchise but I didn't realize how strictly or for how long. This may mean I wasn't the ideal audience, because the story was structured in such a way as to maximize Baker's screen time (voice time?), and I found that a bit disappointing. It's Franklin who narrates the first part, "The Stuff of Nightmares," which tells of how Yates meets the Doctor again, but then he largely disappears from the next three installments, in which the Doctor tells Yates a series of stories that explain the situation the Doctor is currently in. Part of my frustration was that Yates and the Fourth Doctor have unexpectedly wonderful chemistry, and I'd have loved more interaction between them, rather than so much of the Doctor spinning yarns and Yates saying nothing but the occasional "And then what happened, Doctor?" Fortunately the final episode, "Hive of Horror," moves us back into the framing narrative, so there's a lot more interplay and dialogue.
As for the story itself, it wasn't at all what I expected from Paul Magrs. Despite the slightly baroque prose and the use of embedded narratives, it's basically a straightforward adventure story without much in the way of metafiction or timey-wimey stuff. There's a strong horror element (the hornet references are literal, and although I'm only moderately insect-phobic I was creeped out a fair amount of the time) as well as noticeable pulp influences. Occasionally Magrs too-eagerly embraces the less fun elements of the pulp tradition; did we really have to have a Vile Deformed Evil Dwarf, for instance? Not only was that offensive, but I was so appalled by the ablism that it threw me right out of the story.
Magrs writes the Fourth Doctor well, giving him lines that allowed Tom Baker to overact with infectious glee. Magrs is less successful with Yates, I think, who often talks too much like the Brigadier. I don't believe that 30-odd years after his discharge from UNIT, Yates still thinks of himself as a soldier or cultivates military attitudes and mannerisms. After all, when we see him in "Planet of the Spiders" he's got velvet clothes, a smart little sports car, and an interest in meditation. Franklin's performance brings some nuance to the lines, though (I loved his occasional archness), and in the final episode, when we get more of a look into Yates's inner self, Magrs writes a more complex and interesting character than earlier. Even so, Magrs's usual deep, intricate characterization work is absent here. (Randomly: I'm convinced that Magrs and Franklin quietly decided between them that Yates is gay [as he's implied to be in some New Adventures novels], although there's nothing in the lines to indicate it, just some suggestive textual silences. And my gut feeling.)
I wonder if the fact that Hornet's Nest is a BBC production rather Big Finish meant that Magrs had restrictions placed on what he could write. I have the sense that since the launching of new Who, the BBC has become a lot more concerned with guarding its rejuvenated cash cow than it used to be, meaning that its tie-ins have become more like ordinary tie-ins (lacking substance because the writers aren't allowed to do anything that might change our view of the characters). Certainly the new series novels I've tried aren't remotely as clever and challenging as the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels, even when they're written by the same people. And of course the EDAs, the PDAs, and Big Finish's Short Trips books have been discontinued; it seems like the BBC wants tighter control of all Doctor Who characters, not just the new series ones.
I won't say I didn't enjoy Hornet's Nest, but I do think it could have done much more, especially given its length--five episodes of over an hour each. The events of parts two, three, and four could easily have been compressed into one episode, leaving room for more of the kind of delirious plotting and insightful character development that Magrs does so well in his other Doctor Who stories.
I'm probably the only person who listened to this because of Magrs and Franklin (MIKE YATES YAY!) rather than because of Tom Baker's landmark return to Doctor Who. In fact, I didn't even know it was Tom Baker's landmark return to Doctor Who until I looked up some details last night; I knew he'd kept his distance from the franchise but I didn't realize how strictly or for how long. This may mean I wasn't the ideal audience, because the story was structured in such a way as to maximize Baker's screen time (voice time?), and I found that a bit disappointing. It's Franklin who narrates the first part, "The Stuff of Nightmares," which tells of how Yates meets the Doctor again, but then he largely disappears from the next three installments, in which the Doctor tells Yates a series of stories that explain the situation the Doctor is currently in. Part of my frustration was that Yates and the Fourth Doctor have unexpectedly wonderful chemistry, and I'd have loved more interaction between them, rather than so much of the Doctor spinning yarns and Yates saying nothing but the occasional "And then what happened, Doctor?" Fortunately the final episode, "Hive of Horror," moves us back into the framing narrative, so there's a lot more interplay and dialogue.
As for the story itself, it wasn't at all what I expected from Paul Magrs. Despite the slightly baroque prose and the use of embedded narratives, it's basically a straightforward adventure story without much in the way of metafiction or timey-wimey stuff. There's a strong horror element (the hornet references are literal, and although I'm only moderately insect-phobic I was creeped out a fair amount of the time) as well as noticeable pulp influences. Occasionally Magrs too-eagerly embraces the less fun elements of the pulp tradition; did we really have to have a Vile Deformed Evil Dwarf, for instance? Not only was that offensive, but I was so appalled by the ablism that it threw me right out of the story.
Magrs writes the Fourth Doctor well, giving him lines that allowed Tom Baker to overact with infectious glee. Magrs is less successful with Yates, I think, who often talks too much like the Brigadier. I don't believe that 30-odd years after his discharge from UNIT, Yates still thinks of himself as a soldier or cultivates military attitudes and mannerisms. After all, when we see him in "Planet of the Spiders" he's got velvet clothes, a smart little sports car, and an interest in meditation. Franklin's performance brings some nuance to the lines, though (I loved his occasional archness), and in the final episode, when we get more of a look into Yates's inner self, Magrs writes a more complex and interesting character than earlier. Even so, Magrs's usual deep, intricate characterization work is absent here. (Randomly: I'm convinced that Magrs and Franklin quietly decided between them that Yates is gay [as he's implied to be in some New Adventures novels], although there's nothing in the lines to indicate it, just some suggestive textual silences. And my gut feeling.)
I wonder if the fact that Hornet's Nest is a BBC production rather Big Finish meant that Magrs had restrictions placed on what he could write. I have the sense that since the launching of new Who, the BBC has become a lot more concerned with guarding its rejuvenated cash cow than it used to be, meaning that its tie-ins have become more like ordinary tie-ins (lacking substance because the writers aren't allowed to do anything that might change our view of the characters). Certainly the new series novels I've tried aren't remotely as clever and challenging as the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels, even when they're written by the same people. And of course the EDAs, the PDAs, and Big Finish's Short Trips books have been discontinued; it seems like the BBC wants tighter control of all Doctor Who characters, not just the new series ones.
I won't say I didn't enjoy Hornet's Nest, but I do think it could have done much more, especially given its length--five episodes of over an hour each. The events of parts two, three, and four could easily have been compressed into one episode, leaving room for more of the kind of delirious plotting and insightful character development that Magrs does so well in his other Doctor Who stories.
