Doctor Who Review: Eighth Doctor audio ‘Absolution’
By James Aggas
It’s the beginning of the end for the Eighth Doctor and Charley, as C’Rizz is given a dramatic exit in ‘Absolution’.
Ever since the Eighth Doctor first met him in the Divergent Universe, C’Rizz has been quite the interesting character. It’s rare when an actual alien is a travelling companion on board the TARDIS. In some ways, it’s a rather bold move to make. The companion is usually written as a key point of view for the audience, which is one of the key reasons why they’re normally written as human.
A character like C’Rizz, however, is very different. He comes from a completely different society to ours, and a religion that’s very different. I don’t think he’d have worked if he had been the only companion, but against Charley, it was nice to get an additional and very different viewpoint on the TARDIS.
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That’s not to say that I think his journey has been quite as good as it could have been. There were times when I wish the writers had found a way of using him better. Sometimes, he could be written well, and we get a great insight into how he thinks. Other times, he could be very bland, and not quite effective.
Thankfully his final story, Absolution, is at least much more the former. It’s not perfect, but it does suit him effectively.
A vision of Hell
One thing that I really liked about C’Rizz was how much darker he was compared to the usual companions. Ever since the TARDIS team left the Divergent Universe in The Next Life, there hasn’t really been much of an arc. The only thing that came close were the hints about the terrible things that C’Rizz has done. When his darker side was brought out, it was just enough to make you wonder when the Doctor and Charley would find out about this ugly side to their friend.
Absolution answers that question in a big way. Quite fittingly, the tone of the story is equally dark to match such a character. Not “adult”, thankfully. I don’t think Doctor Who usually works when it tries too hard to be “adult” instead of mature. But we are presented with a vision of Hell, or something rather close to it. It’s done in a much more satisfying way in Absolution than the earlier Minuet in Hell, too.
There’s some nice build-up in this story, too. Perhaps too much, at times – almost the whole of the first two episodes take place on board the TARDIS. This is less frustrating than the first half of Something Inside, however. Partly due to the interaction between the Doctor and his companions, and partly because we experience a lot of strange things happening in the TARDIS.
When they arrive on a world trapped in eternal darkness, we’re presented with this cool, medieval vision of hell, and a society that has suffered thousands of years in torment. It’s a bit of a shame that this society wasn’t explored more across these four episodes. But this is a very small complaint.
A dramatic exit
I’ll admit, I was surprised to find that, for C’Rizz’s final story, he doesn’t actually appear much in the two middle episodes. There are a few scenes with him, but honestly, I thought that a finale to this character’s entire story would have focused on him considerably more.
On the other hand, the exploration he does receive is pretty great. In episode one, there’s a nice little scene that he has with Charley. It’s a good character scene that shows how far both have come since they’ve met. By this point, they’re close enough to be a family. It’s a wonderful moment that sets the rest of this story up rather beautifully.
As for his final episode? I won’t give too much away, but I think it handled the character exactly right. I’ve mentioned that C’Rizz could be a really dark character, and the final episode explores his darkness in full.
But there was also so much more to him than that, and again, his final moments and his exit in this story really reflect that. C’Rizz may not have been my favourite companion, but I really do love his exit.
Another great dramatic moment is how the Doctor reacts to this. It’s shocking how it’s done, and it’s a nice reminder of how alien the Doctor can be sometimes. It’s also enough to affect his relationship with Charley in a big way.
Absolution was C’Rizz’s final adventure with the Eighth Doctor. The next installment, The Girl Who Never Was, would be Charley’s…
Next: Review: Eighth Doctor audio ‘Memory Lane’