Doctor Who Review: Sixth Doctor audio ‘The Behemoth’
By James Aggas
It’s the start of a brand-new season for the Sixth Doctor, Flip and Constance, as they encounter the dark heart of Georgian high society in ‘The Behemoth’!
The Behemoth kicks off a brand-new season for the Sixth Doctor. And it’s quite an interesting story too, as he finds himself caught in a purely historical adventure. There’s not a single alien in sight, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t encounter any human monsters along the way…
The Behemoth takes place in the city of Bath in the 18th century. The story introduces a large number of very different characters from the very beginning, before the Doctor and his companions even turn up. The opening scenes give you a good idea of just how much of Georgian society – both high and low – will be portrayed throughout the story.
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The overall adventure starts out light-hearted enough. The Sixth Doctor and his friends take a rare opportunity to have some fun and mingle with Georgian high society. It’s interesting hearing how each of the regulars react to this period.
The Doctor seems to find a way of effortlessly blending in. Especially as he seems to have the natural authority to convince everyone just how important he is. Constance Clarke, with her high education and well-spoken manner, also doesn’t have too much trouble. Of course, she does have some very strong moral disagreements with how the world is.
But it’s Flip who stands out the most. While she’s had as much experience as Constance in the TARDIS, she still can’t hide her distinctly modern London roots. This leads to her standing out noticeably more than her friends to the people of Georgian society, both the good and the bad.
A new TARDIS team
What’s also interesting about The Behemoth is hearing more of this relatively new TARDIS team. After some time away from the TARDIS, Flip was reunited with the Sixth Doctor in last year’s Quicksilver.
She also met Constance for the first time in the same story. So it’s interesting hearing Constance and Flip’s relatively new friendship. On the one hand, you couldn’t imagine a pair of characters more different. It says a lot that Constance calls her friend “Philippa” while Flip calls the other “Connie”.
But at the same time, they share a great deal in common, too. Particularly their very strong views on the serious problems of Georgian society. They’re also more than ready to rescue each other when the other’s in danger.
It would’ve been easy for the writers and producers to simply have them constantly bickering. Instead, they’ve gone with the rather bold and surprising choice of having the pair actually like each other. It’s certainly an approach that I enjoy. (Fans of the eighties know when writers and producers decided otherwise.)
Monsters of Georgian society
However, it’s not just the regulars that are so great to listen to in The Behemoth. There’s a fantastic mix of truly memorable characters, all of which are performed brilliantly.
The two main villains of the piece really stand out. Partly because, as I mentioned earlier, there’s nothing unearthly about them. They’re all too down-to-Earth and horrifyingly believable.
But they’re also played to such loathsome perfection by their actors. Both Sir Geoffrey Balsam and Titus Craven represent the worst of Georgian high society, and actors Glynn Sweet and Liam McKenna don’t hold back from their performances.
One thing both characters clearly have in common is their strong sense of entitlement. This was a theme that I particularly appreciated about The Behemoth. While it was firmly set in a historical period, there are a lot of themes and moral issues that resonate rather strongly today.
Whether it’s rich men believing that their wealth makes them more important than others, or whether they simply believe that they’re entitled to any woman they want, the monsters of The Behemoth don’t feel entirely exclusive to the past.
A wide cast of characters
There are other great characters, of course. Slaves Sarah and Gorembe form a very strong emotional core for this story. As dark as their story gets, it’s also rather touching, too. Rev Philip Naylor is a strong moral character who lives in a very unmoral world.
Then there’s widower Mrs Middlemint. Not only does she have an interesting character journey in The Behemoth, but she’s especially great to listen to when she’s with Colin’s Doctor.
And of course, there’s Lady Clara! She doesn’t exactly have a great deal of dialogue, but she certainly has a rather large role in the story.
To summarize, The Behemoth is one of those stories that I honestly could review and analyze a lot more. Marc Platt has crafted a superb multi-layered historical full of memorable characters and great dialogue. Just as importantly, he’s able to play a very effective balance between light and dark throughout. The story never feels either rushed or padded out, and everything’s paced rather well. And, best of all, it’s entertaining while still having a lot to say. A wonderful start to the new season.
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