Loups-Garoux by Marc Platt
21 May 2001
With Tegan stepping off, our male Doctor and his male companion travel alone together for the first time since 1966's The Massacre
(don't be silly, there is no third member of the crew). This is a
unique opportunity, though the televised program does not take the
chance to really mine it for its potential, as the next story after Resurrection introduces a new female companion. I'm grateful to Marc Platt (who is always excellent) for writing a story to fill this gap.
I was interested to learn that this is actually based on a script called The Werelings,
which Platt submitted to the production office during the Davison era,
but which was not picked up for production. I imagine it must be pretty
gratifying to get a chance to get your rejected script into the show
much later (even if only in audio form). I'm sure Russell T. knows all
about that, too.
This one has an interesting conceit, relying more overtly on "old world"
themes of magic, spirits, and lycanthropy than the average Doctor Who
story, while simulataneously being set in the painfully futuristic world
of 2080s Brazil, a wonderful contrast. See Ileana's remark that
werewolves are creatures of earth and water, and cannot bear to be
airborne for more than a few moments at a time. (I think that, rather
like the Cleopatra quote he utters afterward suggests, the Doctor's
elements really would be fire and air.)
It is possible to extract a scientific explanation for this from the
story, of course, but the Doctor shows little interest in finding one.
The character who does try, Dr. Hayashi, is trying to do so in order to
find a "cure" for lycanthropy. This resonated with me, as it reminded me
of real-life attempts to isolate a "gay gene" (or, more recently, a
"trans gene", or even an "autism gene") and any number of other
eugenicist attempts to pathologize and "cure" certain inborn
characteristics of (usually marginalized) people. The Doctor is right-on
when he calls this out as an attempted genocide, as it would mean the
end of who the werewolves are as a culture and as individual people.
A more active genocide is plain in the foreground of this story in the
form of the W'rana, a tribe of native people in the Amazon. As the last
surviving member, Rosa Caiman, tells us, those who did not die when the
Amazon Rainforest dried out (a deeply unsettling thing to hear, which I
hope never becomes a reality) went to the cities and assimilated. A
heartbreaking account which matches much of what I've read about the
native tribes of the Amazon in real life.
To turn away from the weightier subjects and dig into the story a little
further, I return to that first paragraph and point to one of my
favorite scenes of this audio, which comes in the later part. Having
watched the werewolf matriarch Ileana de Santos fall for the Doctor over
the course of the audio, Turlough questions him about his intentions,
and the Doctor admits that women have never really been "his area". He
reflects, however, on the central role that women have played in his
life, wistfully mentioning the names of his female companions so far. I
think it's really interesting that this note is focused in on
considering the peculiar window of time this audio is set in.
Speaking of Turlough, he's fantastic in this. His moments of fear and
grappling with his own shadow remind me strongly of his parts from Frontios,
and his rapport with Rosa is really nice. They have some fun chemistry,
in my opinion. And a kind word is very much owed to the wonderful
Eleanor Bron as Ileana, who brings a lot to this story. Her doomed love
story with the Doctor is absolutely brilliant. (I am, of course,
reminded of The Aztecs when the Doctor unintentionally proposes to her! Great callback.)
Just the antidote I needed after Resurrection, all told. Absolutely brilliant and well worth a listen for anyone.
Planet of Fire is next.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 5 May 2024.)
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