1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 20 minutes. Written by: Niall Boyce. Directed by: Nicholas Briggs, Ken Bentley. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: William Russell.
THE PLOT:
The Doctor has finally done it. The TARDIS has materialized in London, November 1963, not long after Ian and Barbara's original departure. The two have finally come home!
Except that something is wrong. They are in the city on the right date, but it's as if time has stopped. People and cars are frozen on the street, and Ian and Barbara are even able to walk on the surface of the Thames.
Has there been an attack. Is it aliens? Or maybe the Russians? Or is there a more mundane explanation...?
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: Beams with pride at having finally gotten Ian and Barbara back home. Barbara observes the twinkle in his eye, particularly around Vicki, and she muses that he seems much younger than his years.
Barbara: When she comes across one man frozen in the act of attacking another with a knife, her impulse is to attempt to close the knife or to somehow intervene. When it becomes clear that the situation will not allow that, she leaves with reluctance, helpless to stop this act of violence but hating to simply let it happen. She realizes that this is the date she was supposed to meet her "maiden aunt," with whom she hasn't spoken in years. She goes to the meeting point and is able to see her aunt; but with no chance of interaction, that only makes her feel guiltier.
Ian: Is less emotionally affected than Barbara, seeming to enjoy it almost as a clinical experiment. When Barbara asks him if he thinks this could be the result of an attack, he intellectually engages witht he possibility. Even so, he seems unconcerned, and I suspect he already has guessed the truth of the matter. Oh, and one for the shippers: When Ian wanders onto the unmoving river, his instinct is to share this experience with Barbara, calling out for her to join him.
Vicki: Barbara regards her as the most precocious teen girl she's met - and as a schoolteacher, Barbara's likely met a fair few girls who match that description. Vicki is attentive to what her companions like, even taking time to program the food machine so that Barbara can enjoy some brown sauce with her breakfast. She and the Doctor are conspiratorial as they eagerly spring the date on Ian and Barbara. When it goes wrong, Vicki stays with the Doctor to go over the console.
THOUGHTS:
Big Finish seems to have a knack when it comes to the First Doctor, one that continues with the "Short Trip," 1963. The clever-yet-simple concept allows for some excellent visual descriptions. Writer Niall Boyce observes the way the sun is reflected on the suspended blade of the attacker in the alley, and later details the expressions on the faces of a husband driving his extremely pregnant wife to the hospital.
Boyce also weaves elements of the period into his story. Barbara wonders if this could be some sort of Russian attack. Ian laughs that off as ridiculous, but it fits the paranoia of the time. That train of thought leads Barbara to recall the Cuban Missile Crisis, when she went to bed each night fretting that she wouldn't wake up the next day, that she and everyone she knew would be wiped out as collateral damage from the tension between two other countries.
The most important thing the story gets right is the characterization. Boyce captures all four regulars just about perfectly. The Doctor and Vicki are only in a few scenes, but their interactions really capture the screen rapport between William Hartnell and Maureen O'Brien that made them such a delightful pair on television. Ian is calm, observing the situation, but also supportive of Barbara - at one point literally supporting her when she stumbles over the frozen waves of the Thames. Barbara's thoughts and reactions all feel right for both the setting and the character, and I have no problem envisioning Jacqueline Hill throughout.
A brief epilogue follows up on all the frozen vignettes Barbara observed and grants a bit of added thematic depth by discussing the ways the world was changing in 1963. It's an excellent button on a fine little story.
OVERALL:
I suppose I could quibble that the "coding" for Barbara's aunt is just a touch heavy-handed. She has a severe haircut, wears tweed, and is suspended while reading The Price of Salt when Barbara reaches her. All of which (probably minus the book title) would pretty much be the way a lesbian character would be coded in a 1960s story... but it's so on the nose that at a certain point, it almost becomes funny. All that's missing is a reference to a long-term roommate and possibly a couple of pet cats.
But that's an extremely tiny quibble. 1963 is extremely well written, with strong characterizations and a concept that is simple enough to feel complete within the short running time but interesting enough for some memorable descriptions.
The best of the Big Finish Short Trips that I've heard remains Rise and Fall - but 1963 is a pretty close second, making excellent use of the format.
Overall Rating: 9/10.
Set some time between The Romans and The Space Museum.
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