Son of The Dragon
Few Doctor Who stories have no monsters in and no alien villains, the historicals as they are known, few episodes have done these well, normally lending out boring and tedious plot with little happening. In the original series, when the show was still made in Black and White, these were second nature, with the Doctor going to ancient Rome, the land of the Aztecs and 100,000 BC. Since then, it hasn’t been done on TV, with the exception of Black Orchid. However, Big Finish have done a dozen-or-so historicals, featuring events in World War II, the battle of Drogheda and Scutari. Son of the Dragon is one of those stories, but this one claimed to feature the Doctor Vs Dracula, but not how people think.
On the surface, this was a story that I wasn’t that interested in, but it is one that is highly regarded among fans. I gave it a chance, and from part 1 was enthralled. A dark and slightly disturbing story, with plenty of action and gore, and one that doesn’t slow down during its four episodes. The story begins with The Doctor, Peri and Erimem arriving in the middle of a supposed plague village. They have landed in the 15th century, when Prince Vlad III fights for supremacy of his country from the Sultan. He is the man known as Dracula. The real Dracula. It is brilliant to hear how this man spawned the legends of vampires and demons of the night. This story, while probably not being completely true, does give a great insight into what the battles, and his life, would have been like. The plot is clear and brilliant. It doesn’t stray to far
away from established history, but keeps the plot moving and interesting. The last episode brings everything neatly together, in quite a momentous way. The ending is shocking, and even slightly moving, after 3 episodes of believing this would be the end for one of the companions (no clues which one), it was relieving to hear them all back together. This whole story has a feel of season finale about it, in a way Doomsday had with Rose or The Angels Take Manhattan for Amy and Rory. I genuinely thought it would be the end for this TARDIS crew,
everything seemed prepared for that.
It’s hard to give the story complete justice, so much happens that it is easy to overlook much of the action, but it is easier to follow than most stories. Each character is clearly defined and brilliantly created by the actors. The Doctor does seem to take the back seat; the credit for the cast goes to James Purefoy (Dracula) and Caroline Morris (Erimem). Both create a brilliant scene and the tension between them is electric. Their excellent performances MAKE the story, without them, it wouldn’t be half as good.
I also have to mention the brilliant job ERS studios have done on the sound design. The Soundscape for Son of the Dragon is breathtaking, a work of art in audio form. The battles, destroyed villages and large fields are all given the breath of life that some stories needed. The background track makes the 2 hours into a movie, they are truly stunning.
All in all, it’s easy to see why Son of The Dragon has been given such high precedence among fans. A brilliant way to spend two hours without noticing they’ve gone. A historical story has the opportunity to be let down by the lack of action happening, for the story to drag, but this is one of the occasions where it works spectacularly. Go out and buy it, you won’t be upset by it.
On the surface, this was a story that I wasn’t that interested in, but it is one that is highly regarded among fans. I gave it a chance, and from part 1 was enthralled. A dark and slightly disturbing story, with plenty of action and gore, and one that doesn’t slow down during its four episodes. The story begins with The Doctor, Peri and Erimem arriving in the middle of a supposed plague village. They have landed in the 15th century, when Prince Vlad III fights for supremacy of his country from the Sultan. He is the man known as Dracula. The real Dracula. It is brilliant to hear how this man spawned the legends of vampires and demons of the night. This story, while probably not being completely true, does give a great insight into what the battles, and his life, would have been like. The plot is clear and brilliant. It doesn’t stray to far
away from established history, but keeps the plot moving and interesting. The last episode brings everything neatly together, in quite a momentous way. The ending is shocking, and even slightly moving, after 3 episodes of believing this would be the end for one of the companions (no clues which one), it was relieving to hear them all back together. This whole story has a feel of season finale about it, in a way Doomsday had with Rose or The Angels Take Manhattan for Amy and Rory. I genuinely thought it would be the end for this TARDIS crew,
everything seemed prepared for that.
It’s hard to give the story complete justice, so much happens that it is easy to overlook much of the action, but it is easier to follow than most stories. Each character is clearly defined and brilliantly created by the actors. The Doctor does seem to take the back seat; the credit for the cast goes to James Purefoy (Dracula) and Caroline Morris (Erimem). Both create a brilliant scene and the tension between them is electric. Their excellent performances MAKE the story, without them, it wouldn’t be half as good.
I also have to mention the brilliant job ERS studios have done on the sound design. The Soundscape for Son of the Dragon is breathtaking, a work of art in audio form. The battles, destroyed villages and large fields are all given the breath of life that some stories needed. The background track makes the 2 hours into a movie, they are truly stunning.
All in all, it’s easy to see why Son of The Dragon has been given such high precedence among fans. A brilliant way to spend two hours without noticing they’ve gone. A historical story has the opportunity to be let down by the lack of action happening, for the story to drag, but this is one of the occasions where it works spectacularly. Go out and buy it, you won’t be upset by it.