The Lives Of Captain Jack Vol. 2 (2019) - Audio Review

Starring: John Barrowman, Colin Baker, Atilla Akinci & Lachele Carl

Written By: James Goss & Guy Adams

Directed By: Scott Handcock

Sometimes all you need to hook you in on a box set is the cover. Were it not for that cover, Vol. 2 of 'The Lives Of Captain Jack' would probably have passed me by (I still haven't listened to Vol. 1). With my attention grabbed by that ridiculous, strangely perfect image of Captain Jack in the 6th Doctor's coat, the three very different stories in here seemed equally intriguing. A fun romp with the 6th Doctor, a dive into the trenches of WWI, and an encounter with the iconic Trinity Wells. It's safe to say I'm sold, and seeing as this is my first encounter with Jack's own anthology series, does this premise have potential?

PIECE OF MIND

When the 6th Doctor falls dying into his arms, Jack must carry on in his place. Is the universe ready for a whole new kind of Doctor?

'Piece Of Mind' is almost emblematic of Big Finish's more recent approach to storytelling and the characters they're licensed to use. It's something of a toy box approach - fan-favourite character A meets fan-favourite character B 'cause why the hell not? Just look at the 'Diary Of River Song' series, it pretty much takes River on a walking tour of the show. 'Piece Of Mind' does something similar by putting John Barrowman and Colin Baker together. I'm not sure who first came up with the idea to have them meet, and it's not something I'd even remotely considered before now. But Barrowman is clearly having a blast getting to pomp it up, put on an English accent and pretend to be the Doctor. And he's a very different kind of Doctor - shooting down and blasting hell out of the invaders. It's even implied at one point that Jack (still in the guise of the Doctor) has sex with Callista before marrying her. It's bonkers! 

There's something irresistible about the relationship between Jack and the 6th Doctor. Their bitchiness and total incompatibility with each other is hilarious. While Jack impersonating the Doctor is the selling point of this story, Baker's impression of Jack towards the end is in return just as entertaining. I never realized how good these two would be paired up, and it's a lovely wholesome moment when they reconcile at the end and make their farewells. Aside from the novelty of this match-up, I was also curious to see how it would fit in continuity-wise. While they have their fun, Big Finish are nothing if not servants to continuity. For Jack, this takes place during his time stuck on Earth, before his reunion with the 10th Doctor in 'Utopia'. As for the Doctor, there's no concrete explanation for why if No. 6 met Jack here, than how does No. 9 not recognize him in 'The Empty Child'. Instead the Doctor just says: "Oh pay no attention to it. When you've lived as long as I have, it's easy to forget the bits that don't fit". Pedantics may call that lazy. Me? I'm more than happy with it. Sometimes life's too short to be worrying about every technicality - just enjoy the ride! Beyond its lead duo, the story itself is pretty standard and probably the least memorable aspect of 'Piece Of Mind'. There's not a whole lot to comment on, except maybe the droid Callista - the only supporting character who even remotely leaves an impression. The plot itself is perfectly fine, but it won't be the reason you come back to this one. Overall, 'Piece Of Mind' is everything you'd hope for it to be. It's a firework of a story … loud, colourful, a little insubstantial perhaps but a whole lot of fun. It's a vast improvement over James Goss' last more comedic effort, 'Harvest Of The Sycorax', and gets the set off to a flying start. 7/10

WHAT HAVE I DONE?

On the battlefields of WWI, something is hunting in the trenches. Jack must try and save the life of a wounded soldier. 

Right out the gate, 'What Have I Done?' is a massive tonal shift from the previous story. Whereas 'Piece Of Mind' is big and ridiculous, 'What Have I Done?' is a two-hander - a much quieter character piece with little in the way of flash or showmanship. Even the soundscape is completely different. Gone are the synthetic beeps, boops and laser-heavy battle fire, and instead we have machine gun fire, bombs, heavy rain and mudslides. This is a low-key, deeply personal script from Guy Adams, and the dialogue between Jack and Ata as they try to reach a mutual trust feels incredibly authentic. It relies a lot on the performances of Barrowman and Atilla Akinci, and they're both phenomenal here. Barrowman is an entertainer primarily and there's always an element of that in his performances. But 'What Have I Done?' strips that away. It's Jack at his very best. Atilla Akinci wasn't a name I'd heard of before this, but he really impressed me here. The story of Ata's brother is a remarkably human moment and told from the heart. It's not an actor speaking, it's a full-blooded person. 

Besides Jack and Ata, the only other constant presence is an unknown creature stalking the battlefields. All we really know about is that it's a creature that feeds and hunts through fear. It's never given a name, and we don't have much of an inkling as to what it looks like, besides the boar-like sounds it makes. I really love how Adams keeps details about this creature to a minimum. It's simple and in turn effective. The idea of a creature that hunts through scenting fear loose in the WWI trenches is ripe for storytelling, and those opportunities are exploited to great effect here. This is a story all about these two men overcoming their fears, and to do that they have to be open with them. Listening to this and 'Piece Of Mind' back to back is quite the experience. Two stories almost binary opposites of each other and considering this is my first experience of this series, it tells me a lot about the range and possibilities it holds. Fantastic! 9/10

DRIVING MISS WELLS

Alien invasions, stolen planets and burning skies - newsreader Trinity Wells used to tell everyone that the world was ending. One day she stopped believing it. Will her new chauffer change her mind? 

Trinity Wells! There's a name I've missed. Although her appearances were only ever brief during Russell T Davies' era, her constant reappearances were one of many little bits of attention to detail that added authenticity to whatever bizarre alien scheme was at play each week. There's always newsreaders you become familiar with as they share bad news with you each day, and for the Whoniverse, that was Wells. Sadly once RTD stepped down as showrunner, for some reason we never saw her again, so it's nice to hear her back. One of the first things 'Driving Miss Wells' does is address her absence - Wells is on a flagging promotional tour for her new book, and reached the point in her career that she's waiting to hear if she can appear on 'Strictly Come Dancing'. The premise itself for this story - that Wells no longer believes the very things she used to report on, and that Jack has to convince her it was the truth - is a promising one, and has ties with recent phenomena like the "fake news" epidemic. And reading that synopsis, I'd hoped we were in for another character-piece, a little bit like the previous story: a two-hander between Jack and Trinity. 

Instead, this set had another surprise in store for me as we see Trinity join the board of a shady company, with an alien conspiracy at its heart. But unfortunately, rather like the main plot in 'Piece Of Mind', it's a standard story that feels remarkably ordinary and played out by now. For a script that ponders the possbility of an alien fly swarm posing as corporate executives, I shouldn't be saying that. We also go off on a weird tangent where Trinity kidnaps one of the board members for ... reasons. (Spoiler Warning!) And right at the end, there is an attempt at a twist, with the reveal that Trinity knew all along the flies were real and was actually working with U.N.I.T all along. But that reveal just guts the story of any re-listening value. When your only hook is "Is Trinity really seeing all these things, or just getting paranoid?", when you re-listen knowing that Trinity also knows what she's seeing is real, any interest in the story goes straight into thin air. On a brighter note however, Barrowman and Lachele Carl do make a decent pairing, and there are some genuinely nice moments with them to enjoy, such as when they take a detour mid-way through to visit Trinity's mum. 'Driving Miss Wells' has similar strengths and weaknesses as 'Piece Of Mind'. Both have very standard plots but are both made more interesting by the pairings they have to offer. While Jack and Trinity don't come across as strong as Jack and the 6th Doctor, they still go someway in redeeming an otherwise very forgettable story. Not great, but too inoffensive to get mad about. 5/10

The thing I find most impressive about this set is the sheer variety that's encompassed in just three stories. Be it tone, setting, characters, these are three very different tales. Even as far as quality's concerned, there's no two that are the same. While that's always nice to see, like I've already said, it has me wanting to see more from this range. It should serve as a great example to the 'Diary Of River Song' series too - rather than obsessing over the Doctor every five minutes, putting River in scenarios like this is what it should be doing. Vol. 2 of 'The Lives Of Captain Jack' presents opportunities and match-ups you'd likely never think of, and better yet it's not something that's done just for the sake of it. For any faults it may have, this set is a lot of fun and worth a listen!

Overall score for The Lives Of Captain Jack Vol. 2

7/10