Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, John Leeson, Phil Mulryne, Karl Theobald, Alex Wilton Regan, John Banks.
We take radio for granted now, in much the same way as television, as any device that allows us to hear the words of another several thousand miles away from home, and yet we must remember what it must have been like to experience that sensation for the first time, the moment that radio burst into the home and allowed, for example, cricket fans to enjoy a day at Old Trafford, the first outside broadcast from The Albert Hall, and allow old soldiers to hear The Last Post from fields in France as commemorations of World War One were held to honour the fallen…we take radio for granted, but in the hands of dark forces, that benevolence of human spirit and endeavour can be turned against us
Justin Richards’ fourth Doctor tale, Wave of Destruction, harkens to that era of explorative science fiction, the belief that monsters can come from another realm, dragged here by the instruments of our genius, and one that plays well with the idea of the fear in the age of ignorance perfectly. For no matter how enlightened we believe we are, we too are guilty as a collective of that ignorance, we somehow metaphorically feel the anxiety of new ideas bringing forth demons, so comfortable we are in our standard of living, we have forgotten what it is to strive to make people listen with intense concentration instead of them hitting a like or a love button as they scan quickly through the dials in search, not of education, but guzzling titbits in the hope of substance.
Justin Richard’s script delves deeply into that honour bound tradition, and as the Doctor and his friend and companion in time and space, Romana, played by the ever-engaging Lalla Ward, seek out the mystery of modulated frequency that has emanated from a pirate radio station in 1960s international waters, dark forces are at work to subjugate humanity by this new means of communication at their disposal.
The start of the sixth series of audio dramas by Big Finish for the ever-irreplaceable Tom Baker gets off to a tremendous start with Wave of Destruction, a play of infinite quality and resource.
We must continue to embrace new technology and the means of communication, but we must also make sure that the right frame of mind is listening to us, that the soul is receptive, and that the tune carried is met with wonder and not closed-minded fear.
Ian D. Hall