18. The Stones of Venice

This story features the 8th Doctor and Charley visiting a future Venice as it due to sink into the sea. The strange society there including an amphibious race who are treated as an underclass and a weird cult.

The first problem I have with this story is that the society presented just does not ring true at all for me. It does not convince as a future earth society. If it was some alien world it might have got me more on board but it just seems an odd and unsatisfactory mixture of features mostly found in ancient societies with a futuristic time period.

In addition the story is mostly just boring and badly put together. Considering acting talents like Michael Sheard and Mark Gatiss as well as Paul McGann it is very disappointing to see them given such poor material. The part of Ms. Lavish I am sad to say is poorly acted and annoying. The rest of the cast lift this as much as they can and save it from being thoroughly awful but it is a mostly boring mess.

5.5/10

Very melodramatic and silly. It's a pretty average story. The soundtrack is amazing though.

The Stones Of Venice is a curious beast. There's plenty to like here: it's got a rich, complex plot, interesting characters and a fabulous setting. And yet, for half its runtime, it potters about, not really saying anything of consequence. And, while the second half features some excellent apocalyptic build-up, it somehow still feels a bit hollow.

The idea of the Doctor and Charley arriving in Venice on the eve of judgement is a sound one, but the first half never really gets any moment. Writer Paul Magrs leaves it till the second half for build up that should have come in the second half. Certainly, the first half paints an excellent picture of Venice, but, if you've never been there, you'll be more interested in getting the plot going. And, sure, Magrs has crafted a fantastic plot. Each of the characters we meet tie into it in an interesting way, and they are fantastic. The acting is especially good in this one: the late Michael Sheard is fantastic, as is Nick Scovell and Mark Gatiss (doing his best Christopher Lee impression). Paul McGann and India Fisher have also formed a fantastic chemistry at this point, despite the fact this story was the first McGann story recorded for Big Finish.

Together with some impressive post-production from Andy Hardwick and Russell Stone, The Stones Of Venice has lots of promise, and plenty of imagination. It's just a pity some poor plotting decisions prevent this being the classic it could be.

There's a lot I like about this story. It has a wonderful atmosphere and loads of style, and it's quite unlike any previous story. But the plot is just bonkers, which makes it very difficult for me to invest in the story. It feels so much like a fairy tale that it just doesn't seem real. Venice in the 23rd century feels like its own entirely self-contained world, operating by its own rules. Those rules are never clearly established, let alone justified or explained. But apparently the topography of the city changes "at will" (at whose will?), there's a race of semi-aquatic Gondoliers, and they can give Charley a potion that allows her to successfully impersonate someone she knows nothing about.

On the other hand, it's creative, original, memorable, and the cast does fine work* with the material. But it's not really to my taste.

* On second thought, the cast is a bit of a mixed bag. Mark Gatiss is effective, but he's really just doing Hieronymous from "The Masque of Mandragora". Michael Sheard's performance is appropriately eccentric, but it's a pity this was his only role for Big Finish. Elaine Ives-Cameron, unfortunately, is as conspicuously overwrought as she was in "The Stones of Blood". Paul McGann is on top form, though.