Fiesta of the Damned

 

Fiesta of the Damned by Guy Adams

"History Hurts, Mel." 

"You told me. It...It also Inspires." 

Fiesta of the Damned is an odd story, as I at times wished it would go in different directions, but to be frank, at the same time, I really love it for what it is. The first actual good Seven/Ace/Mel adventure, it really starts to show you the potential of this TARDIS team, and how good a pairing it is. The ultimate highlight of Fiesta is the historical aspect however, and the atmosphere it conveys. This doomed battallion fighting on against the odds is an incredible hook, and I found myself getting really invested in them - far more than I usually ever do with any other guest characters. If this was a Hex arc story, it would take something from No Man's Land and then make all these characters suffer as visceral an end as possible, but to my surprise, it doesn't do that, while still having a powerful conclusion. The era is immaculately constructed in this piece... all of the accents are surprisingly on top form, and the music and sound design really work in the story's favor. Especially since this is a lesser known era of History, the fact that in many ways, we're learning about it here also works in the story's favor. Those who died in these battles were nigh completely forgotten, and I think that works to the theme of the piece. The story even dares to have a romantic plotline that wasn't completely rubbish and EVEN ended in a rather poignant manner. Holy cow. All the same, it peaks early in Part One with those scenes of the Doctor, Ace and Mel at the campfire with these soldiers. It's a mournful and beautiful first episode, and from there, it does slightly decrease in quality. The aliens are particularly uninspired, probably to the detriment of the piece, though I do enjoy Bonnie Langford's newest turn at playing a baddie. There's an argument to be made here in the case of the pure historical - Fiesta may have ended up even stronger without a supernatural conflict involved. But that would ultimately mean cutting a lot of the material I like in Part Four. I do have a few other gripes - Ace's plotline is an interesting character piece with a character named George, and their relationship is predicated on them being similar people, Ace even joking about how he's an adrenaline junkie like her. This is good character work. George later sacrifices himself to save Ace and The Doctor, because he's an adrenaline junkie and doesn't want to go out quietly, mirroring Ace's willingness to sacrifice herself for the cause, which she demonstrated multiple times during the story, and genuinely shocking her. Even better character work. George survives the fatal electrocution and is completely fine, making Ace's arc lose the punch that Mel's has. Kind of shooting yourself in the foot there, Guy Adams. It's so naturally foreshadowed, I wouldn't be surprised if it was changed at the last minute to give the story a lighter mood. So it's certainly not flawless, but as a historical piece with the rare occurance of action working on audio, it's definitely worth checking out, especially for the wondrous stuff it does for Mel and the Guest Stars in particular. It could have been much more - but then I suspect that it may have been changed because the Peterloo Massacre had come out just a few months earlier, and from the looks of it, has similar tones. Ah, I'll stop theorizing. While it's not perfect, it's one of the most enjoyable outings I've had in a while, absolutely superb: 8.5/10