Doctor Who review: The Meaning of Red focuses on Peri in a fresh way
By James Aggas
Peri finds herself stranded on a desolate world in the short, character-focused Doctor Who story The Meaning of Red by Rod Brown.
Last month’s Short Trip, The Meaning of Red, focused on the Fifth Doctor and Peri, a team that had only been briefly seen in the TV series. The story begins with a very familiar setup in Doctor Who – specifically, the companion getting separated from the Doctor at the start. Normally, this would lead to the Doctor focusing on how to rescue their companion. But what’s rather refreshing with Rod Brown’s story is that it goes in a completely different direction – specifically by focusing on Peri.
There’s a great deal of focus on Peri being stuck on the inhospitable world of Calleto. Both she and the audience expect the Doctor to turn up to rescue her at any moment, at least initially. However, for some reason, the Doctor isn’t coming back. So it’s up to her to find a way to survive.
Putting Peri in a rather desperate situation is a bold choice, but it works. It’s not that she’s entirely on her own – thankfully, there’s a family there trying to bring life to the planet – but we do get to be reminded of her strengths. More importantly, she gets to grow and develop in this story, leaving her a changed person by the end.
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A believable solution
Aiding Peri’s growth is the rather challenging little mystery that she’s presented with. People are dying and no one knows how or why. The Doctor isn’t there to help. She can’t possibly solve the mystery on her own using just her botany skills – can she?
This is what makes Rod Brown’s story work. Not just the mystery itself, but how it’s solved. When you hear the solution, it doesn’t feel like a cheat, especially with Peri working it out. It’s not something that only the Doctor could think of, and yet it’s still an alien solution. That’s a tricky balance to get right, but it works. We were occasionally given glimpses of Peri’s knowledge of botany in the TV series, but her skills were never used quite as brilliantly as they are here.
On top of a solid story is Nicola Bryant’s strong narration. It’s full of energy and personality in all the right places, allowing both the world and the characters to be brought to life nicely. Together with the excellent, character-focused story itself, it all comes together to make The Meaning of Red one of the stronger Short Trips this year.
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Are you a fan of Peri? Do you think she should have been explored better on TV? Let us know in the comments below.