When I saw the synopsis for “Run” I felt a cold shiver go up my spine as it sounded like another ham-fisted attempt at political satire like “The Salurian Candidate”, and while thankfully it never sank that low it’s still as subtle as a brick to the face and not very clever to boot, so it didn’t make for a good hour’s listen. Oh well, let’s take a look…
“Run” is set early in the life of one Alpha Centauri (Jane Goddard), just as she/it becomes representative of Alpha Centauri and starts her (I’m just going to go with her) career with the Galactic Federation and as she arrives at the senate building she’s met by her new P.A., the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) Apparently our protagonist Time Lord somehow foresaw a version of the future where current front-runner for Galactic President Bellatrix Vega (Jane Asher) wins and plunges the Galaxy into terror and misfortune and wants to help “AC” to stop her. The issue here is instead of using satire to make people aware of the current slew of far right politicians putting money ahead of human rights writer Robert Valentine decided to go for yet another Donald Trump parody, and due to Trump being such an over-exaggerated person himself to parody him you have to go even further over-the-top, so far over that you just get a cartoon villain chewing the scenery so much that you can’t take anything seriously and therefore any attempt at a message is completely lost.
Not sure why there’s an Ice Queen on the cover given one doesn’t appear at all, but hey-ho…
That is the main issue here, “Run” is presented like a political thriller with some satirical elements but it’s ruined by having a pantomime villain at its heart, it takes away from everything. The writing isn’t much better either, again no subtly here it’s just baby’s first satire… well, maybe toddler’s first satire, “The Silurian Candidate” was baby’s first satire… Anyway, we get an Ice Lord (voiced of course by Nicholas Briggs) because you can’t have Alpha Centauri without an Ice Warrior, and he becomes the shadowy informant literally hiding in the shadows of a parking lot, which again I assume was supposed to be a send up of all the thrillers that use that cliché but instead it just felt right at home as a silly joke instead of clever satire because the Ice Lord is obviously the hidden informer due to his vocal mannerisms. That was obviously the intention but again it just dragged everything down, especially given Briggs’ limited range when doing an Ice Warrior voice. So anyway, The Doctor and Alpha have to put up with attempted assassinations and corrupt people here and there, but yeah… it was all lost in the children’s TV villain’s shadow and not written well enough to break free.
The Continuity:
Another look at the overall cover, once again featuring the Ice Queen that doesn’t appear. Hooray!
I mean, a few bits not least Alpha Centauri, who we see here before she meets The Third Doctor in “The Curse of Peladon”, due to this The Doctor has to keep his name hidden to avoid ruining the web of time and all that. Centauri has made several other appearances since as well, TV and audio-wise but I won’t list them all. On that note the Ice Warriors have appeared in far too much media now to talk about here as well but I thought I’d at least mention them!
Also as mentioned this isn’t the first time Doctor Who has done an agonisingly unfunny parody of Donald Trump, the Thirteenth Doctor had one in a few stories starting with the equally awfully titled “Arachnids in the UK”, and obviously I’ve mentioned Seventh Doctor audio “The Salurian Candidate” a few times already. I’ll also mention Seventh Doctor TV story “The Happiness Patrol” as well, which was an on-the-nose parody of Margaret Thatcher and her right-wing lunacy.
Overall Thoughts:
Normally Doctor Who is escapism for me but I can take a story that looks at real world issues if its done right, this however was not done right… at all. Laughable attempt at satire that takes any serious issues and drowns them in bad pantomime villains and poor writing to the point where any message is completely lost. Not Silurian Candidate bad, but then this is only half the length…
Vega has someone plant a bomb under the senate building so she can take out all her competition at once but the plan fails thanks to a stirring speech by Centauri and The Doctor and Zzargol (the Ice Lord) stopping the bomb. Vega is arrested, AC steps down from running for President, as she only did so to stop Bellatrix from winning, and history is put back on course.
Hogan Reviews 