Gallifrey re-listen: "Lies"

[lizbee]

"The Inquiry" was very dull and had no good lines, so I skipped "A Blind Eye" (which I've listened to a few times) and went straight through to "Lies", the first story of the second season.  AKA The One With Mary Tamm, AKA The One Where Braxiatel Is Really Creepy.

See, sometimes I worry that, in my fic and so forth, my version of Braxiatel is too creepy.  Then I listen to "Lies" and realise, no, he's just that disturbing.  Romana finds out that Brax was her tutor at the Academy -- he was, in fact, the closest thing she had to an actual friend-type person -- and that he wiped her memory and planted a post-hypnotic suggestion to prevent her from remembering that time she made a deal with Evil From The Dawn Of Time.  Which is, I guess, logical in its own way, but it's quite striking that he not only wiped that memory, but their whole relationship.  As Romana says, it's a good thing he's on her side.  In fact, she says it twice, which means it's extra-significant.

Of particular amusement value is this conversation between Brax and Narvin:

Narvin: "So you hypnotised her.  Dominated her.  Repressed her mind.  I never realised you could be so ruthless."
Brax: "Needs must."
Narvin: "So what went wrong?"
Brax: "I had no idea that the Doctor would take her away.  Out of my presence.  My ... influence.  My--"
Narvin: "Control?"
Brax: "I was going to say 'guidance'."
Narvin: "Of course you were."

Or, as violetisblue put it, "My horrid half-brother stole my hothouse-orchid virgin right out from under my nose."*  Although I keep going to put that in lolspeak, which makes it slightly funnier.

In short, this story is basically the Brax Is Really Creepy Show.  With a side of Everyone Hates Narvin.  Braxiatel, after saving him from spurious murder charges: "Don't mention it.  Really.  Don't say anything.  I couldn't bear the shame."  The Braxiatel And Narvin Comedy Hour: more interesting than the actual plots, most of the time.  shinyjenni has reminded me that the audio documentary at the end of season 2 describes Narvin as the series' moral centre, as he's the only character who's not out for himself.  Not that Romana and Leela are totally motivated by selfish reasons, but Narvin has them both beat.  As shinyjenni says, "with Leela and Romana it's about their personal beliefs and causes, they'd die for what they believe is right, whereas Narvin would probably die for a cause he didn't believe in if he thought it was his duty. He'd be really irritated about it, but he'd do it."

(He would.  He'd be so. very. put out.)

I made a handy list of the major characters, in ascending order based on selfish motivation:

-Narvin
-Leela
-Romana
-Brax
-Darkel

Points for making Narvin, the most overtly "civilised" traditional Time Lord, the moral centre, as opposed to Leela, the noble savage.

...There's also the Romana and Leela Lesbian Subtext Show, but I'm finding that less interesting on the second go-through.  Maybe because it's so very doomed?  Or maybe because Brax is being creepy, and that hits my weakness for pedagogical eros right there.  One of the reasons I pointedly handwave the "wiped her memory of their tutor-student relationship" bit is that it effectively removes the most interesting aspect of their current relationship.  Not to mention that I simply don't find it plausible; are we to believe she spent the next year just wandering around Prydon Academy, not noticing Braxiatel's looming presence?  Bits of "Last of the Time Lords" make more sense than that.  *grumps*

*  The old thing about Braxiatel being the Doctor's brother = my personal fanon since the day the Doctor said, "I had a brother once".  What day did "Smith and Jones" air?  That's the one.  It helped that "Sound of Drums" clarified that said brother != the Master -- THANK GOD.  Not that it would have stopped fandom, world of Doctor/Jenny and "No, River is totally the Doctor's mother!"

Comments

[fly-to-dawn.livejournal.com]

"The Inquiry" was very dull and had no good lines

Really? I seem to remember enjoying that one.

And yes, Brax is so the Doctor's brother!

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

I just found it really frustrating; it didn't pick up for me until Romana met future-Brax, and that was near the end.

[tree_and_leaf]

I encountered 'River is the Doctor's mum!' for the first time this morning. It was in the comments from the silly 'I hate River because she isn't blonde and pretty and she's too old for the Doctor!!!111!!!1!!' on the doctor_who comm. (To be fair, I don't think the blonde element was explicitly mentioned, but the rest was). There was some really world class idiocy on that post, though.

I actually liked the idea of the Master being the Doctor's (younger, more talented) brother, but I accept that it's jossed now...

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

That whole post made me very, very angry. The OP is only a teen, but the people agreeing were ... not.

Also, any time the mod there says I KNOW BASHING AND THIS ISN'T IT, it usually is bashing, just of a character he doesn't like. There's a reason I usually lurk there.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yes, it was pretty ugly, and more for the comments than the post, sad as it was. There's some hope the OP will grow up and realise how unhealthy the attitudes she seems to have internalised are, but the others... *sigh*

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

I tell myself that when I was a bit younger than her, I hated women with blonde hair, and especially any woman whose presence undermined my OTP. And it's a damn good thing I didn't have the internet.

But as you say, the other people on that post...

[tree_and_leaf]

And it's a damn good thing I didn't have the internet.

Oh yes. I often thank heaven for that myself, and not just because it spared the world - and my future self - the embarassment of my half Vulcan! Catholic! archaeologist! Sue/ Spock fic.

God, I was a weird teenager. I didn't like blondes, either...

[roz-mcclure.livejournal.com]

YEAH OKAY I NEED TO GET ME SOME OF THESE. I have really weird context for them, but that just sounds creepy and awesome in the good way. Super(possibly villain)genius plus buddies-who-hate-each-other comedy plus Romana and Leela? I APPROVE.

um, where should I start?

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

You should probably go back and start with the DW audio "The Apocalypse Element", which gives context for Romana being CRAZY. Then you can pretty much skip through to season 1 of Gallifrey -- or, alternatively, skip through to season 2, which is a lot better.

But please don't expect it to be any good at all; there are just flashes of genius in amidst some very bad scripts and worse acting. But it's wonderful fodder for lulz and fic.

[elyssadc.livejournal.com]

The One Where Braxiatel Is Really Creepy

HAHAHAHA. I feel like that is every Brax audio EVER. Most especially the Benny ones. I don't know why I keep rewriting his character in my head to be less of a complete bastard. Everytime he does something particularly horrid, I find myself shocked all over again and it's ridiculous. The dude is NOT A NICE GUY. Yet after his actions at the end of the the 6th series of the Benny audios I totally flipped again and couldn't understand how he could be so evil. Is it just because he's so friggin' cool? Is that why my brain refuses to accept that he is actually a pretty twisted dude?

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

OKAY, FINE, I need to check out the Benny audios. Where should I start for Brax-creepy goodness?

[elliptic-eye.livejournal.com]

Request seconded and generalized for the class of all Brax-containing audios. With a cherry on top.

[elyssadc.livejournal.com]

Ok. Here is my Brax list. I'm sorry it took so long, but the trip out to SF last night sucked majorly and I've been crazy busy since I got here. ANYWAY, Benny audios! I think that any Benny audio with Brax in it is automatically full of Brax-creepy goodness because...the dude is creepy. Period. So, with that in mind, here's the list for ya:

3.4 The Mirror Effect
4.1 The Bellotron Incident
4.4 Death and the Daleks (This is a two-parter where Brax is being held prisoner and tortured for info. Definitely doesn't help his sanity any.)
6.5 The Crystal of Cantus (I can not POSSIBLY recommend this audio more highly. It is pretty much all about Brax being a manipulative bastard to the nth degree.)

Then you can skip ahead to the last few minutes of:

7.6 The Empire State

I am now working my way through the 8th Season and Brax appears to be playing a major role. And that role would be "Creepy Manipulative Asshole #1". I think it might be right up your alley. ;-)

I hope you enjoy these! I'm assuming you know where to get them, right? If not, I can always upload them for you. Just let me know.

[garpu.livejournal.com]

I'd totally be interested in that list, too...

[melengro.livejournal.com]

Brax reminds me of some of the people in Irish mythology who would go around using geass powers to prevent people from looking at certain birds, or going around certain towns anticlockwise, and then sitting back and laughing when the person in question broke the geass and Connaught attacked.

Or maybe one of those seventeenth-century British politicians who, with ruthless determination that would impress Gendo Ikari and Servalan's illicit love child, would use and abuse everybody around them in pursuit of the greatest good for the greatest number.

He's a good person, but not a moral one. His ends are noble, it's just that his means guarantee that he himself will have no place in any sort of 'better world' that he might create.

He is very much his brother's sibling. And, while he makes my skin crawl, I love every minute of listening to him.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

That sums him up very nicely, yes.

[melengro.livejournal.com]

He is the Cathbad, the Da Derga, the Robert Walpole, the William Pitt of all the universe.

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

Or maybe one of those seventeenth-century British politicians who, with ruthless determination that would impress Gendo Ikari and Servalan's illicit love child, would use and abuse everybody around them in pursuit of the greatest good for the greatest number.

so true!

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

oh, jesus, NARVIN is supposed to be the moral centre of the series? no wonder gallifrey is fucking doomed.

seriously, i really quite hate narvin. i like him as a character, and even a bit for his personality, but a guy who runs the DODGIEST ORGANISATION IN THE UNIVERSE, and who actually makes a point of NOT having any morals himself, in case they get in the way of him doing whatever the government tells him to do... erm. not my idea of a "moral centre". far, far too close to the actual kind of guy who would run an organisation like the real CIA. fuck that. narvin is selfless, but it's all in service of whatever bureaucrat happens to be in power. THAT IS HOW IRAQ TIME WARS HAPPEN.

i actually think that braxiatel starts off having selfish motivations, and ends up being the most selfless character of the series, along with leela. he sets up everything so that romana will be president, perhaps initially so that he can have the opportunity to influence her, but eventually because he truly thinks she is gallifrey's best hope. (we'll ignore how wrong he was on this point for the moment). of course this interpretation is based ENTIRELY on the gallifrey series, and not any other series i haven't heard yet where he is much more bastardly.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

no wonder gallifrey is fucking doomed.

Well, yeah, if Romana, Brax and Narvin are the best the planet has to offer, it deserves to go boom. I don't actually think that was BF's intention with the series, but hey.

Seriously, though, the thing with Narvin is that he starts off the way you describe, and can only hold the moral high ground because he's the only one not pretending to be incredibly honest and moral. By the end, he's so disillusioned by the civil war and Darkel's amorality that he's abandoned his old ideas of rule by tradition and started aiming for something better. Which is why Romana wants him to run for the presidency, and also why he refuses.

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

I'll admit it: I have my some utterly silly reasons for disliking Doctor/River, but dammit, none of them (or most of them) are not River's fault but purely due to Steven Moffat opressing me me being silly.

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

Er, ''some utterly silly reasons''. I rite gud.

[elliptic-eye.livejournal.com]

Romana finds out that Brax was her tutor at the Academy -- he was, in fact, the closest thing she had to an actual friend-type person -- and that he wiped her memory and planted a post-hypnotic suggestion to prevent her from remembering that time she made a deal with Evil From The Dawn Of Time.

…Dude. I need to hear these. Is S1 of Gallifrey that twisted good, too, or should I just seek out the highlights?

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

The first season is okay, but not great. I did my re-listen with one hand on the fast-forward key.

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

I've never heard any of the audios, but your description of Braxiatel reminds me of Susan Kay's portrayal of William Cecil, Lord Burleigh in Legacy (a novel). He can be completely cold-blooded, yet he'll do anything for his monarch if he finds him/her Worthy (as he does his Queen). Which means that Narvin is totally Walsingham and the Doctor is Rober Dudley.;)