REC: Fear and Freedom

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Story: Fear and Freedom
Author: ponygirl
Rating: General
Word Count: 9153
Author's summary: It's a government out of control, and the Sixth Doctor has dropped them right in the middle of it, as usual. But he and Evelyn are not alone, and their new allies have familiar faces...
Characters/Pairings: Sixth Doctor, Susan, First Doctor/Evelyn Smythe, Barbara, Ian
Warnings: Implied sexual assualt (offscreen) and some violence.

Recced because: It's a clever, engaging, well-written story about a less appreciated Doctor.

The Sixth Doctor has a reputation around the fandom for being, well, a bit of a bully. He's a bossy, shouty, aggressive know-it-all—he's loud, in both manner and dress. It doesn't really help that the script writer for his era—Eric Saward—would have been much more at home writing for a gritty dystopian hard sci-fi drama than Doctor Who. And, well, there was that whole thing where shortly after regenerating, he had a psychotic break due to the lingering effects of spectrox poisoning.

The Sixth Doctor is a bully. But that's not all he is. Underneath his loud, bossy exterior is a genuinely caring man—he just covers it up by shouting all the time. Unfortunately, the BBC sacked Colin Baker before we could really see the other layers to the character. Then, in 1999, Big Finish happened. They took the bossy, shouty know-it-all from the telly and gave him layers. And they gave him a new companion for between Peri and Mel: history professor Evelyn Smythe, one of the most awesome little old ladies in Doctor Who (and there are quite a few awesome old ladies on this show.)

In ponygirl's “Fear and Freedom,” Evelyn and the Doctor have arrived in the dystopian near future: America of the mid-twenty-first century. What they don't expect, however, is that they aren't the only Doctor and companion involved in events—Susan, Barbara, Ian and the First Doctor are here too and things are about to get a bit more complicated, given that Susan and the Sixth Doctor have both been arrested and sent to a processing center.

Ponygirl's character voices are immensely well-done. The reunion of the Sixth Doctor with Susan is touching and the flirtation between Evelyn and the First Doctor is really quite sweet. I'd recommend this fic to everyone—even if you aren't familiar with either era of the show, it's still a very good fic.

Comments

[garpu.livejournal.com]

That was awesome! (And, yes, I did leave a review.) I absolutely love Eveyln and Six. I also liked how she made Susan have real depth to her character, not just a screaming accessory.

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

Wow! One of my flist members tipped me off about this, and I'm extremely flattered.

This was one of my favourite stories to write; I'm glad people are enjoying it!

[garpu.livejournal.com]

Evelyn and One worked well together. She wasn't intimidated by his age like the companions that traveled with him did. Plus the first Doctor was a bit of an absentminded academic, which would fit with Evelyn. :) (Bet he could tap a keg like she could, too.)

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

(Bet he could tap a keg like she could, too.)/i>

Bwahaha! Yep, I suspect you're right.

Just keep him away from the cocoa...

[garpu.livejournal.com]

Evelyn does make a mad cocoa... hrmmm...

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

::beats down plot bunnies::

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Dude, One/Evelyn is the best ship ever. You know you want to.

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I just found out about this rec.

What a lovely compliment. I adore bringing people over to the dark side Six fandom. If you're serious about more Six fic, my other multi-Doc Six and Evelyn story is Past Imperfect (http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=5965), but be warned that it was written before series 2/28 aired, so the characterisation of Ten is off by a mile.

Wow, how's that for shameless self-pimpage?

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the story. :-)

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Thanks for recommending this - I finally got around to reading it after I finished writing my latest fic, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Wouldn't have read it without your rec since I still haven't listened to any Six audios, but now I want to more than ever !

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

Thank you! One of my flist let me know I'd been recced here.

You should check out The Marian Conspiracy (Evelyn's intro). If that doesn't sell you on Big Finish!Six, nothing will.

I'm glad you enjoyed the story - it was a really fun one to write.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Oh I'll get to Six's audios eventually (I do have a couple lurking about) - I just find it hard to make time to listen (between writing endlessly and watching Classic Who !)

But I'll make a note of the title, thanks.

[nonelvis]

This was great! As I said in the review I left, I don't normally go out of my way to read fic with Six in it (he's my least favorite of all the Doctors), but this was worth it.

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

Wow, what a terrific compliment! A little bird told me I'd been recced here - what a lovely surprise that was.

I'm glad you enjoyed my take on Six. The TV show did Colin Baker a real dis-service; one which Big Finish is now putting right.

Thank you for the kind review.

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

Oh, my goodness! This is certainly a wonderful surprise. Thank you, biichan; I'm extremely flattered!

[biichan.livejournal.com]

No problem! I've been wanting to rec this for a while, but my short list for recs is actually a bit long and so I didn't get to it my last time up. But I'm glad I could rec it this week, because I really am quite fond of it!