Mask of Tragedy

Main Range #190

Released: 12 September 2014

Listened: 1/13/21

Immediately following the last story, the Doctor thinks that Ace and Hector might like to relax by visiting Ancient Greece. There’s a vein of humor running through this one, starting with the fact that Greece is a bit of a tourist trap for time travelers, with its plays, philosophy, and democracy. Further, the Greeks know about all this, and either take it in stride, or resent being gawked at by aliens. Except there’s also a plague that renders its victims into zombies, a giant flying creature only seen at night, and an army of Spartans on the doorstep. None of which concerns Aristophanes as much as finding an actor for his latest satire. The Doctor seems to think that Ace and Hector can navigate this chaos without affecting history, and he’s badly wrong. Ace gets split off early, inspires Athenian women’s rights, and ends up hanging out with the Spartans. On the whole, she’s behaving in a less mature manner than she had previously, where she had to be “senior companion.” Hector once again demonstrates that he isn’t Hex, but has empathy for the people of Athens, which he believes Ace and the Doctor have lost sight of. There’s a hint at his mob-boss persona coming through as he tries to lead the people of Athens, but that could be another round of mind control. As you might expect from writer James Goss, all those disparate and strange elements come together like a puzzle, including one apparent historical error that really isn’t. There are also many small references to Aristophanes’ plays littered throughout the script, if you know what to look for, but it’s not required. It’s not a huge advancement of Hector’s story, but it’s pretty funny on its own.