Self Improvement

"Good Day was all in his head."

Writer: Ian Potter

Format: Audio

Released: February 2016

Series: Vienna 3.01

Featuring: Vienna

Synopsis

Doctor Ludovic Glospan has a secret. He has made a scientific discovery that could change the galaxy forever, which is why he wants to keep it out of the wrong hands.

Vienna Salvatori and Jexie Reagan have been hired to keep Glospan's secret safe. On a good day that will be an easy job, but this is anything but a good day.

Verdict

Self Improvement was a great start to the third series of Vienna! I thought this was a really strong opener and almost something of a jumping on point for those listeners that might not be familiar with the character or hadn't listened to the opening two series. Sure, there's the continuity of having Jexie join Vienna in something akin to a companion role, but I wouldn't say there was any prior listening required when listening to this story which was good and it certainly felt fresh. I really love the vibe of the Vienna series as the setting of space and the future is exciting and just has a feel of Blade Runner about it which is a huge compliment. It's also very different to other adventures in the Whoniverse and whilst there is nothing explicit or expletive, this feels a little more adult oriented. I think that's just the nature of Vienna as a hired assassin. I like how she and Jexie were out for a pay day from the missions popping up on the crystals, but Vienna's comment at the end about virtue being a good form of payment had me quite surprised. She has certainly mellowed out since the start of this spinoff range for sure! I thought the plot in this one was fascinating and the way Vienna and Jexie were tested for their security qualifications was excellent! Attempting to kill them and seeing if they survive is certainly one way to go about it! I loved it though. They dealt with the robots and got to the main event of Doctor Ludovic Glospan who was quite impressed to actually meet some of those taking on the assignment. Obviously, not many showcased they had the desired qualifications. I thought he was a fantastic character and his relationship with Constanza was a little freak and weird at times. It worked though and their dynamic was a great listen. She had given herself – literally – a long time ago to him and hearing the whole replication element was intriguing stuff. The euthanasia line was a little chilling but those replicated had given themselves to that willingly. They believed they were killed humanely and knew there were other versions of them to go on. That's a little strange, but I liked how freaky it was. It made for entertaining listening that's for sure! I thought the dynamic between Vienna and Jexie was good and the latter definitely a little less experienced which is the case but she was eager to get involved. I thought it was fun how she was genuinely a little annoyed not to get the money at the end. The whole appointment being them to protect the formula for the Good Day was interesting and it was quite something for Constanza to be the universal test subject. Surely you had to test things on more than one person, no matter how many versions there are? I liked that the formula was in Glospan's head rather than written down anywhere, so I was shocked when he died somewhat early on in the episode. It just didn't make sense to me, so it wasn't a huge surprise when he came back and found that there were multiple replicated versions of himself. I thought it was brilliant for him to have come up with the formula thanks to numerous alternates he had already replicated thus saving the issue of it being replicated once it was complete. I like how there seems to once again be a story arc going through this series as the way things ended sent us into the next episode and to someone called Jonah Hall who I do see as a character in the cast list for the series which is promising. I love when things tie together so I'm excited to hear his connection to this episode's events. Overall though, a really fun and strong start to the series! I was a big fan of the idea. I could certainly do with waking up thinking I was at my best every day!

Rating: 8/10