Surrender, Human Plankton!

 Things continue to be busy, what with exams for S3 and the move to our new school building imminent. I did manage to fit in one social event: my team made joint first place in last night's Staff Social Committee Quiz. We all won branded Academy clocks so, appropriately, today's post focuses once again on Dr. Who audios. 

The Fourth Wall is a blackly comic Colin Baker story in which the characters in a tacky, clichéd sci-fi tv series suddenly become real and sentient. Although the satire of the Jack Laser show is a bit hackneyed, there is amusement to be had in the contrast of the actors' personalities with their fictitious counterparts.The descent into murderous insanity of the melodramatic villain Lord Krarn is actually quite compelling. The pig-like Warmongers are a bit heavy-handed but then comic relief often is.

 The whole conceit is very reminiscent of 1995 Virgin novel  Time of Your Life but the main attraction is that annoying new chav companion Flip is written out of most of the episodes. A derivative mix of Rose and Donna with an Estuary whine, I'm not warming to her at all. Seven out of ten Talmars.

The Children of Seth is another entry in the Lost Stories series. The script was based on a  first draft by Christopher Bailey who wrote Kinda, one of the earliest and best Fifth Doctor stories. Kinda was  a striking blend  of science fantasy and psychological thriller. The sequel Snakedance was less experimental but still  quite memorable. Seth has a powerhouse cast featuring  iconic performers Honor Blackman and David Warner. Yet it is a disappointing and arduous experience, only really coming to life in the final scenes. Three episodes of court intrigue and a 1980s-style foray into cyberspace climaxes with a rather perfunctory android uprising. The great voices of the guest cast evoke some interest in the rather mannered dialogue. I am, however, enjoying Janet Fielding's take on Tegan these days, especially her relationship with Doctor Davison. A forgettable audio, however: two out of ten Talmars

The Architects of History is the final instalment of the Klein Trilogy.  You may remember how enthusiastic I was about the previous "chapter", Survival of the Fittest. It ended with the time-lost Nazi scientist stealing the Tardis (exactly like Victorian urchin Thomas Brewster! Careless Doctor!). Architects explores the extent of Klein's damage and Steve Lyons' script brings his BBC Books creations the Selachians to audio for the first time. These walking cyborg-sharks are revealed as the Doctor's allies against Klein's interstellar Reich.
. The audio features a couple of interesting reversals, not least the revised timeline which sees Elizabeth Klein appointed Scientific Advisor for UNIT.  Being Human's adorable Leonara Chrichlow plays Rachel Cooper, a companion of the Doctor from another alternative timeline who comes to a tragic end. While more of a traditional story, Architects has an epic cosmic sweep and Sylvester McCoy's Doctor is quite a dark interpretation. Six out of ten Talmars.

 Finally, the new tv companion for the Eleventh Doctor was announced earlier in the week. I know Jenna- Louise Coleman's work from far-fetched BBC school soap Waterloo Road where she played a schoolgirl who knifed her abuser dad. I'm not sorry at this point to see the back of mumbling Karen Gillan's irritable and vapid Amy Pond. However, I may change my mind as I plan to watch the boxsets of the first two Matt Smith series over the holidays.


Coming soon: Charlie Higson's Enemy Trilogy and Batman in the Fifties.