Meanwhile, our local authority randomly chose to observe Tuesday as a public holiday, rather than Monday. While my forgotten blue and white jubilee cakes will be stale in my stuffy new classroom by now, it's still a bonus. So this morning, let's look at three recently-released Dr. Who audio adventures.
Wrath of the Iceni: John Dorney's script explores one of the oldest dilemmas in Who-story: can you prevent a tragedy that is historical record? In this adventure, after some charming banter about Noel Coward, Leela encounters Boudica and allies herself with the warrior queen. Tom is a more gentle, sage-like figure than the madcap from tv, which is somewhat jarring. I suppose this is because the story really belongs to Louise Jameson as Leela and to Ella Kenion (one of the Tesselecta crew in Matt Smith's Who).
For a story in a range openly devoted to nostalgia for the Seventies, this production was thought-provoking, engaging and certainly the best Fourth Doctor audio so far.The setting didn't quite convince me, however: it didn't seem strange and unfamiliar enough. There's no way that a straight Historical story would have appeared in Dr. Who in 1977, either; it would have been a send-up or would have featured monsters and robots, like the 1979 comic strip The Iron Legion. A rebellious four out of five Talmars.
Energy of the Daleks: By way of contrast on several levels, this is a simplistic adventure set in a near-future Britain that is struggling through an energy crisis. A Richard Branson-ish entrepreneur makes a Faustian bargain with the Outer Space Robot people to broadcast power from the Moon. Hence the unwieldy title which, presumptuously, is intended to recall the lost classic, Power of the Daleks.
Louise gives her usual committed performance especially when Leela is interrogated by the Daleks but Tom's Doctor is little more than a sketch. Audience involvement and infodumping is the responsibility of Mark Benton (Chalky from Waterloo Road and one of the first actors to "die" on Nu Who ), who gives a warm, avuncular performance as the leader of the energy protest movement . However the story feels tired and overly familiar: BF's Cybermen, Morbius and Spiders stories featured either a corporate villain or the anarchic near-future setting. A listless two out of five Talmars.
Wirrn Isle: This is the third in the winter/ spring season of Sixth Doctor adventures.BF gives the chittering, parasitic insects of 1975's Ark in Space a second audio outing because of their popularity. It recycles the "base under siege" trope with its setting in both an icebound Lock Lomond (!) and the doomed Nerva City. Writer William Gallagher was an unfamiliar name to me but he managed to create a sinister atmosphere by reminding us of the gruesome life-cycle of the Wirrn. However popular, though, I wish BF would give 70s tv monsters a rest in the name of originality.
I began to warm to chavvy new companion Flip this time although the gimmicky 80s-style name still grates on me. Lisa Greenwood's performance makes her a very practical and competent Companion even though her accent is frightful, "Doctah".
The production sounded curiously sparse and static, especially in the last episode where there was entirely too much transmatting about. I was also irritated by the unconvincing child saddled with the ludicrous space-name "Toasty". A chilly three out of five Talmars.
Coming soon: All-Star Squadron; Neal Adams and the First X-Men; and don't take down the bunting just yet: the gala 150th post!
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