Lost Magic?

There was an almost-palpable sense of relief when Doctor Who returned at Easter. The pupil-teacher dynamic with Bill Potts proved to be charming after the 2016 "comedy" vignette, Friend From The Future. It was generally accepted that we were losing a great Doctor in Peter Capaldi, after the funereal chill of his first couple of Clara-centric seasons.

But for me, that sense of re-engagement has been diluted over the last few month. I'm afraid today's post isn't a very positive one.

Thin Ice by Sarah Dollard was a handsome Regency romp ( although River Song and Big Finish- in Frostfire- have also visited the last great Frost Fair). Unfortunately, aside from a lecture on capitalist morality, it was a lightweight affair with the throwaway threat of a sea monster. There was also a flash of the callous Capaldi Doctor, when a child died, which was very unwelcome.

Knock Knock  by Mike Bartlett was my least favourite episode so far: a tiresome satire on the property ladder, wrapped in a silly haunted house story full of loopholes ( although according to one poster in Facebook it isn't- once she explained them to me. It's held as something of  a virtue among "clever" viewers when they have to fill in the gaps the writer was supposedly paid to. )

Oxygen by Jamie Mathieson was well-directed and creepy but, in addition to being another lampoon of capitalism, its lumbering space suit zombies felt overly familiar. Bill was placed in peril and the Doctor was injured in a rather predictable twist.

After the simplicity and directness of these episodes, whatever their faults, Extremis revisited many of the tropes of Steven Moffat's scripts: secret passages, submerged lairs and sinister clerics. It appeared to reveal the mystery of the vault the Doctor was guarding but acted, really, as a prelude to the next episode. Doctor Who, since its return, has promoted authors and writing from Dickens to Rowling. This time, it seemed- astonishingly - to be the turn of Dan Brown.
 There was a good gag about Catholic guilt and an explanation ( of sorts) for Nardole's continued presence in the series. However, my expectations are low for tonight's episode.

Ironically, the latest original audio story for the Twelfth Doctor is more enjoyable. This has been a range that has failed to really grip me - not least for the frankly awful attempts by various readers to mimic Capaldi's accent. Cavan Scott's pseudo- historical The Lost Magic is more successful, pitting the Doctor and John Dee against Francis Drake in a bonkers story of Enochian magic. It's read by Dan "Strax" Starkey" who manages an acceptable Capaldi and a creditable Tennant, Davison and Tom B. It's amusing, though, that when DW writers revisit previous regenerations in a story, fannish glee compels them to have a cameo of every single one.

Where once they were " too broad and deep" for the small screen, the Doctor Who original novels range is now squarely aimed at the YA market. Stories are very measured in pace and plots are cosily (if wearyingly) familiar but there's no flair or verve in the writing. This year's trio of Twelfth Doctor adventures are "vanilla" fare. Plague City by Jonathan Morris is a corny ghost story set in Edinburgh with hackneyed "Och Aye the Noo" dialogue. Diamond Dogs by Mike Tucker is a traditional Base Under Siege story set on Saturn. It feels like an homage to the earnest teen sci-fi of another era. Finally, the aforementioned Cavan Scott's Shining Man can't decide if it's an internet urban legend story or a retread of the Torchwood episode about fairies. There are fannish references to Scott's own inventions: The Forge, Big Finish's very own precursor to Torchwood and to comic book companion and skinhead musician Hattie. It seems unlikely to me that many of the book's intended audience will be able to identify these Easter Eggs.

Lastly, at the East Kilbride Comics Convention the other weekend, I bought two of the 2002 Big Finish Sarah Jane Smith adventures from author David Bishop - although, awkwardly, he didn't write either of them.
This range predates the award-winning and child-friendly BBC Sarah Jane Adventures, created by Russell T. Davies and repositions the reporter in an X-Files paranoid- conspiracy- thriller world more in the vein of Torchwood  ( which has cropped up more than I expected today!). The first disc, Comeback is a Terrance Dicks script set partially in a stereotypical Mummerset village and ending abruptly in a welter of noise and Lovecraftian imagery. The second, The Tao Connection, is by Barry Letts and is a seedy story of an age-defying billionaire recluse and his penchant for obliging guardsmen.
Sarah's companion, the "roguish" Josh is unbearable but while I wouldn't recommend the range, the late Elisabeth Sladen brings great charm and vivacity to both plays.


Coming soon: Doctor Strange and Professor Strange

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