When the Doctor, Steven (Peter Purves) and Vicki (Maureen O’Brien) arrive in the 1930’s. When they get out of the Tardis it has a fall. As they try to get it recovered they seek refuge in the local Sedgwick College. The colleges Provost is missing and a leadership race is underway to replace him. But where did the prior leader go? And why are the students suddenly experiencing strange angry outbursts? Thing will only get weirder.
Let’s start with what an awesome title this is, harkening back to the way they used to have more poetic story names. And this tells you a lot about the style of this piece by David K Barnes. It does in many ways go back to the classic story telling of Doctor Who, as these early adventures tend to. What’s striking about this one for me is how it also blends in a lot of modern techniques of writing and characters whilst making them fit perfectly. Take the character of Jacklyn Karna (Sara Powell). She feels like a modern villain but the Doctor uses very old-school techniques to wrong-foot her and it’s great.
This is a lovely second Doctor story with Jamie & Zoe that perfectly mirrors the style of the time the story would fit into on TV; but as writer Timothy X Atack tells us in the extras, maybe a script that might not have been made due to budget.
Anneke Wills (Polly, narrator) and Frazer Hines (Jamie, 2nd Doctor) lead the cast of this 2nd Doctor adventure.
The Early Adventures which are, in many ways, the natural evolution of the Companion Chronicles, have been a fascinating mix of the narrated style of those stories and the full-cast plays of the Main Range. Both allow audiences to revisit the eras of Doctors (and, at times, Companions) who are no longer with us.
My relationship with Doctor Who started, perhaps; in slightly different place than many North Americans of my age and fighting weight. I often read of Canadians and Americans who first discovered the good Doctor via PBS; usually beginning with Tom Baker and working their way forwards and backwards as the addiction set in.
The first episode of Doctor Who that I ever saw; thanks to a television station called YTV, was “An Unearthly Child”. I’d heard of the show; being a science fiction fan and having the benefit of British parents, but this was my first real exposure. Every day, after school, a new episode. I was hooked. Before long, I was haunting every bookstore I could locate, looking for Target novelisations, New Adventures and Missing Adventures; everything, in fact, I could find that was even slightly related to the show. The logo began to festoon every school binder and scrap of paper within reach of my fevered hands.
The planet of Ephros is due to die of natural causes and some of the inhabitants are over the moon about it, as their religion tells them they can use the planets destruction to ascend. Meanwhile the Galactux Power Inc is mining what is left of the planets natural resources. When the Doctor and Jo arrive on the planet and get in broiled in the goings on, could there be more that meets the eye happening here?
This is a good story with lots going on and some great characters. Sometimes Bernard Holley is a little ‘large’ as a character as Karswell but he and the rest of the cast do a great job on the whole in this one.
As this is my first review of an ‘early adventure’; I’ll talk briefly about this range.
It’s been really good to see classic doctors revived and companions brought back in the ‘early adventures’. There were some really nice companion chronicles, but Big Finish doing full cast audio adventures have slightly ruined me for narration when we can hear a story with a full cast acting it out. These early adventures are mostly acted out with a full cast, with occasional narration to set the scene. The companions like Frazer Hines as the Second Doctor and William Russell as the First do such a good job you feel like they are there and I’m really glad they made the brave decision to do early Doctors replacing the actors we miss so much.