Survivors in Space

[nwhyte]

I realised that in the course of my catch-up of current Doctor Who audios, I hadn't finished the recent Serpent Crest series of plays by Paul Magrs, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor; this one also with David Troughton standing in for his late father. I had very much enjoyed the fourth episode in this series, The Hexford Invasion, and had been hoping that the climax would reach the same standards. It didn't, quite; the resolution of why there are two Doctors was pretty much as I had expected, though Tom Baker gets some marvellous carpet-chewing moments, and the resolution of the entire plot of the series does knit up the ravelled strands rather well. But it's vaguely satisfying rather than terribly exciting, and alas we have Richard Franklin returning as Mike Yates to try and carry the narrative. I rather hope that this marks the end of this particular run; it was good to get Tom Baker back in business, but the Big Finish plays he has been doing more recently show more promise.

Full set of Magrs plays:
Hornet's Nest: 1 The Stuff of Nightmares, 2 The Dead Shoes, 3 The Circus of Doom, 4 A Sting in the Tale, 5 Hive of Horror
Demon Quest: 1 The Relics of Time, 2 The Demon of Paris, 3 A Shard of Ice, 4 Starfall, 5 Sepulchre
Serpent Crest: 1 Tsar Wars, 2 The Broken Crown, 3 Aladdin Time, 4 The Hexford Invasion, 5 Survivors in Space