Doctor Who 157: The Fourth Wall

Sixth Doctor & Flip Jackson
Cast:

The Doctor - Colin Baker
Flip Jackson - Lisa Greenwood
Augustus Scullop - Julian Wadham
Dr Helen Shepherd - Yasmin Bannerman
Nick Kenton/Jack Laser - Hywel Morgan
Matthew Howland/Lord Krarn - Martin Hutson
Olivia Sayle/Jancey - Tilly Gaunt
Chimbly/Head Warmonger - Kim Wall
Junior/Warmonger - Henry Devas



Synopsis:

"Business is bad for intergalactic media mogul Augustus Scullop, whose Trans-Gal empire is on the rocks. But, having retreated to his own private planet, Transmission, Scullop is about to gamble his fortune on a new show, made with an entirely new technology. And the name of that show… is Laser.

Back in the real world, far from the realms of small screen sci-fi fantasies about monsters and aliens, the Doctor is interested only in watching Test Match cricket… but finds himself drawn into Scullop’s world when his new travelling companion, Flip, is snatched from inside the TARDIS.

So, while the Doctor uncovers the terrible secret of Trans-Gal’s new tech, Flip battles to survive in a barren wilderness ruled over by the indestructible Lord Krarn and his pig-like servants, the Warmongers. And the name of that wilderness… is ‘Stevenage’. "


Review:

When this started, I thought it was going to be another one of those stories that I hate where the main characters are put in a fictional world and they don't know who they were. As it progressed I quickly realised this wasn't exactly the case and the heroes find themselves in a fictional world but fully aware. That relief out of the way, I could start to enjoy it. Essentially, The Doctor and Flip are dumped in the middle of an ITV Drama brought to life, except this seems like one that might be worth watching. The story and characters they find themselves interracting with are pretty amusing in an over the top parody kind of way which makes for a very enjoyable listen.

Unfortuntely, Flip doesn't seem to have much to do in this one but she does seem to have settled down to life with The Doctor. She reminds me a lot of Lucie Miller in this, with a different accent. An accent I don't like mind you, but otherwise, I think she's proving to be a good addition to the series. The cliffhangers in this story are also pretty good. It's not quite good enough to get the magic 6, but a good solid entertaining story.
Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: John Dorney
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: February 2012