2008 TOMS TARDIS AWARD WINNNER
The setting was quite interesting because you don’t know whether its an alien planet or Earth in the distant past. It turns out that it is neither because it turns out that it is a primitive Earth that shouldn’t exist. Meanwhile in the city nearby where the Doctor and company are situated there are scorpions who we learn are ruled by a very clumsy and insecure sounding leader. The Doctor and Nyssa soon learn that it is Adric and through some weird string of events he has survived and has become the Scorpion King. I don’t know what the thinking was in using scorpions except that it might have something do with the fact that Scorpions might be magnificent creatures who are powerful and are probably quite loyal.
I think that the Doctor/Nyssa double act is one of the strongest acts in the Fifth Doctor era Due to the fact that they are so similar that when they do encounter Adric they are combined in their amazement and I think there might be a little bit of horror thrown in. The Adric that appears in this story is quite unlike the Adric played by Matthew Waterhouse between 1980 and 1982. That Adric was an annoying little oink in Pyjamas. The new Adric is very clingy and is after Nyssa which gets quite disturbing because you think that Adric is going to get violent against her. There would have been no point at bringing Adric back if you are going to just have the same old Adric so it was better to have a different actor to bring a different side to the character. That is something that Big Finish do well, bringing something back from the Classic era and giving it a new twist which is refreshing and shows initiative.
Peter Davison is very good in this story and puts in his best performance for quite some time. His Doctor never liked Adric for some reason and there was some great tension between the pair throughout this story. His Doctor has to deal with the loss of his TARDIS and trying to get it back as well as trying to get everyone back to their own time. Sarah Sutton always puts in an excellent performance. She is one of my favourite companions and its because essentially she is the Doctor’s equal both emotionally and intellectually. She isn’t one of those whiny people but always put logic to a problem and never just screams her way out of a situation. Andrew Sachs is the big name in this story as everyone knows him from Fawlty Towers but in this story he not only has to play The Scorpion King but he also has to play the 2008 version of Adric. Sachs manages to play Adric the right way considering the events of Earthshock. I really like Harriet Walter as Mrs Beatrice Mapp because she was playing the Jane in the Tarzan films. She seemed to form a double act with Rupert Von Thal played by Adrian Scarborough which I thought was very entertaining. Also Olivier Senton was very good as Kranlee with Claire Wyatt rounding off all the good strong cast by playing Madam Teegarna.
Paul Magrs has written a very good script that just has a light reference towards the Brewster story arc and just concentrates on the emotional point of being reunited with someone who the Doctor and Nyssa thought had perished but was in fact alive and well. I think that Magrs is a really good writer and I think that Horror of Glam Rock & The Zygon Who Fell to Earth are his best works but this one might beat those two. Barnaby Edwards who directs a large number of Big Finish audio plays does well to keep the story going and doesn’t let on too soon that the Scorpion King is in fact Adric. I personally think one of the best scenes was actually at the end where they are all back in their own time after all the events that went on. Something that also deserves a mention is about the music and sound effects which really helped distinguish the current time period against the prehistoric and that credit goes to Steve Foxon who has done a superb job.
Overall this story was a superb due to the fact that it was just a shock with the return of a character that splits fandom to those who like him and those who don’t. There was the pick up of the Brewster storyline at the end when the TARDIS returns. I didn’t know whether we would hear anything from Brewster and the minute (ish) bit at the end was enough to make it feel like it was part of the story arc. There was enough in the story to keep it at the four episode mark which was just the right limit.
A story that can should be listened whenever possible.
- Best Guest Star (Andrew Sachs as Adric)
The setting was quite interesting because you don’t know whether its an alien planet or Earth in the distant past. It turns out that it is neither because it turns out that it is a primitive Earth that shouldn’t exist. Meanwhile in the city nearby where the Doctor and company are situated there are scorpions who we learn are ruled by a very clumsy and insecure sounding leader. The Doctor and Nyssa soon learn that it is Adric and through some weird string of events he has survived and has become the Scorpion King. I don’t know what the thinking was in using scorpions except that it might have something do with the fact that Scorpions might be magnificent creatures who are powerful and are probably quite loyal.
I think that the Doctor/Nyssa double act is one of the strongest acts in the Fifth Doctor era Due to the fact that they are so similar that when they do encounter Adric they are combined in their amazement and I think there might be a little bit of horror thrown in. The Adric that appears in this story is quite unlike the Adric played by Matthew Waterhouse between 1980 and 1982. That Adric was an annoying little oink in Pyjamas. The new Adric is very clingy and is after Nyssa which gets quite disturbing because you think that Adric is going to get violent against her. There would have been no point at bringing Adric back if you are going to just have the same old Adric so it was better to have a different actor to bring a different side to the character. That is something that Big Finish do well, bringing something back from the Classic era and giving it a new twist which is refreshing and shows initiative.
Peter Davison is very good in this story and puts in his best performance for quite some time. His Doctor never liked Adric for some reason and there was some great tension between the pair throughout this story. His Doctor has to deal with the loss of his TARDIS and trying to get it back as well as trying to get everyone back to their own time. Sarah Sutton always puts in an excellent performance. She is one of my favourite companions and its because essentially she is the Doctor’s equal both emotionally and intellectually. She isn’t one of those whiny people but always put logic to a problem and never just screams her way out of a situation. Andrew Sachs is the big name in this story as everyone knows him from Fawlty Towers but in this story he not only has to play The Scorpion King but he also has to play the 2008 version of Adric. Sachs manages to play Adric the right way considering the events of Earthshock. I really like Harriet Walter as Mrs Beatrice Mapp because she was playing the Jane in the Tarzan films. She seemed to form a double act with Rupert Von Thal played by Adrian Scarborough which I thought was very entertaining. Also Olivier Senton was very good as Kranlee with Claire Wyatt rounding off all the good strong cast by playing Madam Teegarna.
Paul Magrs has written a very good script that just has a light reference towards the Brewster story arc and just concentrates on the emotional point of being reunited with someone who the Doctor and Nyssa thought had perished but was in fact alive and well. I think that Magrs is a really good writer and I think that Horror of Glam Rock & The Zygon Who Fell to Earth are his best works but this one might beat those two. Barnaby Edwards who directs a large number of Big Finish audio plays does well to keep the story going and doesn’t let on too soon that the Scorpion King is in fact Adric. I personally think one of the best scenes was actually at the end where they are all back in their own time after all the events that went on. Something that also deserves a mention is about the music and sound effects which really helped distinguish the current time period against the prehistoric and that credit goes to Steve Foxon who has done a superb job.
Overall this story was a superb due to the fact that it was just a shock with the return of a character that splits fandom to those who like him and those who don’t. There was the pick up of the Brewster storyline at the end when the TARDIS returns. I didn’t know whether we would hear anything from Brewster and the minute (ish) bit at the end was enough to make it feel like it was part of the story arc. There was enough in the story to keep it at the four episode mark which was just the right limit.
A story that can should be listened whenever possible.
i hate the way Matthew Waterhouse Adric companion is dismissed as a bad character. Adric was a enquistive lad who probably reminded newly regenerated P. Davidson's Dr. Who of himself when he was a lad full of wonder and excitment for the unknown. The writing for Peter Davidson's Dr. Who was uneven at best. Davidson himself felt uneasy being at the time the youngest actor to be cast as The Doctor, instead of that writing team allowing Waterhouse to react differently to Davidson's Doctor. They kept Adric's character orphan like as they did with Tom Baker's Doctor the annoying lines where he was pouting more then engaging the Doctor was what was written for Matt through no fault of the young actor. The clothes they gave him to wear were as disgusting as Colin Baker's Doctor's outfit again that's the fault of the production staff at that time. i wish Matt Smith's Doctor would come across Adric with adult Matt given a new direction for the character he played valiantly long ago.
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