No Mans Land is a story that starts of well (very well in fact) but then just disintegrates and becomes a disappointment. This story is set in a military hospital in Northern France in 1917 and against the backdrop of people losing their lives is the fact that the Doctor has been asked to investigate a murder that hasn’t happened yet. Now there is the temptation to ask the question “Why doesn’t the Doctor just got to the exact moment before the murder is committed?” Well if you start thinking like this then it’s a slippery slope to destroying other parts of this story.
It’s a story that rings true today. This story has soldiers trying to cope with where they are and the appalling conditions that they find themselves in. Hex has the tougher time out of the three regulars. He is subjected to the Hate Machine and the moment when the machine is turned on and he is clearly in pain I have to admit I found it uncomfortable and unnecessary. Once the murder happened the story became redundant. I think I was hoping that the prevention would take up most of the story but it got wound up quite early on and then we were left with the B plot of this story which was what going on in that little abandoned church. I have to admit the sound effects and dialogue used in that part of the story was quite creepy.
All the main cast were very good in this story. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred were on usual good form in this story. McCoy has some good scenes with Michael Cochrane and Sophie Aldred plays Ace in a slightly different way as she is the only female in the cast. This allows for Ace to have a different sort of relationship than she would have done with another female member of the cast.
When I first listened to this story I was really disappointed with it and felt that it was one of the weakest of the year. However upon listening to it again I don’t think as bad about it as I did before. Granted it does go downhill in the second half of the story but that is two different stories that seemed rammed together which is why it doesn’t work.
This story is another story that benefits the Doctor/Ace/Hex combination as they all have different adventures in this story. However I think that it was Hex that did well and his improvement continued with this story. I think that with all the pros and cons of this story laid out I think this is a story that will grow on me.
It’s a story that rings true today. This story has soldiers trying to cope with where they are and the appalling conditions that they find themselves in. Hex has the tougher time out of the three regulars. He is subjected to the Hate Machine and the moment when the machine is turned on and he is clearly in pain I have to admit I found it uncomfortable and unnecessary. Once the murder happened the story became redundant. I think I was hoping that the prevention would take up most of the story but it got wound up quite early on and then we were left with the B plot of this story which was what going on in that little abandoned church. I have to admit the sound effects and dialogue used in that part of the story was quite creepy.
All the main cast were very good in this story. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred were on usual good form in this story. McCoy has some good scenes with Michael Cochrane and Sophie Aldred plays Ace in a slightly different way as she is the only female in the cast. This allows for Ace to have a different sort of relationship than she would have done with another female member of the cast.
When I first listened to this story I was really disappointed with it and felt that it was one of the weakest of the year. However upon listening to it again I don’t think as bad about it as I did before. Granted it does go downhill in the second half of the story but that is two different stories that seemed rammed together which is why it doesn’t work.
This story is another story that benefits the Doctor/Ace/Hex combination as they all have different adventures in this story. However I think that it was Hex that did well and his improvement continued with this story. I think that with all the pros and cons of this story laid out I think this is a story that will grow on me.
No comments:
Post a Comment