Rat Trap is the final adventure for the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Turlough of 2011 and is written by Tony Lee who is a name that means nothing to me but according to Wikipedia is a New York Times Best-selling writer who has made his name in graphic novels. Anyway, this story has to do a job of providing a satisfying conclusion to this series and in some ways it works and in some ways it doesn’t. The story is set in 1983 in the underground base of a castle. The story takes a little while to get going. It seems like we get a story set under a castle and its not clear really at first what is going on. Ok so rats are going to play an important part in the story but it’s not really until part two that it becomes clear.
Terry Molloy makes his first appearance in a Big Finish play since Kingdom of Silver back in 2008 and to be honest I didn’t twig at first that it was him but it was quite a while before I started thinking that it sounded familiar and it was only listening to the extras that I realised it was him. As Dr Wallace, he is the one responsible for creating smart rats and pays the ultimate price. Then there is his daughter – Sally Lucas – as played by Alison Thea-Skot. She is a character that goes on quite an impressive journey over the course of the four episodes.
Rat Trap is a nuts and bolts Doctor Who story. It’s also fairly unoriginal in that there are a group of scientists that have genetically enginerred something that then turns on their creator. As I say its not original but that’s not to say its not fun. I quite like the idea of rats that could be used as spies and have overpowered humans. It’s quite a scary idea. I do think that it could only have been done on radio because the last time that there were rats in Doctor Who, it didn’t work well. Thankfully with audio we get the impression of lots or rats and its effective and creepy.
The regulars put in good performances. It’s funny how the sympathy that Tegan had for Turlough has disappeared as she continues to refer to him as ‘that boy’. I also liked how they bought back the thing about what Nyssa was doing in Cobwebs. It’s kind of been forgotten over the previous stories but it was nice that they bought it back to the forefront. It means two things, one that we get more of Sarah Sutton and secondly it continues the Rhicter storyline which is something that I find interesting. Mark Strickson is perhaps the weak link in the chain and doesn’t really have much to do and its only in the latter half that he comes into his own. Janet Fielding continues to show why she is a good companion and has some decent lines that litter this story. Peter Davison gives his usual standard performance which is one that I find more enjoyable than his TV version. It’s not often that I make this statement (this is the 2nd time I believe) but this is an occasion where the crowded TARDIS theme shows up. I think that there were too many main characters to focus on and it would have been better to just have two companions. Which two I will leave to you.
At the end of the story I came to the conclusion that Rat Trap is a perfectly good story. As I said earlier it’s a nuts and bolts story but it works perfectly well and the characters are fine and the whole thing has an air of something that has been designed to be suitable for everyone and not one of Big Finish’s more complicated adventures. It’s a nice end to this series of Fifth Doctor adventures and leaves me with the feeling that there wasn’t a weak story and this story compliments that. Hopefully this wont be the last time that Tony Lee writers for Big Finish because if his stories are like this then he has a good future with the company.
Terry Molloy makes his first appearance in a Big Finish play since Kingdom of Silver back in 2008 and to be honest I didn’t twig at first that it was him but it was quite a while before I started thinking that it sounded familiar and it was only listening to the extras that I realised it was him. As Dr Wallace, he is the one responsible for creating smart rats and pays the ultimate price. Then there is his daughter – Sally Lucas – as played by Alison Thea-Skot. She is a character that goes on quite an impressive journey over the course of the four episodes.
Rat Trap is a nuts and bolts Doctor Who story. It’s also fairly unoriginal in that there are a group of scientists that have genetically enginerred something that then turns on their creator. As I say its not original but that’s not to say its not fun. I quite like the idea of rats that could be used as spies and have overpowered humans. It’s quite a scary idea. I do think that it could only have been done on radio because the last time that there were rats in Doctor Who, it didn’t work well. Thankfully with audio we get the impression of lots or rats and its effective and creepy.
The regulars put in good performances. It’s funny how the sympathy that Tegan had for Turlough has disappeared as she continues to refer to him as ‘that boy’. I also liked how they bought back the thing about what Nyssa was doing in Cobwebs. It’s kind of been forgotten over the previous stories but it was nice that they bought it back to the forefront. It means two things, one that we get more of Sarah Sutton and secondly it continues the Rhicter storyline which is something that I find interesting. Mark Strickson is perhaps the weak link in the chain and doesn’t really have much to do and its only in the latter half that he comes into his own. Janet Fielding continues to show why she is a good companion and has some decent lines that litter this story. Peter Davison gives his usual standard performance which is one that I find more enjoyable than his TV version. It’s not often that I make this statement (this is the 2nd time I believe) but this is an occasion where the crowded TARDIS theme shows up. I think that there were too many main characters to focus on and it would have been better to just have two companions. Which two I will leave to you.
At the end of the story I came to the conclusion that Rat Trap is a perfectly good story. As I said earlier it’s a nuts and bolts story but it works perfectly well and the characters are fine and the whole thing has an air of something that has been designed to be suitable for everyone and not one of Big Finish’s more complicated adventures. It’s a nice end to this series of Fifth Doctor adventures and leaves me with the feeling that there wasn’t a weak story and this story compliments that. Hopefully this wont be the last time that Tony Lee writers for Big Finish because if his stories are like this then he has a good future with the company.
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