BBC Radio 4, March 10, 2020 and on BBC Sounds

A world where less is more leaves some pining for the old days.

Given that the Dangerous Visions strand seems to have been seriously pruned back, I feel a certain obligation to be supportive to ensure that we don’t lose it in future. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to recommend listening to Mike Harris’ play, whose best part is the inversion of the Shakespeare quote as used by Aldous Huxley. It feels like one of those oh-so-worthy times when someone deigns to dip their toe into the worlds of science fiction and fantasy and basically reinvents the wheel. Taking ideas to their logical extreme doesn’t mean indulging in cliché – and there’s far too much of that on display here.

Now, there’s a valid argument that shows like Doctor Who and Star Trek rely on similar use of clichés – the society that is posited in this would have fit in well, say, with the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation – but those get away with it (and sometimes that’s all it is) because as an audience we’re invested in the characters. That is not the case here – none of them are sympathetic, and there’s this nagging feeling that they’re really bringing most of their troubles on themselves.

Verdict: A rare misfire from the usually dependable Dangerous Visions. 3/10

Paul Simpson