Review: Doctor Who: BBC Audio: Eleventh Doctor Tales
Fourteen original stories featuring Matt Smith’s incarnation… BBC Audio – or AudioGo as it was at the time when these were recorded – were able to get a strong set […]
Fourteen original stories featuring Matt Smith’s incarnation…
BBC Audio – or AudioGo as it was at the time when these were recorded – were able to get a strong set of readers for these adventures, with Matt Smith, Arthur Darvill and Raquel Cassidy each appearing three times, and Clare Corbett, Meera Syal, David Troughton, Stuart Milligan, Alexander Armstrong and Frances Barber going in front of the microphone for the other tales.
Oli Smith’s The Runaway Train kicks off the set – the full version, not the effects-less version previewed in The Daily Telegraph – with Matt Smith enjoying himself, and adding his own Doctor-ish touches to his performance. He does the same in Martin Day’s The Jade Pyamid – never quite tripping over his words but managing to cram in far more than you’d believe possible in the disc’s running time. Matt also appears alongside Clare Corbett for James Goss’ The Hounds of Artemis, with Corbett voicing the sections written from Amy’s perspective (the disc was originally advertised as featuring Karen Gillan but she’s not involved). This was another one originally released without special effects, this time by the Guardian.
Arthur Darvill’s first story is Steve Cole’s The Ring of Steel, a creepy tale that does for pylons what Blink did for statues. He returned for Steve Lyons’ Day of the Cockroach, and demonstrates a gift for making the narration almost feel improvised in a story that’s filled with blackly humorous moments. His last appearance was in Darren Jones’ Sleepers in the Dust, this time in character as Rory in a fast-paced adventure that’s a semi-sequel to Jones’ Eye of the Jungle – which is read by David Troughton and is a good story that unfortunately doesn’t suit the narrator.
Meera Syal turns up in Jason Arnopp’s The Gemini Contagion, which captures both the 11th Doctor and Amy Pond well. Stuart Milligan reads Oli Smith’s Contagion, which is one of the few misfires of the range during this era, feeling rather as if the script has not really been edited properly. James Goss’ The Art of Death makes up for this with an intriguing story that plays with the narrative structure cleverly with Raquel Cassidy making the first of her three appearances. Alexander Armstrong is at the helm for Mark Morris’ Darkstar Academy, which is another paradox filled story that is rather let down by its narrator’s lack of differentiation of the characters.
Cassidy returns for two releases on the trot: Cavan Scott and Mark Wright’s The Nu-Humans – which is one of the best of the range, building its plot developments out of the characters – and Simon Guerrier’s The Empty House, which is a neat little self-contained puzzle. Cassidy gives excellent renditions of the Doctor and Amy, even if Rory comes across as a bit thick sometimes! The range – and this set – finished with Scott Handcock’s Snake Bite, read by Frances Barber, which is a cracking story that fits seamlessly into the era it’s set.
Verdict: With really only one dud tale – and a couple where you need to overcome the narrator’s deficits – this is a great way to relive the Eleventh Doctor’s time in the TARDIS. 7/10
Paul Simpson
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