DWST0501_flywheelrevolution_1417Can the monster in the junkyard really help Frankie and his friends?

This short tale, written by Dale Smith and read by Peter Purves, can be seen as a nice flipping of one of the most famous Doctor Who comic strips, Junkyard Demon, in which the fourth Doctor discovers that a pair of junkmen have inadvertently reactivated a Mondasian Cyberman. The story in this is told from the point of view of one of a group of robots abandoned in a junkyard, and as you listen, you gradually realise why the Doctor is viewed by them as a Monster, for his actions seem to be as inimical to their form of life as a Cyberman is to his.

Director Lisa Bowerman and designer Toby Hrycek-Robinson provide a varied soundscape, eschewing what might have been the obvious massive amount of clanking (and making it sound as if the story was a rip-off of the animated movie Robots) in favour of more atmospheric material. Purves gets the chance to create a new character rather than just the Doctor and Steven – in fact, this is a First Doctor story from prior to his visit to Mechanus so the astronaut isn’t around – and some vocal treatment helps to provide additional voices.

Verdict: A different perspective on the original incarnation in a short but poignant tale. 8/10

Paul Simpson

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