Reeltime Pictures, out now

Sil is on trial – can the wily Thoros-Betan escape a legal trap?

Reeltime Pictures’ latest drama from the worlds of Doctor Who features Philip Martin’s oleaginous creation, Sil, first seen in the Colin Baker two-parter Vengeance on Varos, who has occasionally popped up in subsequent years, always played by Nabil Shaban. In something of a coup, Barnfather has brought Martin on board as writer, and the veteran scriptwriter’s experience shows in the deft way that he’s handled the production requirements, while still making some relevant points about corporations and their roles in our lives. It’s really not till after you’ve seen it that you realise quite how limited the number of sets are, and it’s great credit to Phil Newman that his sets have allowed Barnfather to find as many angles as possible to keep the story continually visually interesting.

As well as Martin and Shaban, Barnfather has also brought Sophie Aldred back – although, as Mistress Na, in a rather different guise from Ace/Dorothy McShane – and persuaded Christopher Ryan to reprise his role as Kiv from The Trial of a Time Lord, albeit, for reasons explained in the script, in human form. Unsurprisingly, in a story featuring a character like Sil who fancies himself as a master manipulator, there are plenty of alliances forged and broken, and opportunities for Janet Henfrey’s Adjudicator (and doesn’t Shaban have fun with saying that word!) and Sakuntala Ramanee’s Larnier to try to avoid becoming too entangled.

As I’m currently editing a book on Vengeance on Varos for the Black Archive, I’ve rewatched Sil’s original appearance very recently and it’s fascinating to see how Shaban has finessed the character in performance over the years – his monologue at the end of episode three of this being a fine example.

The HD rendering on the Blu-ray shows the fine work on the costumes and make-up, and is worth the extra cost. Extras take you behind the scenes on the creation, as well as a deleted scene (an explanation for which can be found in our interview with Barnfather ).

Verdict: A notch above other Reeltime dramas, this is an enjoyable 90 minutes with your favourite marsh-minnow guzzler. 7/10

Paul Simpson