The Fourth Wall
Written by John Dorney
Released by Big Finish
This fast paced audio allows Colin Baker to release the Doctor’s more tongue-in-cheek side, one that perhaps typified his time in the role on TV.?At the same time, writer John Dorney’s script has a great time spoofing and poking fun at the archetypes of American SF shows, the very ones that forced the move of Doctor Who from its traditional Saturday tea time slot in the early 1980s.
The plot of The Fourth Wall revolves around a failing media mogul (read Rupert Murdoch) who attempts to salvage his fortune with a radical invention that immerses the viewer in the action on screen (read 3D). When the Doctor’s companion Flip gets trapped inside the launch programme, Laser, the Doctor must uncover a conspiracy before he can come to her aid.
Muddying proceedings further are a fantastic new race, the Porcians, who as the most inept alien aggressors in the Galaxy are seeking redemption by being cast as the villainous Warmongers in Laser. These brilliantly realised villains could have stepped from the pages of the Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a show which much of this audio evokes.
Most of the able cast play multiple parts as off-screen actors and on-screen stars, and when the fourth wall is inevitably breached, this does make some scenes difficult to follow at times. While sidelined for a chunk of the action,?Lisa Greenwood’s Flip continues to develop with some fascinating insights into her character, and great interplay between her and the Doctor.
There are dramatic notes among the more comedic sections, but this audio strikes a very different tone to the previous story, The Curse of Davros. The range of this Sixth Doctor and Flip trilogy, and of the main leads is to be applauded.?