Tuesday 27 September 2011

Doctor Who 152 - House Of Blue Fire

Seventh Doctor



Cast:

The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
Dr Magnus Soames - Timothy West
No 18 - Amy Pemberton
No 5 - Miranda Keeling
No 16 - Ray Emmet Brown
No 12 - Howard Gossington
Eve Pritchard/Mi'en Kalarash - Lizzy Watts





Synopsis:

"aquaphobia n. An abnormal fear of water, or drowning.

blattodephobia n. The morbid fear of cockroaches.

catoptrophobia n. Fear of mirrors, or seeing one’s own reflection.

There’s a whole ABC of horrors at Bluefire House – as four young people, drawn together to this tumbledown hotel at the edge of nowhere, are about to discover. But whatever the ancient and foul thing that has emerged from the wilderness to drag them here, speaking of it will only strengthen it.

The Doctor alone knows what lurks at the heart of Bluefire House. But the monster of his childhood dreams is coming. The Mi’en Kalarash is coming…

Just this once, the Doctor’s afraid."

Review:



I don't know if it's the character I don't like, the over-acting I don't like, or the Cockney accent that makes it sound like over-acting that I don't like, but from the start, I didn't like (bet you didn't see that coming did you?) Number 18 so thankfully we weren't called upon to sit through an entire first episode of just her and another character... oh, wait. Her companion for the first part, Number 5, was pleasant though and just about held up a pretty non-eventful exploration of an almost abandoned hotel before finally bumping into the rest of the cast, including The Doctor.

The second part continues with the same pace set by the first. As everyone are becoming haunted by their own fears and people die, it still feels like nothing is happening story wise. Which would be okay if it was more of a character study or an analysis into the nature of fear, but it's not that either. It's still proving to be entertaining though but with a nagging sense in the background of waiting for something to happen.

Things are then spun on its head for the second half with a good cliffhanger and plenty happening as The Doctor tries to save the day. A good resolution to the threat and the two halves do compliment each other. Also, I'm really pleased with how the story ended and look forward to the next one.

I was going to be harsh but I think it deserves the following score.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Mark Morris
Director: Ken Bentley
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: September 2011


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