Doctor Who: Serpent Crest Part 1 - Tsar Wars

Fourth Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey

CAST:

The Doctor - Tom Baker
Mrs Wibbsey - Susan Jameson
Father Gregory - Tom Baker
Tsar - Michael Jayston
Tsarina - Suzy Aitchison
Boolin - Simon Shepherd
Lucius - Sam Hoare
Server Robot / Rebel - Paul Chequer
Server Robot / Rebel - Grant Gillespie
Server Robot / Rebel - Gabriel Vick

SYNOPSIS:

The Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey are catapulted from present day Earth to a futuristic civilisation in a distant galaxy. At the Robotov Palace they find the Tsar and Tsarina ruling over their empire whilst human workers toil on satellite moons. The Doctor is mistaken for an old ally of the Tsarina's, but then suspected of treason when the Palace comes under attack. Dark secrets are lurking in the shadows, and the mysterious Father Gregory will set off a chain of events which have long-lasting consequences for the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey.

REVIEW:

Tom Baker returns for a third series in the AudioGo range, but this time it's got an all new improved format. It's now a fully fledged audio play rather than the halfway between an audiobook and an audio play the previous ones were. Gone is the narration, Mike Yates, and also unfortunately, my interest.

The Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey are whisked away through a wormhole to a distant world where the robots have overthrown their human creators and are in the middle of a civil war. The Tsar mistakes The Doctor for Father Gregory as the only one who can save his sickly son, meanwhile the rebel human forces are poised for attack. From here on in, it's very much like a Doctor-lite episode with him taking the background to what's happening. The trouble here though is, not that The Doctor doesn't appear to be in it much, but that what's happening is not very interesting. The ending was decent enough and set up the remaining parts but not showing much promise at the minute despite the improved format.

Trailer

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: Paul Magrs
Director: Kate Thomas
Publisher: AudioGO
Release Date: 8th September, 2011