The production decided to have art imitate life and put the Doctor on trial within the fiction of the show, his adventures presented as evidence. This first volume of novelisations comprises the case for the prosecution.
‘The Mysterious Planet’, penned by Robert Holmes, introduces both the Trial framing device and Ravolox, a planet apparently devastated by a solar fireball. As well as the menace of Drathro, the immortal robot who maintains human work-units underground, he creates a memorable duo with rogue traders Glitz and Dibber as well as some amusing, if laboured, puns on the English language.
Novelised in efficient prose by Terrance Dicks, the story is rendered faithfully and yet grants both the village and Marb Station some much needed scale. One minor grumble is the loss of warmth in Six and Peri relationship as on screen the actors deliberately underplayed their bickering. Trial sequences still remain intrusive to the flow of the action, but there’s little to be done for that and fun to be had with the discussion of distasteful primitive violence, which can be read as a defence of the programme’s position at the time.
The second story ‘Mindwarp’, novelised by scriptwriter Phillip Martin, is an entirely superior proposition with the Doctor fighting for his life both on Thoros Beta and in the courtroom. With much richer prose, Martin elaborates on his tale of brain transplantation, adding scenes and beefing up the action.
The villainous Mentors are granted more of a culture with their survival imperative clarified and some of their grimier aspects emphasised; Sil’s favourite Marsh Minnows are alive and wriggling when consumed. Peri’s horrific fate is also built up and loses none of its stunning impact.
For ‘The Mysterious Planet’ reader Lynda Bellingham, the on screen Inquisitor, captures the spirit of Glitz and Dibber playing them for laughs. Unsurprisingly, her Inquisitor is suitably imperious and she grants Queen Katryca some regal authority. Others, such as Merdeen and Balzar seem rather dumbed down, but she imbues Drathro with plenty of personality, despite the electronic treatment to her voice.
Colin Baker reads ‘Mindwarp’ and revels in the opportunity to play with accents, recasting one of the guards as a gruff Yorkshireman and the Alphan rebels as Hispanics. He also does a magnificent King Yrcanos and an impressive take on Sil, providing a grotesque chuckle while not actually attempting that idiosyncratic laugh.
Both tales benefit from some excellent sound work, with a portentous blast of music to introduce the opening Trial scenes. Ravolox gets a thumping action score and some noisy robotic effects, while Thoros Beta comes alive with blasts of phaser fire and sounds of battle.
While no one is going to convince you that these tales from a troubled period in the show’s history are the height of Doctor Who storytelling, in this form both are enjoyable and well worth a listen.
Released on Monday 2 September 2013 by AudioGO.
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