There are Places I Remember Inaccurately

It's one of those days when all kinds of different historical periods are jumbled together in the 2008 Doctor Who audio play "Dead London". The first episode in the Eighth Doctor's second stand alone series, he returns with the nice enough companion Lucie Miller for a story that, at under fifty minutes, feels too short, as most of the stories in this particular series of audios do.

The first scene drops us into the Old Bailey where the Doctor (Paul McGann) is on the dock, answering for the crime of leaving the TARDIS in the middle of traffic while Lucie (Sheridan Smith) was away shopping. What started as a modern day preceding unexpectedly becomes a 17th century one and the Doctor is sentenced to death. Meanwhile, Lucie encounters similar problems on the streets of London, one of which, Fleet, unexpectedly transforms into its river namesake.

There's an amusing supporting character played by Clare Buckwald called Spring Heeled Sophie, presumably a reference to Spring Heeled Jack. Though I'd have enjoyed her character more if her voice were more distinguishable from Sheridan Smith's. I also enjoyed a reference to The Wicker Man when the Doctor and his companions find themselves suddenly in a Wicker Man about to be torched in pagan Britain.

...

On another subject, to-night is the final episode of Game of Thrones so I figure this is my last chance to make predictions. All my predictions so far this season have been wrong but I figure that's no reason to stop now (spoilers for past episodes ahead).

I think the reason we never saw Danaerys' face during her rampage last week will be explained by the fact that she'd lost telepathic control of the dragon--she told it to go for the Red Keep but all he heard was "Urg, rage, kill, kill!" and decided to burn civilians instead. I predict there'll be a shot of Drogon pulling the Iron Throne from the rubble. And I suspect that Bran might do something with time travel and alternate time lines since that kind of thing seems to be popular right now.

What do I hope will happen? That Cersei ends up being alive and rules long and benevolently on the Iron Throne. I wonder how many people would sign an angry petition about that.

People are Other People in Space

Immortal Beloved, the 2007 Eighth Doctor Doctor Who audio play, doesn't seem to have anything to do with Beethoven or the 1994 movie of that name. In this story, the Doctor (Paul McGann) and Lucie (Sheridan Smith) arrive just in time to prevent a pair of young lovers from committing suicide but unfortunately this leaves the kids vulnerable to the fate they were attempting to escape; having their brains wiped and their bodies used as replacement vessels for the elderly. So, yes, in case you had any doubts, that idea wasn't original to Get Out. I'm pretty sure it's not original to this audio play, either, but I can't think of older examples just at the moment.

It's a nice audio play, a short, 60 minute episode from the Eighth Doctor's series. Once again, though, it feels much too short, really not having enough time to establish the world of colonists and the love stories involved. The leader of the colonists, played by Ian McNeice sounding nicely like Michael Gambon, calls himself Zeus and his wife (Elspet Gray) is called Hera, their whole society modelled on ancient Greek myth. The mixture of sadness and repulsiveness in these characters trying to stave off death by murdering their own clones is nicely introduced but doesn't quite have enough time to develop.

Eight and Lucie continue to develop romantic chemistry, too, though it feels a bit rushed. I assume they've been on more adventures between episodes but it feels too soon for Eight to talk about how much she means to him at the end of the story. Sheridan Smith's performance sometimes makes her sound like Charley, Eight's first companion from the monthly range of audios, whose relationship was developed with him much more organically. There is a nice moment in Immortal Beloved where Lucie's trust in the Doctor is tested, though.

Twitter Sonnet #1211

Intentions saved a pack of gum from Hell.
Tormented tay attempts to sate the gut.
Of course the soup would fill the copper bell.
Unless we added just a single nut.
No mixture makes a really solid link.
As choral timers tick the pulse of feet.
A hoofless carriage brought a horse to drink.
Where knees and clouds at stations lately meet.
Intruding clouds confused the store with rain.
No falling peppers splashed the tile floor.
So boosted wheats and rice were muffled grain.
Entire crops were crowded round the door.
A certain ice was sweetened near the stove.
A troop of shades assembled near the grove.

A Day Not in the Life

Could The Beatles be swapped out in history for another band from Liverpool? Of course not and writer Eddie Robson has a lot of fun arguing that point with his 2013 Doctor Who audio play, Fanfare for the Common Men. Part of a series of audios recorded for Doctor Who's fiftieth anniversary, this one features the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and his companion, Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), travelling to 1963--the year Doctor Who premiered--to see The Beatles only to be disappointed when a trio called The Common Men emerge from the plane to thousands of screaming fans.

Robson is clearly a Beatles fan and well versed in Beatles trivia and he cleverly weaves the biographies of John, Paul, George, and Ringo into the lives of Mark (Mitch Benn), James (Andrew Knott), and Korky (David Dobson). Parts of the story are framed by interviews with The Common Men in later years in which they have conflicting memories of the Doctor or Nyssa turning up at clubs in Liverpool or Hamburg or stopping a strange armed man at the airport.

Several Beatles-ish songs are heard in the audio play and the Doctor wonders why whatever sinister force that took the Beatles out of the picture didn't bother to steal their great songs in the process. Harnessing the psychic power of a rabid fanbase seems to be part of the plan and the story ultimately makes the point that there's no substitute for the songs written with the real genius of The Beatles. Though the Doctor concedes The Common Men aren't bad.

The band were first mentioned in the first Doctor Who serial, An Unearthly Child. Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter, had been a fan. In Fanfare for the Common Men the Doctor remarks he never understood their appeal. The audio is filled with Beatles quotes but here Dobson allows the Doctor an appropriate Bob Dylan quote when he adds, "But I was so much older then."