Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford, Tony Gardner, James Joyce, Patricia Leventon, Beth Chalmers, John Banks.
Although The Trail of a Timelord, shown on the B.B.C. in 1986 introduced the future companion Melanie Bush, portrayed by Bonnie Langford, to Colin Baker’s incarnation of the Doctor, there really has never been any reconciliation to answer how they first met. For viewers of the new series, which now strides confidently towards its 50th anniversary, it would be like trying to explain how Rose ended up travelling on the Tardis without ever showing the moment she stepped on board. It is a tricky and puzzling conundrum that has never been revealed…until now and the long sighted people at Big Finish and the new audiobook release of The Wrong Doctors.
Not only does the listener finally get to see a whiff of an insight into that anomaly but they get two Doctors for the price of one. Two Colin Bakers as the sixth Doctor, one bluff, crass and rude, the other tempered with time and the loss of a very dear friend in Dr. Evelyn Smythe. It is the second one of these men who the Big Finish devotes have become accustomed to and which has seen Colin Baker’s time as the Doctor get the wider recognition it deserves. Not only has his stories since they first appeared on audio seen the Doctor as the fans would have liked him to become with the proper backing of the B.B.C. at the time, they have also given him the extra gravitas he so richly deserves.
By getting Mr. Baker to revert to the irascible and cantankerous Doctor of his first sojourns in the Tardis, it gives the listener a sense of joy to see the two incarnations bounce off each other in a sparkling display of verbosity and dexterous word play.
It also shows how important Melanie Bush was to the original series, even if it really wasn’t that clear to viewers of the time. Aside from Evelyn, this was the companion that stopped the sixth Doctor becoming boorish and almost self-destructive. There may have been the incredible tenderness between the Doctor and Peri Brown but that was a hangover from the days of the fifth Doctor. This is captured wonderfully with the Doctors and it seems two Mels at different times in their lives. It is a clever script by Matt Fitton and one that works well, even when there is so much going on within the realms of the story, including a rather superb appearance by Tony Gardner as the villain of the piece.
If you are going to gear up for a huge celebration, and for fans of the show they don’t get much bigger than this for now, then The Wrong Doctors is a brilliant way to kick it off. Full of charm and gentle nods to old habits, it’s always a pleasure to hear Colin Baker, especially when there are two of him solving the mystery.
The Wrong Doctors is available from Worlds Apart on Lime Street, Liverpool.
Ian D Hall