Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10
Cast: Paul McGann, Nicola Walker, Hattie Morahan, Mark Bonnar, John Woodville, Esther Hall, Harry Myers, Gunnar Cauthery, Lizzie Mounter, Ewan Bailey, John Banks.
The trouble with time travel for the novice is that it can lead to the most peculiar syndrome of just aimlessly walking about and staring at things as if they had come from another planet, let alone another period in time.
For Helen Sinclair, recently welcomed aboard the Tardis by The Doctor and his companion Liv Chenka, finding herself on the trail of a fugitive Timelord and in the heart of Renaissance Italy is enough to throw her of balance. It is desire to educate yourself, to immerse your very being into a strange new culture at first hand but knowing that just one step too far away from The Doctor’s side could lead to the most deadly danger, to a snare that would catch any bright eyed rabbit out.
Marc Platt’s The Galileo Trap is the third in the series of stories under the umbrella of Doctor Who: Doom Coalition 1 and sees The Doctor and his now two female companions locked in a deception that sees a new virulent plague stalk the streets and a force of unquenchable power seeking nourishment, bad enough in enlightened times but in the still superstitious ways of Galileo’s time, a man who himself could be seen as out of time, as well out of step, with the supposed natural order that was demanded of him, this was nothing short of alarming.
Whilst not the best story of the overall arc, it does capture some fine moments, especially of Paul McGann’s incarnation of The Doctor and the growing relationship between him and Nicola Walker’s Liv Chenka. It also places the thought of superstition firmly into the minds of the listener, the power of it, how it works against scientific discovery and the minds of those caught between the two beliefs.
An enjoyable tale and one that brings the arc to a possible grandstand finish.
The Galileo Trap is available to purchase as part of the Doctor Who: Doom Coalition 1 Box set from Worlds Apart on Lime Street, Liverpool.
Ian D. Hall