reviewed by Kathy Sullivan
"Phantasmagoria"
"Phantasmagoria" is a four part adventure written by
Mark Gatiss and directed by Nicholas Briggs. The TARDIS
materializes in 1720 London inside Dr. Samuel Holywell's
townhouse. While The Doctor goes on a tour of Dr.
Holywell's collection of antiquities, Turlough finds
Holywell's spellbooks. Soon the two travelers find
themselves caught up in a case of mysterious disappearances.
Are the vanishings due to Holywell's dabblings with seances
or to events at the Diabola, a nearby gentleman's club? Or
is the gentleman thief, the infamous Billy Lovemore, involved
in some way?
The fifth Doctor, with only one companion, seems a bit
calmer than he did with three, and more willing to explain
things. Turlough at first seems unlike himself: he's
obsessed with food and actually rescues someone, although he
quickly realizes "This really isn't me at all" and goes back
to his usual cowardice. But this does set up his heroism for
later in the televised episodes.
Mark Gatiss has a flare for writing both pseudo-historicals
and occult stories, and "Phantasmagoria" is a fascinating
mixture of both, with just enough of a twist to keep the listener
guessing. The characters he created are varied, interesting and
very believable. The cast was fantastic and seemed to have fun
with the dialog, which was full of the colorful expressions of
the time. The sound effects effectively capture the atmosphere of that time period, and the incidental music by Alistair Lock is
wonderfully evocative.
As well as Peter Davison and Mark Strickson, the cast includes
Nicholas Briggs as Henry Gaunt, David Walliams as Quincy Flowers,
Jonathan Rigby as Edmund Carteret, Mark Gatiss as Jasper Jeake,
David Ryall as Sir Nikolas Valentine, Steven Wickham as Dr.
Samuel Holywell, Julia Dalkin as Hannah Fry, and Jez Fielder
as Poltrot, the Librarian and Major Billy Lovemore.
"Phantasmagoria" is a great single Doctor story, and this team-up
of the fifth Doctor and Turlough works very well. The CD also
has a preview of upcoming audios as well as a trailer for the Bernice Summerfield audios.
Highly recommended.
"Whispers of Terror"
"Whispers of Terror", a four part adventure written by
Justin Richards and directed by Gary Russell, opens with
the TARDIS materializing in an audio museum. While the
Doctor and Peri take a look around, the unsuspecting
curator of the museum is talking with a researcher. At the
same time, two people break into the museum, but one of the intruders, misled by strange voices, stumbles into a security field. When the sixth Doctor and Peri are discovered near the body, they find the murder is just the start of the mystery.
Why has a dead actor's campaign speech been altered? What is
the source of the disembodied voices? Is there a connection
between the two?
Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor is well on form, with puns,
sarcasm, snappy comments, and theatric flourishes. Peri has
her share of retorts and insights--and American expressions.
It's nice to hear Peter Miles in a sane 'good guy' role for
once; his curator works very well with the sixth Doctor. And it's also nice to hear Lisa Bowerman in a change from her Prof.
Bernice Summerfield role; she voices the political Beth Pernell with a definitely nasty edge.
Written by Justin Richards, "Whispers of Terror" is a well-
plotted story with nice unpredictable twists. The cliffhangers
are very good. The incidental music by Nicholas Briggs is great
and would have fitted in well with the sixth Doctor's televised
seasons. Post-production by Harvey Summers is marvellous. When
listened to through headphones the mysterious voices seem to be circling around you, closing in, which is wonderfully creepy. The theme has been remastered by Mark Ayres. The trailers for
"Land of the Dead" and "Fearmonger" are included on the CD and
sound especially good.
Along with Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant, the cast includes
Rebecca Jenkins as Amber Dent and Car Computer, Hylton Collins as Goff Fotherill and Computer Voice, Matthew Brenher as Visteen Krane, Lisa Bowerman as Beth Pernell, Nick Scovell as Detective Berkeley, Peter Miles as Museum Curator Gantman, Harvey Summers as Radio Announcer, Mark Trotman as Miles Napton, and Steffan
Boje as Hans Stengard.
"Whispers of Terror" is a great sixth Doctor story, and I'm
looking forward to "Land of the Dead".
Highly recommended.
by Mark Gatiss
by Justin Richards
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