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Companion Chronicles |
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Synopsis
"You must never tell. Not a soul. That's the magician's oath."
A heatwave in July and a tube train is dscovered buried in twenty inches of snow. A Saturday afternoon in Hyde Park and scores of people are instantly frozen to death where they stand while the sun beats down from the sky. Freak weather conditions in London, and the Doctor and UNIT are called in to find the cause. Meanwhile, a street magician, who was witnessed at the scene of the tragedy, entertains crowds in Covent Garden. As Jo Grant and Mike Yates disobey orders and investigate alone, they discover an enemy wth terrifying powers. And they may not live to share his secrets... Starring
Richard Franklin (Mike Yates), Michael Chance (Diamond Jack)
Written By
Directed By
Nigel Fairs
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0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
Very surprised to really enjoy the Yates CC, as I never had much time for the character, but this is excellent.
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0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
This is one of my very favourite Companion Chronicles. There - review over - well not quite. I'd also like to add that both Richard Franklin and Michael Chance are wodnerful in their respective roles, with Franklin really injecting some pathos towards the rather touching last paragraph. Although these stories should never be judged by how good the performer's impressions of various other companions and Doctors are, his Brigadier is brilliantly grumpy!
The story is one of easiest to visualize also, with events (especially an icy incident in part one) described in a very evocative manner. A hugely recommended story by Scott Handcock. | ||
0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
I find this Companion Chronicle rather Disturbing for some reason. really creepy and full of suspense. Richard Franklin was excellent (and I wasn't sure he was going to be) and the plot very dark fairytale..
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0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
This is a fairly faithful attempt at recreating the UNIT era, albeit with a much larger budget. The ideas and images that Handcock's script conjures up are really impressive, although the execution is often sloppy particlarly in the second part. I admire the ideas and the resolution is interesting, but I feel it needed a little bit more drafting so it would feel less 'and then this happens'. There is a lot of the characters explaining plot to each other, or rather the Doctor explaining everything to Mike and the Brigadier.
This wouldn't be so much of a problem if Mike Yates' character was explored, but there is little of that. His relationship with Jo is as understated as it was on the show, with occassional references to try and drag out some drama. Otherwise, we learn little about Yates, which is a shame as the play is set up by a nice prologue and epilogue of Mike talking to a new UNIT solder about the old days. The occassional comment such as 'Our offices weren't there yet' are nie touches but are largely ignored to focus on the plot, which isn't as well done as you would hope. A solid enough piece but it does waste the talents involved leaving me feeling like there should have been so much more. |