Reviewed By:
traves8853Review Date:
12/12/16 8:04 pm
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‘The Boy That Time Forgot’, by Paul Magrs, is a story that inserts itself into the continuity of the programme’s history and leaves me feeling divided. On the one hand, the idea behind the story is quite inventive. On the other hand, it undermines the poignancy of Adric’s death in ‘Earthshock’, the dialogue is often just plain wrong and the two Victorian characters are flat caricatures. Block computation also makes a return.
The premise being that Adric managed to escape his death in ‘Earthshock’ by using Block Transfer Computation; consequently, creating a world where he lives and is served by his scorpion subjects. After many years, Adric decides to use Block Transfer Computation to summon the Doctor and Nyssa with two Victorian spectators who don’t appreciate the detour in their daily routine. Andrew Sachs’ raving interpretation of a long isolated Adric is sublime. Magrs script paints the character as resentful and slightly reminiscent of Omega. Peter and Sarah are spot-on with their performances and the soundscape is rich and vivid as always.
The story has a strong fantasy element with people moving through time by chanting numbers and Adric trapped in his own pocket universe achieving certain feats by sheer will power, (c.f. Omega). Adric veers between sinister and silly at times and while some may criticise this as inconsistent characterisation, I enjoyed the unpredictability. Paul Magr’s script sets a good pace with lots of action but can be heavy with technobabble and exposition. (Is it still technobabble if it’s fantasy? ) The absence of the Tardis creates some genuine suspense but the resolution frees this story of any consequences and makes the whole adventure rather moot.
Ultimately, I think this was a good story that feels like a first draft, I found this too inconsistent and too fantasy based with bad dialogue and flat, pointless supporting characters. This is counterbalanced with good production values and interesting ideas. Entertaining but uneven.