Released 3rd November 2011

Doctor Who Serpent Crest - Aladdin Time

Tom Baker stars as the Fourth Doctor in the third of five thrilling brand new adventures, with Susan Jameson as Mrs Wibbsey and Guy Harvey as Aladdin.

Trapped underground, the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey encounter a small boy who claims to be Aladdin, in search of a fabled lamp. He joins them on their own quest, to find a power source in this weird domain and switch it off.

Many obstacles lie in their way. Vast rooms stuffed with exotic items give way to torch-lit tunnels and deadly precipices. Creatures of mythical proportions lie in wait. Peculiar atmospheres take their toll on them. Perhaps strangest of all, the Doctor's multi-coloured scarf appears to take on a life of its own.

As friends are separated and uneasy alliances are formed, the strange environment attempts to claim them. Will the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey ever get back to Hexford? And will Aladdin discover who he really is?

With Tom Baker as the Doctor, Susan Jameson as Mrs Wibbsey, Guy Harvey as Aladdin, Sophie Ward as the Storyteller, Terrence Hardiman as the Gryphon, Andrew Sachs as the Scarf, Simon Shepherd as the Magician, and Su Douglas as the Toad, Aladdin Time is the third of five linked stories written by Paul Magrs.

Released 6th October 2011

Tom Baker stars as the Fourth Doctor in the second of five thrilling brand new adventures, with Susan Jameson as Mrs Wibbsey and Guy Harvey as Andrew. The year is 1861, and the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey find themselves in the right place at the wrong time.

At the rectory they encounter the ill-tempered Reverend Dobbs and his young ward Andrew, whose paper faces hide whatever horrors lie beneath. Tutoring him is one Mr Bewley, whom Mrs Wibbsey is startled to recognise.

In Hexford Woods, the Doctor uncovers a secret which Andrew and his friends have been keeping. As the truth begins to emerge about the rectory's occupants, it also becomes clear why so many people have disappeared from the village.

Unless the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey can help, the whole village will soon be terrorised by a child's imagination...With Tom Baker as the Doctor, Susan Jameson as Mrs Wibbsey, Terrence Hardiman as the Reverend Dobbs, Joanna David as Mrs Audley, Guy Harvey as Andrew, Simon Shepherd as Mr Bewley, Charlie Mitchell as Jake, Elinor Coleman as Sally, Geoff Leesley as Harold and Su Douglas as the Cook, "The Broken Crown" is the second of five linked stories written by Paul Magrs.

Review: Ian McArdell

After the interstellar action of series opener Tsar Wars, the second instalment of Serpent Crest series brings us firmly back down to Earth.

The Broken Crown begins the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey stranded in time thanks to their actions at the end of the previous adventure. They are in the right place, Hexford village, but the wrong time because in 1861 Nest Cottage has yet to be built.

Beginning their search for the Robotov refugees, robotic Medic Boolin and the young cyborg and Imperial Heir Alexander, the Doctor is also concerned about the whereabouts of a dangerous alien egg that he intended to take into custody. Receiving a somewhat hostile reception from Rector Dobbs, who spends his days drowning troubles in gin at the bar of The White Heart, Mrs Wibbsey is suffering a little culture shock. Meanwhile the Doctor becomes concerned about Hexford’s the “ineffable air of menace and doom” and begins to investigate a spate of mysterious disappearances…

The Broken Crown is a far more intimate tale than the previous instalment and a marked shift in tone, revolving around a small village Rectory and a troubled child. Both the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey have some fun investigating and it is great to see Wibbs being proactive, talking her way into the role of Rectory Housekeeper at the first sniff of intrigue. The Doctor on the other hand interacts with the children, and Baker is at his jokey charismatic best with them.

Like the previous Fourth Doctor tales, the story is related partially through narration. In this instance the chosen voice is that of the Reverend’s thirteen year-old ward and he draws us into the pain and confusion of his cosseted world well. Played confidently by young actor Guy Harvey, Andrew is a tortured soul whose disfigurement and treatment have caused him to become a social outcast, observing village life from a distance. Yet he is an imaginative lad who has developed friendships with other local children and learnt how to come in and out of his Rectory home unnoticed. Another notable member of the guest cast is Terrance Hardiman, who starred in 2010’s The Beast Below, here giving life to the role of the world weary Reverend Dobbs.

Writer Paul Magrs again provides a script with sparkling dialogue and Tom Baker delivers some amusing comic asides, including gems like being “a hundred and fifty years too early for bingo and chicken-in-a-basket” and giving direction to the villagers on how to handle a dragon. Magrs is on firm ground with the sinister use of fairy tales and manages some great misdirection before the finale, whilst laying in groundwork for the next part of the saga too. A sparse score lends an air of brooding menace with some excellent scares provided by jangly piano cues. With a dramatic and claustrophobic cliffhanger to conclude the story, I look forward to November’s instalment, entitled Aladdin Time.

The Broken Crown is available either on CD from all the usual places, or on download and CD from AudioGO from October 6th 2011.

Review at http://nebula-one.blogspot.com