Is it February already? It really is. I can’t believe that the year is going by so quickly; so as February rolls round so does another round of Big Finish releases.
First of these is the latest in the Short Trips range; its a second Doctor story called “Little Doctors” and is read by Frazer Hines.
The Second Doctor was always the most chaotic and most whimsical, he revelled in the chaos he caused like an overgrown schoolboy, running around, interfering and generally having a bit of a laugh – but what is the flip side to this; what is the result in the second Doctor’s interference, his sense of fun and joy? Little Doctors examines this, it looks at the aftermath of the second Doctor interfering where his interference isn’t needed, in fact we see the second Doctor flipped on his head, the usual happy go lucky giddy kipper is viewed from a completely different angle as an irresponsible, childish force of destruction.
In Little Doctors, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe arrive on the Earth Colony of Olympos – a bland and ordered place where everything is decided by the omnipotent guiding computer Zeus. The inhabitants of Olympus seem quite content living their mundane drab ordered lives, but the Doctor just can’t leave things be.
This is a very different story, very short at 32 minutes, but a telling look into the consequences of the second Doctor’s whimsy and anarchic attitude to the universe. You see the second Doctor just can’t help himself interfering and trying to impose his world view on the colony. He thinks that the residents need to be snapped out of their apathy and drab lifestyle, completely missing the point that they are actually quite happy living like this – the realisation that he has not done the right thing is very chilling and a fantastic scene. Its a testament to Patrick Troughton that even nearly 50 years later that different facets of his Doctor’s character are being explored.
The story is read by Frazer Hines who does a cracking impersonation of Troughton. He gives the situation warmth and depth with his reading and the humanity of his Jamie really does counterpoint in this story just how alien the Doctor can be, even the fun loving second Doctor.
Overall, a completely different take on the Second Doctor, and another worthy addition to the Short Trips range 8/10.
Written by Ed Watkinson
SYNOPSIS:
Doctor Who: Short Trips Monthly is a series of new short stories read by an original cast member.
Release #2 is a Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe story.
The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe to a sophisticated Earth colony. Olympos is a world of hi-tech cities, where the lives of the populace are controlled by an all-seeing, all-knowing super computer: Zeus. When the Doctor sees how the human inhabitants have been robbed of the more simple pleasures, he sets out to bring real life back to the colony. But his mental connection to Zeus has some unexpected consequences…
CAST:
Frazer Hines (Narrator)
Producer Michael Stevens
Script Editor Michael Stevens
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
Written By: Philip Lawrence
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman