L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Colin Baker, Lisa Greenwood, Julian Wadham, Yasmin Bannerman, Hywel Morgan, Martin Hutson, Tilly Gaunt, Kim Wall, Henry Devas.

There is always talk of when an actor breaks the “fourth wall”, that twilight line between perceived reality of the stage and the moment when the audience is drawn in and spoken to in such a way that they are no longer interested voyeurs taking in the action, they are part and parcel of the storyline. They are the 12^th man on the pitch, the Banquo at the Banquet and they are involved, sometimes up to their necks.

Colin Baker’s tenure as the Doctor is quite possibly the most interesting out of all those to have played the part, let down badly by the B.B.C., his portrayal as the Doctor really took off when Big Finish came calling and asked his to reprise his role. In this the story, written with much humour by John Dorney, The Fourth Wall doesn’t exactly mimic life but shows exactly why the B.B.C. fell short of providing Colin Baker with the scripts he deserved. How history may have changed.

The Doctor and his latest companion Philippa ‘Flip’ Jackson are from the start of the audio drama sat watching cricket on the very latest high tech video scope, well the Doctor is (a wonderful homage to the fifth Doctor’s love of the game) flip as it turns out is rather a fan of Bowls, as Lisa Greenwood playing this rather interesting companion points out “None of your class prejudice here”.  This is where the story really cracks on and the subtle jokes, the overriding tension and the bleeding through of television into real life is a permanent terror.

What happens though when real life is infiltrated by the unreal, by the images that are just ghostly figures with no real substance? It does come across as though John Dorney is making a very clever but wonderfully innocent statement on the way that television can dominate and take over someone’s life so much that they sometimes are not sure where reality ends and make believe starts. The other very promising moments of this particular play are with the premise of the Warmongers, a pig like race who are so completely dangerous to the safety of the Universe, not because they are so evil but because they are so inept. They are reminiscent in their overall dominance to the plays structure to one of Colin Bakers most enjoyable romps The Doomwood Curse.

The only thing to really let down this play is the lack of time for Lisa Greenwood within the script. Where India Fisher stood as an equal to Colin Baker and Paul McGann’s Doctors, Lisa Greenwood seems to buried, hopefully not for long, and heading towards the companions that stand in the past, un-agreeable, two dimensional and un-remarkable. If the premise of Flip Jackson’s appearance in her first audio play was so good then it’s unfortunate that her second has left her to dealing with the pseudo and supposed archetypical and depressing nature of Tilly Gaunt’s character – the girl screaming for help and who waits for the hero to save her.  Lisa Greenwood deals with this girl’s dilemma that has been thrust into her life with ease but fans would think seriously about any attempt in the 21^st Century to let her go down the same tired route.

None the less, this story is up there as one of the great Colin Baker Doctor stories, the subtext is enjoyable and shows off Colin Bakers skill of deflecting the terrifying menace with the right amount of humour. In this there is no better Doctor.

Ian D. Hall