Starring Caroline John & Lex Shrapnel
Written by Simon Guerrier
Directed by Lisa Bowerman
There's a secret locked up in UNIT's Vault 75-73/Whitehall. Dr Elizabeth Shaw is the only one left who knows what that secret is.
Returning to UNIT for the first time in decades, she slowly unravels the past. The vault contains the remains of a spaceship that crashed in the Pennines in the Seventies.
For the young Liz Shaw, the priority is to ensure the thing's safe. But the Doctor is more concerned about the alien pilot. And the chance this ship offers for escape. Can he resist the temptation, or will the Doctor turn on his friends?
Shadow Of The Past is a story that would fit perfectly into the seventh season from which it chronologically comes from. A Doctor, desperate to leave the planet, the Brigadier, determined to protect the Earth by any means necessary, Liz, caught in the middle of them. It's a typical tale from that season: dark, gritty and dangerous. It's very rare for Doctor Who to do tales in that style, so when they do appear, there welcome relief. From it's dark cover, it's obvious that this story has very dark overtones and shares similarities with all the stories that inhabit this season. It's very much in that mould, but with the modern sensibilities that come with drama nowadays.
The story revolves around an attempted Mim invasion of Earth, with some very interesting twists and turns throughout. However, like every good Simon Guerrier script, it's driven by it's characters and his analysis of those character. And, having worked wonders on both Sara Kingdom and Steven Taylor, he turns his attention to Liz Shaw, giving her a really heartbreaking story to really crack her open. I've always felt that Liz Shaw's cold, frosty exterior had something to hide, and here, that idea get's explored for all it's worth. We see her bond with a UNIT sergeant, in a way that never really got explored on the show. That era was a melting pot of creativity, however, with so many ideas being flung around, it sometimes made the stories less coherent as a result. However, because of it's 'Companion Chronicle' status and because of it only being an hour long, unlike the 3 and a 1/2 hour epics that stand as it's peers. In short, it's much more concise then the stories that surround it, but that's not a problem. It focuses on Liz and that's not really an issue. One of the things that so loved about Guerrier's scripts, particularly for the Companion Chronicles, is that he can say a lot while doing little, and in script writing, that's very difficult to achive. The main body of the invasion fleet may be delt with through magic wand techniques, but for the rest of the story, it's a difficult time for all our characters: even The Doctor. The resolution doesn't come easily and it comes at a terrible cost.
As I said before, the characters are what drive this foward, and each and every one of them is completely rounded. It may only be Caroline John narrating, but it easy enough to hear when it's The Doctor or the Brigadier speaking. These are relatively simple things, but they make one's enjoyment of the story so much more fufilling. There all characterised perfectly, especially Liz, who can never bring herself to say that she loves Robin, before the terrible event occures before they're pulled away from each other. That's what makes the story so interesting: how Liz will feel about a love life. Whether she will embrace it, or whether she will just abandon it all in pursuit of science. And Caroline John puts in a fantastically restrained performance, her emotions really being held back for the end, really allowing her to let rip. Lex Shrapnel is also brilliant, despite his role being much smaller, he still manages to create an air of unease around his character, which is paid off beautifully in the end. Guerrier shows that with this story, he's not afraid to take risks, and it pays off for him. Finally, Lisa Bowerman, Richard Fox and Lauren Yason put in there all to make this a first class story.
Shadow Of The Past is a incredibly strong story, with superb acting and production levels. Apart from one small incident where Guerrier has to use the magic wand trick, the rest of the story is fabulous. With Doctor duplicates and referances to Terror Of The Autons, this is a story which fits in perfectly with the period of Doctor Who it sits alongside.
TARDIS Rating - 8/10
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