Starring Sylvester McCoy, Neil Roberts & Terry Molloy
Written by James Swallow
Directed by Ken Bentley & Nicholas Briggs
The Doctor arrives on Tasak in search of refreshment, armed with nothing more than a kettle. But this is a time of crisis for a civilisation about to enter an industrial age.
Mindful that a devastating war is only recently over, the wise and revered Magus Riga will do almost anything to save his people from the follies of the past. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And the planet Tasak is host to ancient powers buried deep and long forgotten. Can visitors from another world avert disaster or will their intervention drag this innocent world into the Orion War?
KINGDOM OF SILVER:
One of the things that make the Cybermen so interesting is that they show what humans could so easily become. And Kingdom Of Silver shows what could happen those people who dabble with Cyber technology, no matter what there intentions may be. These themes run strongest throughout this story and this means that the story also travels along the same lines as Spare Parts. However, due to it's reduced running time, it means it can't cover these deep themes as well as it could. After all, it's only 3 episodes long, and it's also trying to cover the same ground that Tomb Of The Cybermen was as well. This story certainly starts out with problems.
Despite these obvious issues with the themes of the story, on a plotting front, it's certainly not too bad. Part 1 seems to go in circles at times, but generally, it manages to keep a listener interested in what's going on. It certainly doesn't do anything revolutionary with either the audio medium or the format of Doctor Who, but it tells an interesting story about how the Cybermen are planning to destroy Tasak by allowing it to become seeded with Cyber technology. Certainly, you could say that that doesn't sound an impressive plot on paper, but when translated into a three part Doctor Who story, it's actually quite exciting. As we hurtle towards that final episode, we become very excited. The Cybermen come off pretty well in this story, proberbly because they are written by James Swallow, who it is noted is a Cybermen fan. The Cybermen in this story do end up only getting the final episode to stomp around, but within this story it's perfectly acceptable, as, for the first two parts, there being reflected by the other characters in the piece. The story is an example of a good romp. It's not completely outstanding, but then again, it's not an awful story. It's good fun, and there's no harm in that every once in a while. Not every story can be outstanding and different all of the time, so it's nice to have a story that's just an action style romp with a moral core.
The characters in this one are also interesting, if in a paperweight way. They are quite obviously cliches, but in a way, it's not a problem, because they do have depth, but at times they do just seem to play out along fairly predictable lines. However, the actors also bring the scripts to life as well, making there characters especially interesting and it makes the story feel very much alive. It's interesting to see Terry Molloy in a more light hearted role, rather than continually villainous. Neil Roberts and Kate Terrence are wonderful as the two android agents, Temeter and Sara, really giving them really depth and difference. It's quite nice to hear The Doctor working alongside two people who are less likely to act in the way that normal pseudo-companions like Astrid Peth (Voyage Of The Dammned) or Danika Meanwhile (The Death Collectors) do, who are more like to display emotion than these two. It sets Kingdom Of Silver as having a distinct difference from other solo seventh Doctor stories.
Kingdom Of Silver is a good story that manages to tell all it needs to in it's time frame, without overstaying it's welcome or becoming dull. It's fun, it had a strong moral core, it features good monsters and it's generally a good romp for The seventh Doctor.
TARDIS Rating - 7/10
KEEPSAKE:
Keepsake is wonderful. A real gem of a mini story. Certainly, it's not the greatest piece of writing ever, but it leaves a haunting image with the listener. And after a run time of only 25 minutes, that's quite a job, but one that James Swallow performs admirably.
Keepsake follows Temeter and Sara after they parted ways with The Doctor on Tasak, and what happened to them as the Orion War progressed. It very rare, certainly in the classic series, for Who to dwell on the events after a story, so it's nice to find out what happened to these two android agents we've grown to care for over the course of Kingdom Of Silver. When the tragic truth about the pair's eventual fate, I feel sure that it will cause a tear to be shed. To say anymore would ruin the episode, but it's heartfelt conclusion will be sure to cause sadness to a listener. It also helps set up the second series of Cyberman, with the revelations about android punishments and the Crybrid Corvus. The performances are excellent, with Sylvester McCoy being allowed to show a more melancholic side, in comparison to his usual plotting self. It's nice, in both this and Kingdom Of Silver, to see a seventh Doctor who doesn't know exactly what's going on and how the problem can be fixed. But both Kate Terrence and Neil Roberts must surely be the stars of the show, especially Terrence, who carries lengthy sections of narration on her own. Any one who doesn't think she puts in an outstanding showing mustn't be able to work out good drama when they see (or hear) it.
Keepsake is, as I said before, a gem. It ties up loose ends in Kingdom Of Silver and gets the ball rolling for Cyberman 2. It's also a heartbreaking love story and really makes the audience feel for the characters at it's heart. It's one of the best one part stories that Big Finish has done.
TARDIS Rating - 8/10
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