Starring Colin Baker & David Banks
Written by Terrance Dicks
Directed by Jason Haigh-Ellery
The Daleks have allied themselves with the Cybermen and a deadly band of mercenaries. The future of Earth depends upon a vital peace conference. And Mrs T knows that only one Time Lord can save the world.
There are epic battles. The are betrayals. There is love, and there are even songs.
Take your seat for... Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure!
Well, The Ultimate Adventure is one of those stories that is, well, bloody unusual. It's a little crazy, all over the place, not very deep and uttely cheesy. But despite the god awful songs, certain hammy performances and an almost pantomime atmosphere, it's fun and it's enjoyable in a light hearted sort of way. It's so light hearted that, in a way, no Doctor Who fan could take it seriously, which sadly means that it is never quite the blockbuster it could have been.
The plot itself is pretty straightforward, but I think in the case of a stage show like this, I feel that to go all out and adding layers to the script would have been a mistake. With this story (and both Seven Keys To Doomsday and Curse Of The Daleks), it feels more like a recreation of a historical document, rather than any sort of newly written Doctor Who story. Therefore, I think that had any liberties actually been taken with the script, it wouldn't be what it should be. Admittedly, all the different dangers start blurring into one and they therefore don't feel really threatening enough to make much of an impact. In all honesty, throughout this story, we get a feeling that The Doctor and his companions are never really in danger. The whole script has a real wink, wink feel about it, as if the danger is rather light and frivolous, despite the subject matter. There are really strong ideas behind the story, and there is some really lovely set pieces, but at times, they just seem to be there as visual set pieces. They just seem to be there to impress and it just means that there a little throwaway. It all seems frivolous and just a little bit pointless. It trivialises the whole story, and that's one of this stories major problems: the nature through which all these 'set pieces' (there hardly events) happen.
The characters are sadly paper thin. The main characters can be boiled down to this: The Doctor, eponymous hero. Jason and Crystal, classic case of hating each other, then falling in love. Karl, evil sell out mercenary, the Daleks, the big bads etc. etc. etc.. I could go on all day in this way. There characters are so paper thin that it's difficult to really get a grasp on them. Certain characters, like Zog or The Envoy just start to disappear out of scenes like there's no tommorow. As for the acting, well Colin Baker is always on fine form, as is David Banks with a gripping performance as Karl. The less said about Noel Sullivan and Clare Huckle, the better, however. They literally don't make there parts come to life as they should, which, considering that there The Doctor's companions, makes it all the more strange. The rest of the cast do little more than sink into the background. And as for the songs...well, let's just skip over those and come back to them another time. Like another time never.
I want to say, I don't dislike The Ultimate Adventure. In fact, I think it's quite a nice, romp style story. The first disc is definatly superior to the second, but if your in the mood for that style of story, than that's fine. It's probably one for the die hard fans more than the casual listener though.
TARDIS Rating - 5/10
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