Thursday 22 March 2012

REVIEW: 4th Doctor Adventures 1.02: The Renaissance Man

Taken from my Doctor Who Mini Review Site - Wandering In The Fourth Dimension

Fourth Doctor & Leela



Cast:

* Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker
* Leela - Louise Jameson
* Reginald Harcourt - Ian McNeice
* Jephson - Gareth Armstrong
* Christopher Manners - Anthony Howell
* Lizzie Harcourt - Daisy Ashford
* Beryl / Professor Hilda Lutterthwaite - Laura Molyneux
* Dr. Henry Carnforth - John Dorney




Synopsis:


"To continue Leela's education, the Doctor promises to take her to the famous Morovanian Museum. But the TARDIS lands instead in a quiet English village, where they meet the enigmatic collector Harcourt and his family.


When people start to die, reality doesn't appear quite what it was. There's something sinister going on within the walls of Harcourt's manor, and the stakes are higher than they can imagine.


The Doctor is about to discover that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing."

Review:

Leela was always one of my favourite companions and she really excells in this one for me. Tom Baker also does a fantastic job, he seems more settled than he did in the first one - though I've no idea in what order they were recorded. He has plenty of good lines and it's a complete pleasure listening to them both work together throughout this story. The other cast of characters also do good job and it's a shame that Scruffy didn't make it into the credits. The story is also quite interesting even though the ending was telegraphed right at the start and there wasn't much to it. The gradual reveals to The Doctor, and the audience, were told at a good pace that never slowed or got boring. It was just never epically climatic or tense or thought provoking. Really enjoyed this one.


Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Justin Richards
Director: Ken Bentley
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: February 2012

YouTube Trailer
Website Link

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