PLOTLINE

Arriving on Earth in the midst of the American Civil War, the Doctor and Amy must get a posse together to help them retrieve an alien artefact that has fallen into the clutches of the Confederate Army.

The terraforming device belongs to the Cei, a race of invaders who plan to use it to turn the planet into a new home world. But neither the Army nor the aliens are keen to let the Doctor and his gang interfere with their plans, and give chase across the Wild West. The only hope of escape for the Doctor and friends is to catch the 3.25 to Arizona and race along the newly-built transcontinental railroad...

COMMENT - SPOILERS AHEAD

In an age of a technology-filled home (and cars), where children are more readily distracted by the wii, iPod downloads, hand-held device, and on-demand television & films it is an almost impossible task for a simple audio book to compete successfully. And in an economic downturn across the majority of the world, we're all reluctant to spend on "non-essentials" such as the humble audio book. But it seems that the DOCTOR WHO brand is "bucking the trend" and continues to be a valuable commercial licence to be held by the likes of CHARACTER OPTIONS and AUDIO GO (the new name of BBC AUDIO since a recent "sell-off" by BBC WORLDWIDE).

However, if you were unsure whether to risk buying a single-disc release such as Matt Smith's reading of Oli Smith's SERIES 5 tie-in, DOCTOR WHO - THE RUNAWAY TRAIN then don't be - it is a wonderfully lively adventure with a hint of a "timey-wimey" thrown in for good measure.

Earlier this year (2010), this BBC AUDIO exclusive was previously released by a UK national newspaper but a clinical version without incidental music and special sound effects, and it a strange beast to listen to. This release is a superior version and is highly recommended for the pre-teenager audience.

The plotline is, sadly, similar to DOCTOR WHO - THE RING OF STEEL (with an alien infiltration of planet Earth in the expectation to developing it as a (i) new home and/or (ii) breeding environment) and "ticks all the boxes" should you set a story in a 19 th century American war in the desert; the opposing forces of the Civil War, a "Mexican stand-off", ricocheting bullets, errant desiccated tumble weeds, and a commandeered steam train on a predestined termination course, add to that an alien artefact (reminiscent of the Chula Medical Vessel crashing on Earth with the inherent ability to affect it's surrounding organic life) that must be retrieved.

As gun-totting "cowboys" confront the Doctor, the opening scenes are crafted around SERIES 5's Head Writer, Steven Moffat admiration of playing with time and cause-will-have-effect-in-the-past. How do the assailants know the Doctor?

He (the Doctor) eyed the guns dubiously. "Oh!" he said, "Hello".

Oli Smith (under the guidance of the Executive Producer) found the Doctor's voice and his physicality (yes, even in audio, you can hear the Time Lord gesticulate with his wispy arms).

His description of Amy Pond is wonderfully eccentric in a Troughton asexual fashion:

My dashing young lady friend!

Whilst (Matt) Smith's reading is, on the whole, truly creative as his gallops from the 11 th Doctor, to American mid-west drawl of his Yankee "assistants", and to resonance creation of the potential alien, Cei. However, less successful is his attempt to re-create Karen Gillan's Amy Pond; it's a hybrid of Welsh and Canadian. Overall, the reading is engaging, and the action unerringly described with an appropriate timbre and tone of urgency. Strangely, the description of the Cei Leader appearing from its ship could the description of the 11 th Doctor appearing from the TARDIS in THE ELEVENTH HOUR.

The reading is, thankfully, supplemented by Simon Hunt's singular incidental music and sound effects that add a depth & realism that you will not only swotting away indignantly persistent flying insects or dodging lead shot as it's propelled from a Hawken rifle.

Interestingly that this new Doctor is, unlike his predecessor, a Doctor of "second chances", and everyone lives. It makes a change.

For Matt Smith's first reading, DOCTOR WHO - THE RUNAWAY TRAIN is an admirable release and, given a more substantial & layer storyline & script from, say, Robert Shearman, his second will be eagerly anticpated.