PLOTLINE

Two RAF fighter jets are on a training flight over North East Scotland when one of them is plucked from the air and promptly disappears. UNIT are called in, and the Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart are soon on the scene. They enlist the help of a local military officer - a young lieutenant named Mike Yates. The Doctor discovers a link to the recumbent stone circles that are plentiful in this part of Scotland.

The stones are thousands of years old, and are soon revealed to hold a terrible secret. Then Mike Yates disappears, abducted by an alien race that has a grievance with humanity. They intend to harness the power of the stones in order to take their revenge. For the Doctor and the Brigadier, the race is now on to save their new friend Mike and the entire planet Earth

Read by Richard Franklin with Trevor Littledale, and written by Andrew Smith.

COMMENT

If he was alive, series producer, Barry Letts would love Andrew (writer of 1980’s DOCTOR WHO - FULL CIRCLE) Smith’s AUDIOGO’s exclusive story to celebrate the series’ 50th anniversary, VENGEANCE OF THE STONES; it has the Third Doctor’s DNA coded throughout it.

Like the Brigadier’s iconic moustache, this release is stylishly quipped, technically accurate and as perfectly clipped in a fashion that would make Poirot jealous, moreover, it’s as thrilling as a high-octane rollercoaster ride.

An achievement, and, yes, recommended without hesitation.

Set somewhere between 1970’s INFERNO and 1971’s TERROR OF THE AUTONS, this AUDIOGO exclusive audiobook takes the brave approach in focuses on the pre-UNIT life of Lt. Mike Yates, and so much so that it could have easily been released under the title THE GENESIS OF MIKE YATES. Here, for two years, Yates has been stationed at a British Army base (Port George) in Aberdeenshire’s Inverurie only to be temporarily seconded to Para-military organisation known as UNIT to investigate a seemingly inexplicable disappearance of a Military aircraft and its pilot, Frank Parry. The events that unfold around him over the following days would change his life for ever, and, perhaps, as we all know with the benefit of hindsight (see PLANET OF THE SPIDERS) may have scarred him deeper than he originally had imagined (though, at the time, the Doctor may have delved beneath his calm militaristic veneer). Such is the attentive scripting and plotting by the writer; VENGEANCE OF THE STONES would have made an outstanding novel detailing Yates’ life prior to ‘joining’ the Brigadier’s team.

(Mike Yates on meeting the Doctor) “…he liked him immediately…”

Read by the original actor to play the role, Richard Franklin delivers a consummately professional performance as not only ‘his’ character (Mike Yates) but as the Third Doctor and the stoical Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. For the Time Lord, he personifies him as a reassuringly calm, open & honest yet knowingly implacable, whilst the UNIT leader is replete with bluster and verve ensuring that both characters are rounded and comparable to their TV realisation.

(The Brigadier on his current right-hand man) “…That’s Sgt Benton. Very reliable…”

Additionally, Simon Hunt’s post-treatment audio track is exemplary, setting every scene with such diligence that it would not be out of aural place in either a television series or cinema release. From relentless galling wind rolling across Base Port George’s landing strip, to droning Fighter Jets slicing through the Scottish sea-salt laden clouds, to one of our heroes attempting to tread water, to the Doctor’s garishly painted roadster’s rubber-bulb horn.

Smith’s basic plotting premise is highly successful; it draws on the scenarios established by the ‘dream production team’ of the 1970s, Barry Letts and, script editor, Terrance Dicks. Whilst definitely not a Yeti on a toilet in Tooting Bec, VENGEANCE OF THE STONES is set in a real place, the Easter Aquhorties, a set of Scottish standing stones including an intriguing ‘recumbent’ (i.e. horizontal) stone, and it is this singular item that is at the heart of the story.

But is this ‘recumbent’ stone of mythical or of scientific or of alien providence?

(Lt. Yates to the Doctor) “…Do you come across this sort of thing often working for UNIT?” The Doctor replied, “More often than you think.”

Falling foul of the ‘recumbent’ stone, like Ft. Lt. Frank Parry before him, Yates is effectively abducted by a group of stranded alien scientists, Amillians (from Tharos, a planet in need of minerals, and hence their visit to our own planet as a part of a ‘scoping exercise’). Interrogating him, the Amillian leader, Garlin – a chilling performance by Trevor Littledale – attempts to elicit the current status of Earth’s defences ahead of a ‘retrieval’ and return to their home-world.

(Garlin) “…Your people will be judged when we return to Tharos…”

Naturally, things don’t go as planned and in finding, courtesy of the all-knowing Time Lord, that their planet had been obliterated in the distant past, the Amillian survivors’ plan changes to one of human genocide to secure their own bloodline.

Inexplicably, the Doctor is aided in his resolution to this new scenario by a telephone call from himself in a future incarnation (seemingly, the Eleventh). It’s a fun inclusion but, regrettably, seemingly undermines the intelligence of the protagonist in a way that television series avoided.

(Eleventh Doctor on his Third incarnation) “…dressed like Oscar Wilde on a bad day…”

But can the Doctor retrieve Mike Yates from Garlin, and save the planet from being decimated by homeless aliens, and, more importantly, can he retain his legendary bouffant hairstyle whilst being buffeted by the salty-air of the Scottish coast?

With clever historically accurate nuances (mentioning a once common sight of a Police ‘Panda Car’ [probably a Ford Anglia], and the UNIT deployed Hercules Transporter aircraft seen in DOCTOR WHO – THE INVASION), VENGEANCE OF THE STONES is thoroughly enjoyable, intelligent, relentless in action (similar to its predecessor, SHADOW OF DEATH), and confidently performed with relish by Franklin and Littledale.

Following a shaky start of the series, DOCTOR WHO – DESTINY OF THE DOCTOR – HUNTERS OF EARTH, this third instalment is just the fillip that’s required to carry fans forward until April’s release (DOCTOR WHO - DESTINY OF THE DOCTOR - BABBLESPHERE).