PLOTLINE

The Doctor answers a psionic distress call sent from England in the 1920s. There, in the environs of a fairground, he is reunited with an old friend: Harry Houdini. To Adric and Nyssa the name means very little, but to the Doctor's companion Tegan he is a legend. Escape artist extraordinaire, Houdini's reputation will last for decades. But how does Houdini know so much about Tegan herself? Is it really just guesswork, as he says? Is Houdini right to be concerned about the fairground's fortune teller, who claims to have supernatural skills? Both he and the Doctor suspect an alien influence may be at work. What neither the Doctor nor his friends realise is that, somewhere in the shadows, a sinister and all too familiar presence is lying in wait for them...

Written by Steve Lyons, performed by Janet Fielding with Tim Beckmann.

COMMENT - NO MAJOR SPOILERS

This fifth “chapter” of AUDIOGO’s celebratory audio-readings under the DOCTOR WHO – DESTINY OF THE DOCTORS banner is as memorable as the first release of this series.

As mediocre as a 1968 Ford Escort or a McVities’ Digestive biscuit, Steve Lyons’ SMOKE AND MIRRORS is terminally lacklustre in narrative substance and is only lifted from tawdry by an exemplary post-production (incidental music score and [very] special sound effect treatment) by Simon Hunt.

Even its narrator, Janet Fielding, failed to live up to her spunky performance of the television series, and, at times, sounded as if she was recording the audio track in a ceramic wall-tiled underground Gentlemen’s toilet. Sadly, it’s just not good enough considering the heritage of the production company (Big Finish Productions).

Unlike a conjurer or magician bewildering with dexterity and showmanship, the author’s narrative is ham-fisted as it attempts – and, disappointingly so as he has previously written the far more enjoyable and intelligent DOCTOR WHO – DAY OF THE COCKROACH, fails – to manage the curse of Season 19; too many companions with little contribute and an adversary that is under serviced and overplayed, incorporated into a flimsy plotline in an attempt to flesh it out.

Certainly, SMOKE AND MIRRORS (set between THE VISITATION and EARTHSHOCK) has a promising basic premise. The Fifth Doctor being ‘summoned’ – from an entrusted psionic distress device - by the American entertainer & escapologist, Harry Houdini in order to investigate an Fairground Fortune Teller (Madame Trabati) with extraordinary psychological skills or so he tells the Time Lord… Is the mystery terrestrial or alien?

To his credit, Lyons attempts to expand the DOCTOR WHO universe pertaining to the Doctor’s back story (recollections of Houdini’s previous space-time adventures with the Time Lord are hinted at with mentions of Jo Grant [Third incarnation] and Ben & Polly [First or Second incarnation]) and the recent foray in THE VISITATION where his trusty ‘friend’ (Sonic Screwdriver) was eliminated. Appreciative touches, sweeteners for a pallid concoction that is ultimately unsatisfying.

However, the story is challenged by singular chilling scene as the Doctor finds himself undertaking one of the escapologist’s legendary stunts. The “Overboard Box Escape” sees him chained, unceremoniously locked into a crate which is nailed securely before it is casually thrown of the end of a seaside Pier. Certainly, this scene, due to its terrifying ‘reality’ would never have been, or would be, broadcast on-screen.

As you would expect, at the centre of the story, the Doctor and Harry encounter an alien sphere used by the Ovid – being of pure thought – to control and feed off organic entities. Would the Doctor’s destruction of sphere resolve the threat or escalate the matter? Would a time-defying message from his own future give him the knowledge and hope that he needs?

Eleventh Doctor (to the Fifth Doctor): “Don’t leave the fair before first…”

And why is Harry more interested in his “…blue cabinet…” than he is in the threat of the Ovid sphere (used by Madame Trabati’s as her fortune telling globe)? Is Harry who he seems to be or an alien in disguise?

Meanwhile, in the honourable tradition of DOCTOR WHO plotting, the TARDIS companions are isolated with trouble seeking them out, and, here, Lyons’ struggles in the same way that several writers have done within the series; the script is as thin as one of K9’s memory wafers desiccated by Time Winds. Accordingly, the companions are hunted by an errant Panthera, and whilst Adric seek refuge in a fairground ‘ride’, Nyssa and Tegan seek refuge in a theatre inhabited by faux ghosts and ghouls, or so they think. The materialising apparition strike fear to their very core, and imbues the listener with an expectation that SMOKE AND MIRRORS will – finally – carry this momentum to an intelligent crescendo and not to a damp squib.

As the SMOKE AND MIRRORS’ synopsis states, “…all too familiar presence is lying in wait…” But whom?

As I said, Simon Hunt’s post-production treatment is the highlight of the release due to his diligent ear in crafting a snapshot of an Edwardian England pleasure palace beside the seaside beside the sea. Dramatically and artistically atmospheric, transporting the listener to a time and place where the salt-laden ‘mizzle’ further infiltrates the aged, peeling shards of paint and confounds the rust coral of the fair’s machinery. Feral dogs persistently bark as seagulls wheel uncontrollably whilst the hubbub of joviality is only punctuated by belching plumes of steam as the incessant rides provide Tuppenny distraction for the post-War fun-seekers. From creaking wood-worm riddled floorboards, to rusting hinges, to Ovid psychic energy release, Hunt’s own aural narrative ensures that Lyon’s is given flesh and substance.

Overall, SMOKE AND MIRRORS is an amusing diversion, a fool’s errand and nothing more. Perhaps, if the plotting was more 21st season rather than 19th, exploring the relationships between the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough, then it may have been far more engaging. More so, if Matt Smith had recorded himself the 11th Doctor’s insert to add a much required frisson not only to this ‘chapter’ but to the previous four.

To date, only ‘chapter’ three, VENGEANCE OF THE STONES has exceeded expectations of this linked series of 50th anniversary releases from AUDIOGO.