luismorale967a

A lovely little work, if surprisingly low-concept for the start of such an imaginative-sounding series. "Auld Mortality" - as the start of the "Unbound" series - reimagines the Doctor's life; in this case, what would have happened if he decided not to steal a TARDIS and flee into exile, but instead became simply a recluse and Gallifrey's renowned romance novelist? Geoffrey Balydon has a blast playing a Hartnell-esque Doctor, Carole Ann Ford is marvellous as a conflicted Susan, and the guest cast are all more than up to the task, playing a range of intriguing characters. The music is lovely and fitting, the different worlds are each rendered with depth, and the final scene - if a little on the nose - is touching for die-hard fans like me (with a reference to a very infamous '60s episode at that!). But, at the same time, the biggest flaw is that "Auld Mortality" is not all that easy to understand. I'm still not really sure what the big revelations at the climax mean, and in fact there were certainly elements that seemed too vague and theoretical - great for visual or written drama, but not so much for audio. I'm going to continue with this series, because this one did give me enough hope (even if I was quite surprised by how low-concept it seemed to be for a series with such a literally world-changing premise), but I think Marc Platt could've been a little more clear in some of his writing.

2022-10-29 03:16