The One Doctor

At the vulgar end of time, the Doctor and Mel come to the planet Generios to answer a distress call. When they arrive, though, they discover a pair of cons masquerading as the Doctor and companion, after having saved the planet from a staged invasion. But when a real threat arrives and demands the three great treasures of the Generios system, the cons crumble and become unwilling companions to the genuine articles as they scour the system for the treasures. Hilarity ensues.

Yes, it's a comedy.

Okay so it's not a bad comedy. It's pretty funny actually, played totally for laughs and giving Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford some great material together as the Doctor and Mel. Their relationship carries on much as it did on screen back in The Trial of a Time Lord, perhaps a bit less saccharine laced; and they really sound like they are enjoying working together on CD despite their very short on-screen acquaintance. Bonnie Langford seems to have relaxed in the role, as if there's no pressure on her to save the show now with her star power. And.... she doesn't scream! She threatens to at one point, but thankfully it never happens.

Since it's not to be taken seriously it's hard not to enjoy Melanie's struggle to assemble the Shelves of Infinity (which anyone who has ever grappled with an IKEA Billy system will appreciate), or the Doctor's arrival in a Weakest Link inspired game show where the contestants have to stump a supercomputer under the watchful eye of an Anne Robinson-esque hostess. The imposters, Banto Zane and Sally Anne, split off and accompany Mel and the Doctor respectively on their tasks once they realize the truth of matters; as far as they were concerned the Doctor was just the stuff of legend, and they never expected the real thing to come along.

The One Doctor fits in snugly with the established tone of the televised series at the end of The Trial of a Time Lord, even if it is a bit more clever than some moments in Terror of the Vervoids and almost all the scripts in the show's 24th season, but it's that same bubbly hey-we're-just-kidding tone that started driving people away. Thankfully this trend is coming to a screeching halt (at least I've heard it is) with the next story...

NEXT EPISODE : THE JUGGERNAUTS