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Turnidus explains to the understandably confused Cilla, Cindy,
Frag, Gamak and Yztabub what went on while they were sleeping...
Part
Six was a rather unusual episode, even by Soldiers of Love
standards, departing radically from events in the previous
instalment and putting several plot developments on hold.
This episode picks up on many of those events, the majority
of which are conveyed through flashbacks narrated by Turnidus
(Nicholas Courtney).
We
learn, for instance, what became of Turnidus and Panakol Floorunner
(Mark J Thompson) following the wacky race that took place
during Part Five. We also hear the welcome return of Gareth
Thomas as the camp Hywel Hammond. However, there is a distinct
disadvantage to having so much of the story conveyed in flashback,
because the listener already knows which characters have survived
the calamitous events that are being related. This factor
also takes some of the shine off this episode's cliffhanger
ending.
This
CD is also notable for a high incidence of performers doing
impersonations of other actors. For example, as well as enjoying
a reference to Roj Blake's "Down and safe" catch phrase, Blake's
7 fans may also notice that Doctor Proctor (Niall Stuchfield)
sounds not unlike Brian Croucher's version of Travis. Meanwhile,
Medicworld physician Didelious Davenport (Steven Degattis)
is strongly reminiscent of Rocky Horror and Crystal
Maze star Richard O'Brien. We also catch up with events
surrounding Mrs Blubber's (Alison Taffs) discovery of the
real Mydas Mydason (Mark J Thompson), and hear Thompson mimicking
rather effectively Michael Keating's former portrayal of Mydas.
Thompson's
performance as Cindy - who, it is inventively explained, is
suffering from a radioactively mutated throat - occasionally
sounds a little too similar to the same actor's Panakol voice.
But I suspect that this similarity might actually become a
clever plot point. (That's all I'll say for now...!)
Due
to the flashback factor, forthcoming events may be a little
more predictable than usual, but I'm still eager to hear another
episode.
Richard
McGinlay
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