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For this volume, Mark J. Thompson (sounding rather like
a Stellar Network Radio DJ at times) turns his attention to
Elisabeth Sladen, who is most famous for her role as Sarah
Jane Smith in Doctor Who.
During
the lengthy opening track, the actress discusses what she
thinks Sarah would have got up to since the Doctor all but
abandoned her at the end of The Hand of Fear. She acknowledges
that her own ideas about Sarah's fate will probably differ
from what writers might envisage for her. It is certainly
true that several Doctor Who novelists have depicted
an older Sarah still being accompanied by K-9, whereas Sladen
insists that she would have palmed the metal mutt off on to
Brendan or else given the robot back to the Doctor at the
first opportunity!
It
is interesting to note that although she buys into the events
told in **K-9 and Company**, Sladen does not regard The
Five Doctors as a "true" Sarah Jane Smith adventure because
her role in that story could have been fulfilled by any old
companion. However, both interviewer and interviewee fail
to mention Sarah's appearance in the Reeltime spin-off video
Downtime. Perhaps she feels the same way about that
story, too.
Whereas
Gareth Thomas' "guest star" during Volume 1 was his acting
colleague Nicholas Courtney, Sladen is accompanied by one
Sadie Miller - her daughter. Sadie's face, shown on the CD
sleeve, may seem familiar, and not just because she looks
a lot like her mum. She appeared, eight years ago, in the
Doctor Who anniversary documentary, Thirty Years
in the TARDIS. This student and budding writer has contributed
a short story and a witty poem to this CD, both of which are
read by her mother. Sadie is also briefly interviewed, discussing
her writing and her career plans, but sadly Thompson neglects
to enquire as to whether she still holds any interest in Doctor
Who.
Elsewhere,
Sladen performs a couple of monologues written for her by
Thompson, featuring a character called Anne. The actress takes
the opportunity to exercise her native Liverpudlian accent
as Anne describes a couple of peculiar anecdotes, one of which
ends with a particularly effective twist.
The
penultimate track, in which Thompson and Sladen discuss with
Andrew Beech the background to this very CD, initially seems
rather self-congratulatory. However, it is a good opportunity
for Thompson to explain what he is seeking to achieve with
this series, in which he allows his interviewees more creative
input than they would have been permitted on a straightforward
interview CD. Sladen also airs her thoughts on the format,
and explains why she chose to involve her daughter.
The
final track, a trailer for MJTV's comedy drama CD series,
Soldiers of Love, which includes new narration by Sladen,
is a more blatant bit of self-promotion. I can understand
the need to advertise, but why try and shoehorn this promo
into the subject matter of the CD? The actress has no involvement
in Soldiers of Love, other than narrating this trailer.
Why not just bung a bog-standard advert, unlisted, at the
end of the CD, as Big Finish do?
That
gripe aside, this CD passes an entertaining 70-odd minutes.
Richard
McGinlay
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