Slipback [AUDIO/1985.7.25 ~ 8.8]

★★☆☆☆

  Slipback is such an odd beast, because I'm so sure that it thinks itself to be much more entertaining than it is. Eric Saward goes for the Holmesian approach that has helped him tremendously in Revelation of the Daleks, filling the script with quirky characters (including a ship AI that has a distorted version of Peri's American accent, and Valentine Dyall playing a very big man with an appetite for food and young women) and giving them equal screentime with the regulars. There is a sense that the Doctor and Peri are purposefully kept away from listeners; Revelation may have paid even less attention to the regulars in its first episode, but it had the excuse that it was bloody good and showed Tranquil Repose as a living, breathing society that existed without the show. The Vipod Moor doesn't have that charm, and consequently the production loses a lot of steam with so many guest characters being a bit on the boring side.

  I'm not saying it's all pants; there's a twist at the end that finally gives the radio drama some zest, as it's a genuinely interesting idea. Trouble is, it's literally the final twist that comes about a few minutes before it ends, and at that point you're half zoned off. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant give the script their all, as they always do in the show, but it's not enough to salvage the entire bland, unimaginative production. When the entire thing feels disjointed -- and that feeling doesn't even make anything fun to listen to -- you know you're in for a bit of a dud.