Doctor Who

By the mid-eighties, the once proud and mighty figure of Dr Who was withered and tired, with many fans of the opinion that the Beeb had taken its finger off the Quality Control button. Yet, the good Doctor soldiered on, only occasionally reaching past heights. This series of audio adventures, starring the sixth incarnation of the Time-travelling Gallifreyan, Colin Baker, may not be anywhere near the character's glory days but it does show the series attempting to imbibe the humorous eccentricities of Douglas Adams' The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to The Galaxy series--with varying results. The story, a sometimes clumsy concoction of gigantic spacecraft, illegal time experiments and intergalactic art theft often sees attempts at drama and tension undermined by laboured comedy such as cantankerous Alien spaceship captains and a neurotic, comedy-voiced computer. For ardent fans of Who's golden age, Slipback may be a depressing affair, an unfortunate memento of a show brought to its knees through lack of faith. Yet, seen as a curio of the kind of sci-fi that would evolve in to the likes of Red Dwarf, this is a mildly entertaining diversion. --Danny Graydon

View other editions of Doctor Who.
View books by Eric Saward.