The Crowmarsh Experiment

"You remember nothing before the dream."

Writer: David Llewellyn 

Format: Audio

Released: January 2018

Series: FDA 7.02

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Leela

Synopsis

When attack on an alien world, Leela falls unconscious... only to wake in another time, another place.

She is in the Crowmarsh Institute on Earth, in London, in 1978, and everyone is calling her Doctor Marshall. They tell her the world she has known is but a fantasy, a delusion, and that this place is the one that is real.

Surrounded by familiar faces on unfamiliar people, Leela knows what is true and what is false. But how long can she believe when everyone around her says it's a dream? What's really happening here?

Verdict

The Crowmarsh Experiment was an outstanding continuation of the seventh series of the Fourth Doctor Adventures! I absolutely loved this episode and I thought it wouldn't disappoint as I was very excited from reading the synopsis alone, something I don't often do. This was a real treat and an incredibly strong showing for Leela as a companion in what was arguably one of her better stories ever. That's no light compliment as I really did think it was that good. The way things started set the tone with the Doctor answering a distress call and the arrival on a planet that was entirely flora was something I liked a lot because that's unique and brings an intriguing atmosphere of quiet. Of course, that all went away once the air-born hostile robots arrived and Leela and the woman warning she and the Doctor off were captured by a tractor beam. The story took an entirely different direction from this point forward with Leela waking up into what was her supposed reality where she was known as Doctor Marshall. That was a lot of fun and trying to convince her that she worked with Jennifer, the woman who'd shouted Leela and the Doctor off from the robots, was terrific. The Doctor being there was a little surprising, but of course the distortion showed that it was far from being the true Doctor at all. The poisoning of Leela will also have a lot to do with that! The continued efforts to convince Leela that all she knew with the Doctor had actually been a dream was excellent and it was good to plant the seeds of doubt in Leela with everything in her new surroundings seeming familiar. The Doctor in this world being George Stuart was good and it was just fun to hear Tom Baker not quite playing the role of the Fourth Doctor. The concept of a weapon against ideologies was something I thought phenomenal and that being described to Leela as what she had tested was tremendous. If anyone dreamed of violence they could just change the dream. The possibilities of power from that was incredible. The emotion that came with Leela seeing Marshall was superb and a really nice throwback to Requiem for the Rocket Men/Death Match after everything she went through there. She was clearly impacted by seeing the one she loved who she thought was dead. As if Leela wasn't going through enough, trying to convince her she had children was so powerful. She was adamant that she wasn't in reality but the moment where the children were actually brought to her and she felt the genuine love they had for her was striking. It was such a moving story for Leela. The use of the croaky radio sounds Leela was hearing as a means for the Doctor to communicate with her from the true reality was good and I liked her reaction when she realised she had been correct all along about Crowmarsh. The organic computer of Project Cichiphus worked really well and I enjoyed the concept of replenishing with organic material and it being the original source of the distress call. Leela's anger when it came to her being able to recite Tennyson was magnificent and the threat of her being subjected to surgery with those who didn't recover from the first tests was great. The Doctor telling Leela of Jennifer's daughter Sophie from the outside was really good and I also loved playing with the prospect of Leela's memories of reality fading in the same way a dream does. Her toying with staying with Marshall and being happy, even when she knew it wasn't true reality, was intriguing to say the least. Jennifer's coming to terms with Crowmarsh being the dream after Sophie was name dropped was really well done and I liked how the repetition of being told one was safe meant those who heard it now believed it. Jennifer ultimately helping was as expected, but it was still a really good moment. The plan to escape and ultimately destroy Crowmarsh was exciting and the Doctor making Stuart disappear after stopping the psychic field and playing with the fact of changing his face over the years was fun. The final plea from Marshall before Leela ignited the gas to destroy Crowmarsh was sublime and a fitting final moment of emotion. The Doctor leaving a message through Jennifer after she was wiped out was good and it worked well in there being a warning that there was nothing but death on this world. Overall, a wonderful, emotional and powerful episode!

Rating: 10/10