Dumb Waiter

"Just cake and polite conversation."

Writer: Rob Nisbet

Format: Audio

Released: June 2018

Series: Companion Chronicles: Second Doctor 2.02

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Victoria, Leela

Synopsis

The Doctor and Victoria attend a civilised garden party. But their genial hostess, Mrs De Winter, is convinced that the garden conceals a secret; something about Carlos the head waiter who never speaks.

The hidden truth can be glimpsed by people less accustomed to the mask of politeness and cake. People like Jamie. 

And people like Leela, the mysterious 'warrior of the Seventeen'...

Verdict

Dumb Waiter was a great adventure to continue the second volume of Companion Chronicles from the Second Doctor era! This is undoubtedly the one from the series I was most interested in as the prospect of throwing Leela into the era of the Second Doctor was so exciting. I love when characters from different eras mix together and the ultimate selling point of this audio had to be the interaction between Jamie and Leela. That is such a magnificent prospect and it definitely didn't disappoint. These are two of the Doctor's more violent companions and the way they were introduced was terrific. The little cameo of the Fourth Doctor was good and he had recalled the events where he first met Leela, and this was quite some time prior to The Face of Evil. I liked the recording method and audio files as a means to incorporate the Chronicle format into the story, and the different versions were fun. It was amusing that the Doctor didn't tell Leela anything about what he was doing with the time ring and before she knew it she had been thrust back in time to the Second Doctor's TARDIS, and she wasn't best pleased with the changes. This wasn't the wooden console interior and the mention of all of the gadgets on the console was terrific. Leela dubbing the Second Doctor as the Chief Intruder was amusing and I really enjoyed how her warrior instincts were used to eventually realise that this Doctor was the same man she knew in the future. The fight between her and Jamie was fantastic and Leela getting the upper hand was delightful. The humour that ensued from her little knife comments and nicknaming was glorious. I absolutely adored Leela's comments about Victoria and her needless gown clothing, going so far as to ask the Doctor why he kept her around! That was Leela at her blunt best. I wasn't a huge fan of Mrs De Winter but it did seem like Louise Jameson had fun playing the role. The need to describe her as pretty massive and wide was a little unnecessary but it did come back at the end when the predictable but fun reveal that she was a Wraith all along occurred. I thought the garden party setting was strong and I liked that it was all about perception with the Wraiths actually taking on being all of the guests. The link with the trees thrusting out the desired image of the party was good and Jamie not understanding the concept and therefore being less impacted was good. I thought the cliffhanger was excellent with Leela taking it upon herself to stab the Second Doctor with a janus thorn! That was a very strong way to conclude the part and the potential threat on the future was intriguing to think about, but it seems the Fourth Doctor would have remembered this. I thought the ending was pretty decent and a nice injection of action with Victoria playing an important role in taking out the transmitter and dealing with the Wraiths once and for all. As a whole, this was a really strong audio adventure and the ending with Leela getting a goodbye at the food machine was a nice touch. Overall, a terrific listen and a nice blend of eras.

Rating: 8/10