All the Fun of the Fair

"Trips to the future!"

Writer: Bev Conway

Format: Audio

Released: May 2011

Series: Short Trips 3.08

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Lucie 

Synopsis 

'Welcome to the future. Step right up for the trip of a lifetime! Yes, madam, I know it says Police Public Call Box but that's just by way of a bit of disguise...'

Verdict 

All the Fun of the Fair was a bit of a strange Short Trips story! I almost consider the first four series of this innovative range to be in its own little world as the stories really are short. This one here was just twelve minutes long and that really isn’t a lot of time to flesh out a full adventure. I thought having India Fisher as narrator was wonderful and I was really looking forward to revisiting Charley alongside the Eighth Doctor once again, so I was completely taken aback to find that Lucie Miller was actually the companion! That was really surprising and just had me baffled. It didn’t impact Fisher’s narration as she can only take on what she’s dealt with, but I just don’t understand why you’d have her narrate a story with the Eighth Doctor alongside a completely different companion. That felt off. That being said, her impression Lucie Miller was actually superb and I honestly wouldn’t have thought any differently if I was told that Sheridan Smith was also performing. It was uncanny and that really helped with the authenticity despite Lucie only featuring for a minute or two. I thought the premise of the story itself started strong as I really like the funfair as a setting. There’s a lot of potential there as we’ve seen in the likes of The Nightmare Fair and The Mad Woman in the Attic so I was excited to get another story in a similar setting. It didn’t quite live up to its potential but we did get some decent sound effects to establish the setting and I loved the idea of the TARDIS being used as an attraction. That was very exciting and whilst I thought it was only going to go as far as the whole bigger on the inside thing, the prospect of actually taking people to the future was excellent. What was missing was explanation as to how the mysterious John Smith had control of the TARDIS and how once those that went in were left in the future, how he got it back. Did he know about the fast return switch? I felt there was a severe lack of explanation there which was a shame. Considering this is an Eighth Doctor tale, there really was an incredible lack of the Doctor which never helps a story when we know he’s there. The narration being from the point of view of John Smith himself was something I wasn’t a huge fan of as it again just seemed to make me confused why Fisher was narrating. She did the best job she could with the hand given and she is entertaining for sure in a cocky cockney, but I just couldn’t help but think the story was begging for Charley. I thought it was a bit naff and quite rushed to have Lucie recruit a descendant that she thought would be clever enough to help get the TARDIS back, and that was really lacking in explanation. How did she know? For a twelve minute story, you really ought to not  have a rushed ending. That felt like a big let down. It’s a shame really as by the time the story ended I felt like it was a missed opportunity. There was a great idea at the heart of it but with just twelve minutes to tell it and flesh it out it was never going to fully deliver. A little rushed and some jumbled dialogue with too many ‘he said’ or ‘said the Doctor’ moments in quick concession at the conclusion. It felt jumbled by the end which was a shame. Overall, not ideal but far from awful. With some more time I think this would be a success. 

Rating: 5/10