The Riparian Ripper

"Will he strike again?"

Writer: Andrew Cartmel

Format: Audio

Released: May 2011

Series: Short Trips 3.07

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace

Synopsis

The Doctor and Ace investigate a series of terrifying attacks along the banks of the Red River.

Verdict

The Riparian Ripper was a great Short Trips story! This was definitely one of the better adventures from the early series of this range which can often be largely forgettable and a bit rushed. Whilst still a very strong outing, I do think an extra five minutes or so here would have been hugely beneficial to really flesh things out but that’s not to say this wasn’t good. It was very much so! I thought the pace of the mere sixteen minutes for this story was actually quite good and definitely one of the better instances in the range. I was also delighted to find the writer for this story was Andrew Cartmel as he really is a defining writer of stories for the Seventh Doctor and Ace. This is a pairing that has grown on me over the years doing this blog and I must admit that when I was younger, I really didn’t enjoy them at all. I wasn’t a fan of Ace in the slightest and whilst I do think she is a little overrated, she’s still tremendous and her recent appearance in The Power of the Doctor might have something to do with that. Sophie Aldred herself was excellent in the narration role and she did a stellar job in bringing her own character of Ace to life whilst simultaneously doing a very solid job with the Seventh Doctor and the other characters that complete the story. The relationship between the Doctor and Ace was good and the way things started with the former handing the latter the newspaper with the titular headline was absolutely something I could see happening in those last two series of the Classic era. The atmosphere felt right which is always important and this definitely felt like a genuine Seventh Doctor tale. I enjoyed the concept of the Riparian Ripper and I was intrigued right away to find that all of the victims survived. This wasn’t an ordinary situation and I liked the revelation that the Ripper wasn’t trying to kill anyone at all, he was actually trying to save them. That was an unexpected twist but one which worked well. The very concept of surgical precision to repair was good and a nice twist on the whole ripper story. Herb Gorman being saved from the skill was a nice way to end, with Leonard Millroy as the local medical man being a good authority on the situation. Walter as the reporter was also a really good character to have at the start of the story and he was helpful in summing up to both the listener and the Doctor and Ace the situation at hand regarding the Ripper. It was nice and helpful as well for Ace to ask what riparian meant as I must admit I didn’t know either. I liked how Stan Gorman was angry about the treatment of his daughter which is of course understandable, but he probably did go a little too far. I liked that Ace was the one at the end to light the explosives to set the Ripper free in his spaceship, and who else would be the one to hit the detonator? It had to be Ace! Overall, a great story!

Rating: 8/10