The Turn of the Screw

"She wanted the thing I stole."

Writer: Eddie Robson

Format: Audio

Released: March 2018

Series: Short Trips 8.03

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Charlie Sato

Synopsis

Charlie Sato has been chasing a bit of alien junk from England to Puerto Rico. He's finally got his hands on it – but now he's got to get it safely off the island. The aliens he stole it from want it back, and someone else has hired a group of thugs to get hold of it. And then there's the original owner – he might come looking too.

All this for a screwdriver? Someone, somewhere must want to unscrew some pretty important screws.

Verdict

The Turn of the Screw was a fun little Short Trips adventure! I was really intrigued by the name and the synopsis and putting such importance on the sonic screwdriver is a terrific little idea and I think it works perfectly for a format like the Short Trip range. I'm not entirely sure Big Finish would get away with doing full cast feature-length story around the Doctor's trusty device that has been almost ever present since Fury from the Deep, but right here it works well and is just a fun basis to centre the plot around. Charlie Sato is a very good character and I really enjoyed him in Tales From the Vault and Mastermind so to get an extension here with a bonus story for the UNIT worker was excellent! I think it's a good decision to have him encounter the Eighth Doctor and the irony of the actor also being the same man as would appear in the semi-companion role during The Movie is a nice little addition and side note. It really was just a fun half an hour! Charlie was clearly a little confused by his mission to obtain such a small device and the fact that it was battered and apparently broken didn't really do much for his happiness. The excitement was definitely there and I really noticed how well the background music and effects were incorporated into the telling of the audio. That was really impressive and not something that the Short Trips are always renowned for. That was definitely a big bonus. The prospect of Charlie not being the only one out to find the sonic screwdriver was fun and with the later reveal that it had been lost and dropped in Leadworth was sublime and just terrific continuity from The Eleventh Hour! This is Big Finish at its finest for me because to create an entire story based on the Eleventh Doctor losing the screwdriver that was most synonymous with the Ninth and Tenth Doctors as we headed into a new era is just wonderful. It's almost silly how good the continuity is and how everything loops around and ties in, but that's what appeals to me. The whole ship setting worked well and I thought it was actually fantastic for the Doctor to initially be the one that 'drugged' Charlie. In fact, he merely provided some nanogenes to help heal him. It was a great little sequence and after everything that had occurred to Charlie while trying to extract what was to him a small and broken alien device, the presence of the Doctor cleared everything up. Initially, he refused to believe that the Doctor was who he said he was, but when he stopped and thought about it then all was clear. I really liked that. I thought the Doctor unknowingly referencing the events of The Day of the Doctor with the sonic screwdriver and the programme running in the background was excellent and his reaction to seeing that this was his handiwork, but not a design he had yet created was lovely. It was just so much fun and I have to say that the writing was well suited for the Eighth Doctor, even if the star was Charlie Sato. His reaction to realising that the Doctor was going to hold onto his future screwdriver was very good and the Doctor merely stating that his superiors at UNIT would have to be unhappy that he went back empty handed was great stuff. The little cameo at the end with Captain Ruth returning was good and upon further research, this setting up a Second Doctor Companion Chronicle is brilliant! I have actually just purchased the second volume following a recent sale so I'm sure it won't be too long before I get to it. Overall, a really fun and good adventure! 

Rating: 8/10