Aladdin Time

"How can a tale begin to tell itself?"

Writer: Paul Magrs

Format: Audio

Released: November 2011

Series: Serpent Crest 03

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Mrs Wibbsey

Synopsis 

Trapped underground, the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey encounter a small boy who claims to be Aladdin, in search of a fabled lamp. He joins them on their own quest, to find a power source in this weird domain and switch it off. 

Many obstacles lie in their way. Vast rooms stuffed with exotic items give way to torch-lit tunnels and deadly precipices. Creatures of mythical proportions lie in wait. Peculiar atmospheres take their all on them. Perhaps strangest of all, the Doctor's multi-coloured scarf appears to take on a life of its own...

As friends are separated and uneasy alliances are formed, the strange environment attempts to claim them. Will the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey ever get back to Hexford? And will Aladdin discover who he really is?

Verdict 

Aladdin Time was a great episode to continue my way through the Serpent’s Crest anthology of Nest Cottage Chronicles! This was an intriguing continuation for the story arc and it was fun to play with fiction. I’m always a big fan of tapping into story and I think the Land of Fiction is a severely under-utilised resource in of itself. Unfortunately we weren’t having another visit here, but the premise was much the same. I thought it was rather clever to incorporate the narration into the story as a pretty crucial element. I thought that was very unique. It was fun to have Scheherazade telling the story to the King and he was keen to hear more as peril came and went, but the moment at the end where the Doctor actually caught up with her was excellent. It seemed to be a blend of two worlds within the story. And the story itself had worlds within worlds with itself being contained within the Skishtari egg. We learned a bit more about that in this episode which was welcomed with it containing the gene of the race. I liked how it had powerful defensive capabilities as well as if the egg was even scratched or dented then a spawn of Skishtari seeds would be propelled to ensure the race took charge regardless. It was an impressive defensive mechanism. I thought the inclusion of Aladdin as a character was intriguing and it was done actually quite well. I’m not entirely familiar with the famed story which seems weird but the fact this gave us a sentient version of the Fourth Doctor’s infamous long scarf was brilliant. That’s an incredibly audacious idea and it was done rather well here. It is a bit silly but in a realm of fictionalised stories you can get away with that. The Doctor’s reaction to his scarf being the genie was amusing and everything you would hope for really. Tom Baker played it in tremendous style and the artwork on the CD cover is sensational. It’s clever because this story could only happen with this incarnation of the Doctor so it’s a clever use of the era and its elements. Mrs Wibbsey took to the new realm rather well but after all that’s happened to her in recent days, it was just another occurrence to add to her bundle or irregularities. I thought her recognition once again of Alex and Boolin was terrific and she didn’t waste time in revealing it. Her explanation of the egg and everything it entailed was good, and I thought it was quite fun when they exited the egg that she commented on its size and appearance. Could they really have been inside? Well they were! The resolution to the cliffhanger at the end of the previous episode of The Broken Crown was incredibly poor with the door suddenly appearing and not much being made of it, but the use of Aladdin’s lamp to get out of the egg was superb. The lead into the next episode was unexpected with the Doctor leaving Wibbsey alone in Hexford. I’m intrigued to hear where things go from there in the next episode. But for now, this was a very solid continuation. Overall, a great episode!

Rating: 8/10