The Wondrous Box

"This blue box was a wonder indeed."

Writer: Juliet Boyd

Format: Audio

Released: May 2011

Series: Short Trips 3.04

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane

Synopsis

The Doctor and Sarah Jane pay an ill-timed visit to PT Barnum and The Greatest Show on Earth.

Verdict

The Wondrous Box was a great little story to conclude my listening of the third volume of Short Trips! I’ve completed this release in an extremely roundabout away across nearly a decade which is quite staggering really, but they really do fill a little gap on my way to the football on the train. I also get to write this blog on that same train journey which is nice and really makes the time fly by on the fifty minutes from the Rhondda valleys into Cardiff. I was in intrigued from the start prior to listening by the fact that Louise Jameson was the narrator but it was actually Sarah Jane Smith as the companion accompanying the Fourth Doctor. That was fun and whilst I usually prefer the actual actress to voice their own character, Jameson did a really good job. I thought the sound effects of her dialogue in sounding a little distant and quieter really did well to cloud the fact it was still just one actor and neither were played by the original. Jameson did a really good job and her narration is tremendous. It really does help with my enjoyment of the story. I thought the title was fun when it turned out to be referring to the TARDIS and when that was made clear in the story I felt really silly I’m not realising that this would be the case. There wasn’t a more wondrous box in the universe! I thought it was quite fun to have the TARDIS crashing quite soon after landing on an uneven pallet and the circus surroundings were really good. It’s a fine place for a Doctor Who story and I’m honestly surprised that we haven’t had more circus-based adventures. There’s a lot of potential there! Benjamin Jackson taking an interest in the TARDIS was fun stuff and he was adamant he would have it as an exhibition. With it being able to appear and reappear it was a shoe in to be part of the show! Imagine that? It was fun to think about and I do wonder if the Doctor, particularly here in his fourth incarnation, would embrace that. He’d be at home as part of a circus act for sure. Benjamin Jackson actually getting his hands on the TARDIS key and finding his way through the lock potentially contradicts some earlier adventures in how difficult it would be to open the lock even when having the key, but it was still fun. He really did react in wonder to seeing the TARDIS interior and I liked how he was expecting to bump into a mirror imminently. Instead, he found a corridor and a display that listed the 1885 date, but it wasn’t in any kind of ink that he knew. He would even marvel at the introduction of electricity and the lightbulb, so the vast whiteness of the TARDIS interior was quite impressive! I thought that was great. Sarah Jane picking up on hearing the TARDIS as it moved 200 yards was fun although surely the Doctor would recognise his own Time Machine dematerialising? I thought that was slightly odd. I also thought a bit more explanation regarding how the TARDIS moved such a short distance and stayed in the same time was required, but it was still just entertaining. The way things ended with the elephant and train crash was quite emotional and the TARDIS being the reason for that as it was moved and filling the gap the elephant had noticed was powerful stuff. I do like a strong emotional pull. Overall, a really good adventure! 

Rating: 8/10