Slipback

"A voice calling to you from afar."

Writer: Eric Saward

Format: Audio

Broadcast: 25 July-8 August 1985

Series: BBC Radio 01

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis

The Sixth Doctor and Peri arrive on a mysterious space liner, where intergalactic policemen are investigating art thefts, a computer is suffering from a split personality and the Captain's disease threatens every living thing on the ship.

Verdict

Slipback was a pretty average audio adventure, but a real joy to listen to given its standing in the history of the Whoniverse. I'm not sure Exploration Earth counts as a firm first radio audio adventure for Doctor Who given its educational intent and it being broadcast for BBC Schools, but this felt like a precursor to Big Finish which is a huge compliment. I was surprised to hear in the opening titles that Eric Saward penned the story as this doesn't exactly feel like something up his alley. It's also fascinating to look back on now at the state of Doctor Who in 1985 with the show going on hiatus for over eighteen months. That really doesn't feel like much of an issue at all now with the recent news that the next new episode will now air for Christmas 2026. The Reality War aired in May this year! And yet here we are having an original audio with the original lead cast to fill the gap. Oh what I'd give for an original audio featuring Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu at the moment! The story itself is not exactly the greatest but it's far from being bad as well. I don't think the format does it any favours as six parts of ten minutes each is not the best in terms of flow. I find the broadcast decision to do two episodes per week odd as well. Why not just do three parts of twenty minutes? That would definitely have been better. I thought some of the cliffhangers were a bit naff and the directing decision to encourage the Doctor and Peri at times to go over the top with their reactions was a little off-putting. It didn't feel natural which was a shame. It was really fun though to listen to Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant in a story recorded in the middle of their on screen run. They're tremendous together for Big Finish but there's no doubting how much younger and authentic they sounded! That was really intriguing for comparison. I thought the Captain made for a good villain in parts but his humour was a little silly in what he represented. I did like the threat of the incurable death though and the Doctor's reaction to that potentially being present was excellent. The Inner Voice was an interesting little element too and the Doctor hearing that even within the TARDIS was quite surprising. The Maston race sounded somewhat average and the Doctor being surprised by their presence because they were wiped out a million years ago was terrific. I do like a mystery like that. The way the Doctor was investigating someone who was meddling with time travel was often forgotten was a bit of a shame as I do like that threat, and the Inner Voice wanting to change history on a scale that was almost unfathomable almost felt too big! The scale in which she wanted to retro-engineer the galaxy's races was huge! I thought the Doctor almost stopping it but it then turning out to actually be the Big Bang with her calculations way off and going back in time too far was audacious to say the least! I wasn't a massive fan of a member of the High Council of the Time Lords interfering, but it did need to be someone in authority to even stop the Doctor from following through with his actions. Imagine if he'd prevented creation! The computer voice was ungodly in terms of annoyance as well. No wonder she wanted a different voice! The Vipod Moor would go on with its journey and creation was not averted. Some stakes for a mere time experiment! Overall, a fascinating listen that just getting to experience it felt better than the actual story. 

Rating: 6/10