Slipback
Following a trail of time spillage, indicating carelessly-conducted time experiments, the TARDIS brings the Doctor to the starship Vipod Mor, whose dysfunctional crew includes an undercover cop, a schizophrenic ship’s computer, and a captain intent on creating and unleashing the most virulent disease in the universe. But the Time Lord isn’t in any shape to take on these potential dangers - he’s nearly incapacitated, trying to decipher a cryptic message deliver to him by a disembodied female voice. Soon, he and Peri are caught in the middle of numerous deadly plots, but the Doctor discovers that he can’t interfere with any of them…without derailing the entire history of the universe.
written by Eric Saward
directed by Paul Spencer
music by Jonathan GibbsCast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Jane Carr (Computer), John Glover (Shellingborne Grant), Nick Revell (Bates / Snatch), Alan Thompson (Mutant / Steward), Valentine Dyall (Captain Slarn), Ron Pember (Seedle)
Timeline: after Revelation Of The Daleks and before Trial Of A Time Lord
Review: A story consisting of six short “episodes” created for BBC Radio’s “Pirate Radio 4″ children’s show, Slipback would seem to have numerous things going for it: the then-current lead actors of the show (which was, as the time, in the midst of the BBC’s ill-advised attempt to get rid of the TV series), as well as its script editor providing the story and music and effects from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. It all sounds like authentic Who. There’s just one problem: Eric Saward’s script is incredibly derivative, and occasionally our heroes are written out of character. (more…)
As the climactic episode of a reality TV show makes its live debut, the Doctor storms into the office of the network’s president to lodge a series of complaints about programming. But the Doctor soon discovers that the network is in the hands of the vicious Beep the Meep, a cute but bloodthirsty creature who plans to bring the people of Earth under his mind control by embedding subliminal instructions into his new children’s program. Even though the Doctor has already taken steps to prevent the domination of the viewing audience, he has failed to destroy the control mechanism that will allow Beep to take control…
The seventh Doctor, traveling alone, is looking forward to a holiday on the planet Armelia. The TARDIS doesn’t quite get him there, however, landing instead inside an enormous spacecraft. The Doctor becomes stranded there when, moments after stepping out of the TARDIS, he sees his timeship plummeting into the vessel’s gigantic furnace (thanks to a less-than-fortuitous landing on a deck hatch). In the course of trying to retrieve his only means of escape, the Doctor befriends Vilgreth, an enormous and slightly slow-witted being who claims to originate from - of all places - Devon. Vilgreth mentions that many have come to destroy him, and he’s glad that the Doctor isn’t one of them. Just such a creature arrives, and insists that the Doctor leave, since a bomb has just been planted on Vilgreth’s ship. The Doctor, infuriated, disarms the bomb, but also grows increasingly suspicious of why anyone would try to harm his seemingly innocuous host. The truth soon becomes apparent: Vigreth’s ship is, not unlike its captain, a dangerous relic. The ship’s fuel is entire planets. Its next stop is Armelia.
The TARDIS tumbles backward billions of years, alarming the Doctor and Sarah. But the Doctor is able to show Sarah the origins of her planet, from the formation of the solar system to the beginnings of life itself. But they’re not the only visitors from another time there - an alien named Megron has arrived to bring chaos to the young planet Earth, possibly even to disrupt the history of human evolution.