Creatures Of Beauty
The Doctor parks the TARDIS in orbit of the planet Veln to make some minor repairs, when his time vehicle is further damaged by a toxic gas leaking from a nearby freighter on a collision course. He slips the TARDIS forward by a century and sets down on Veln, finding that the atmosphere is saturated with the same deadly gas. He goes to warn the residents of a nearby mansion of the danger, and leaves Nyssa at the TARDIS. A young woman approaches Nyssa, armed with a scalpel and intent on committing suicide. When the authorities arrive, Nyssa is charged with murder, taken to Veln’s central security block, and is interrogated brutally. The Doctor’s attempts to help are blocked by Lady Forleon, who owns the mansion and seems to have a secret of her own to keep - and her agenda may or may not include preventing the Doctor from trying to rescue Nyssa. In the meantime, blood tests have revealed that Nyssa is an alien, throwing Gilbrook, a Veln security officer, into an increasing state of paranoia. Veln’s own past history with alien visitors hasn’t been pleasant, what with the Koteem freighter which, four generations ago, veered off course to avoid a collision and fatally polluted Veln’s atmosphere…
written by Nicholas Briggs
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Nicholas BriggsCast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), David Daker (Gilbrook), Jemma Churchill (Lady Forleon), Nigel Hastings (Quain), Michael Smiley (Seedleson), Philip Wolff (Murone), Emma Manton (Veline), Nicholas Briggs (Koteem / Moruge Attendant / Police Officer / Guard / Control / Captain Delarphim / Pilot)
Timeline: between Spare Parts and Arc Of Infinity
Review: If Quentin Tarantino did Doctor Who, it’d probably come off sounding like this. Creatures Of Beauty takes a novel approach to a fairly standard storyline by fragmenting it, scattering bits of it across all four episodes, and leaving it to the listener to put these pieces into the correct order. Along the way, there are scenes that push the envelope of violence for what we’d normally expect in the Doctor Who format, wisecracking hired guns, and lots of good intentions which only serve to pave an Autobahn to hell, which most of the story’s main characters travel down with great speed. With all the flashing back and flashing forward, I’m surprised it wasn’t easier to get lost in the story. Things do get a bit confusing toward the end, as the jumps backward and forward in the story become more frequent. But if the story were told in a straightforward fashion, it would be largely unremarkable. (more…)
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The Doctor is giving Erimem a tour around the TARDIS, but begins to lose track of where he is inside his own ship. When the timeship’s power fades, the Doctor knows that some outside force is acting on his TARDIS… or is it something on the inside? The Doctor and Erimem discover that a new life form has evolved within the TARDIS itself, and finally it has gained the sentience and knowledge required to take control. The Doctor hopes he can reason with the being, but the creature seems to have other ideas…
With the help of the Ewoks, the Rebels overrun the shield generator, but they’re too late to help their own fleet - the Millennium Falcon and its fighter wings emerge from hyperspace into the waiting arms of the Imperial Fleet, as part of an elaborate plan by Palpatine. But the Empire hasn’t counted on the presence of the Ewoks, and the shield generator is destroyed by Solo and his commando group. Lando makes some desperate alterations to the battle plan, and still manages to lead the Rebels into the heart of the Death Star - but aboard that station, Luke Skywalker is fighting his own battle against the power of the dark side of the Force. He may destroy the Empire, save the Rebellion, free the galaxy and become the last of the Jedi - but Luke still may not be able to save his father in the process. 