Day: August 12, 1986

This is a fan-made production whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

A Sontaran, a Draconian, and a female human pilot are kidnapped from their respective sectors of the galaxy and are subjected to the mental and psychological manipulations of another alien creature who is attempting to determine which race’s territory to invade next. However, the three prisoners manage to turn the tables on their captor, trapping him momentarily. But doing what any researcher would do with a tainted experiment, the alien escapes, setting his vessel for self-destruct. Now the Sontaran, the Draconian and the human must work well enough together under the threat of death to find their own escape route.

written by Terrance Dicks
directed by Keith Barnfather
music by Bug Music Productions

Cast: Sophie Aldred (Human), Miles Richardson (Draconian), Toby Aspin (Sontaran), Bryan Robson (The Alien)

Notes: The dialogue for Sophie Aldred’s human character is written not unlike Ace’s dialogue, with one major hint (“Wicked!”) at the very end of the episode; if one interprets this to mean that the character is Ace, it’s possible that this could be the first on-screen portrayal of Ace from the New Adventures era (namely, between leaving the TARDIS in the novel “Love And War” and rejoining later in “Deceit”). However, the sequel production Mindgame Trilogy may invalidate this interpretation, indicating that this is not Ace.

Review: It’s very easy to have high expectations of this Reeltime independent video from 1998. The script, after all, was written by Terrance Dicks, Doctor Who’s script editor for much of the late sixties and early seventies. The alien makeups were some of the more credible and well-crafted work I’ve yet seen in what is, essentially, a fan production. And the cast featured Sophie “Ace” Aldred and Miles Richardson (who has made the odd appearance on such shows as Highlander). How could they go wrong?

This is afan-made production whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Recently escaped from an experiment in which they were almost manipulated into killing one another, a human officer, a Sontaran warrior and an eloquent Draconian have now gone their separate ways – though not necessarily to happy endings. The human finds herself alone and adrift in a solo spacecraft with no food or water left, and a dwindling supply of oxygen. The Sontaran is transported back into the heart of the battle he once craved, where he finds that his newfound ability to think freely isn’t an asset. And the Draconian is imprisoned, now confined to a cell that he can’t reason his way out of.

Battlefield written by Terrance Dicks
Prisoner 451 written by Miles Richardson
Scout Ship written by Roger Stevens
directed by Keith Barnfather
music by Nicholas Briggs

Cast: Sophie Aldred (Space Pilot 692 7896), Miles Richardson (Commander Of Brigade Merq), John Wadmore (Field Major Sarg)

Notes: Where Mindgame strongly hinted that the human soldier played by Sophie Aldred was Ace (possibly from the New Adventures novels), Mindgame Trilogy complicates that interpretation with the death of Aldred’s character.

Review: An interesting and somewhat surprising 1999 follow-up to the rather well-produced (if chlichèd) fan-made video project Mindgame, Mindgame Trilogy suffers a great deal in comparison because it alternates between being a total bummer (as Sophie Aldred’s doomed space pilot slowly rationalizes her way toward suicide) and rather annoyingly dull (the Draconian’s dilemma, something which could have been much more interesting).