1 episode. Approx. 16 minutes. Written by: Darren Goldsmith. Directed by: Nicholas Briggs, Ken Bentley. Produced by: Nicholas Briggs, Jason Haigh-Ellery. Performed by: Louise Jameson.
THE PLOT
On a hot summer day at an English shopping centre, the Doctor sets a coin rolling toward a pigeon. This simple act sets off a chain reaction that has effects both minor and major on several of the people in the parking lot - and attracts what should be genuinely impossible interference from a particularly stubborn security guard.
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: This is a case of a story that's particularly well-matched to its chosen Doctor. There are only two Doctors n that I can comfortably see pushing the rules of time to test the impact of a simple coin roll: The 4th and the 7th. And if it was the 7th Doctor, then it would probably be due to some grand master plan to thwart an all-powerful villain, meaning that only the 4th can really convince in setting this chain in motion for no significant purpose.
Sarah Jane Smith: Appears (briefly), placing the story somewhere in Season 13 or early Season 14. Otherwise, has no real role to speak of.
THOUGHTS
This story presents the Fourth Doctor at play, and it's a rather engaging snapshot - the sort of thing a 15 minute audio Short Trip is probably best suited for. It's easy to picture Tom Baker's Doctor lounging against a wall, rolling a coin toward a pigeon and watching to see what happens. Of course, like all good games, the Goldberg-esque chain reaction he sets off has a purpose - a way for the Doctor to "win." Like any good gamer, he plays until he finally beats the game.
There is a complication in the form of the security guard, and the guard's intrusion is used to create a challenge for the Doctor. It's a classic three-fold structure. The first pass sees the most likely result of a coin roll: Nothing of any consequence happens. This pass also describes the basic setting (the parking area, the scaffolding with the paint) and introduces the security guard as an irritant to the Doctor's ploy. The second pass shows us the bulk of the chain and the Doctor's urgency in observing the spectacle. I particularly liked the detail of the three knots in his scarf, with a knot being undone every time one of the major steps of the chain was completed. This second pass ends by bringing the guard back and presenting him as a more significant hurdle for the Doctor to overcome. And finally, the third pass completes the chain, presents the punch line to the Doctor's little game, and explains the guard's seemingly impossible interference.
This very precise structure helps this minor little piece to maintain momentum, while the portrayal of the Doctor keeps it engaging. I also enjoyed the descriptions of the chain reaction itself. Each piece of the chain is amusing, but nothing happens within that chain that's so over-the-top as to strain credibility. There's no question of life and death here: A woman will either get splashed with paint or she won't; a businessman will either bump into a teenager or he won't; a young man and a young woman will either meet, spark, and exchange phone numbers or they won't. No lives hang in the balance, and no piece of the chain provokes any actual destructive slapstick.
In short, tone and incident match. Chain Reaction is a light, pleasant, clever diversion. Judged on that basis, I find it a thoroughly enjoyable one.
Rating: 7/10.
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