4-c. Lost in the Wakefield Triangle.

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 17 minutes. Written by: Vin Marsden Hendrick. Directed by: Nicholas Briggs, Ken Bentley. Produced by: David Richardson.


THE PLOT:

When the Doctor and Jo stop by the farm of Brian Forest and his wife, Claire, their only purpose is to buy some rhubarb. The Doctor is immediately mistaken for a medical doctor and taken to the desperately ill Martin Chisom, Claire's brother.

Martin was found unconscious in the forcing shed that morning, and the Doctor determines that he's suffering from an overdose of oxalic acid - essentially, rhubarb poisoning. He and Brian discover that the shed is pitch black, a darkness that resists Brian's flashlight. And all around them, they can hear the popping of growing rhubarb, a sound that is closing in...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: He's taken aback when the farmer and his wife mistake him for a medical doctor. It's enough of a pause for the two to pick up on, but he presses them with questions before they have a chance to think about it. As usual, Katy Manning does a great job of capturing Jon Pertwee's vocal mannerisms, making it easy to envision the Third Doctor's absolute authority. In an amusing note, he attempts to fasten a piece of rhubarb to his lapel, only to dismiss the purple vegetable as "too garish." He apparently considered celery to be more suitable a couple of incarnations later.

Jo Grant: When Martin's sister tells them that he was found in the forcing shed, Jo's enthusiasm gets the better of her. She takes off straightaway to investigate, leaving the Doctor worried that she's gotten herself into trouble (again). When he catches up with her, she at least has the good grace to be sheepish about her disappearance.


THOUGHTS:

Lost in the Wakefield Triangle opens wonderfully. Its first scene, following Martin in the moments before he's attacked, is atmospheric and attention-getting. Martin is instantly relatable, and the steadily increasing tempo of the rhubarb pops create a decent amount of tension. Honestly, this would be a good start for a full-length story.

Vin Marsden Hendrick's writing is good throughout. There's a strong sense of place to the farm, and the interactions among the Doctor, Brian, and Claire are entertaining while quickly sketching in the basic personalities of both guest characters. The scene with the Doctor and Brian in the proving shed is builds an effective sense of danger as the rhubarb pops close in on them, mirroring the opening attack on Martin.

There's a minor gaffe in which it's mentioned that Martin was found because of the sound of his phone - unlikely, as consumer cell phones didn't really exist in the '70s. The other problem, much more significant for the story, is the usual one for Big Finish's early Short Trips: Time. After an outstanding start and a decent build-up, the end ends up being too rushed to truly satisfy. We don't even get confirmation of Martin's fate. We can assume that he'll be fine, but there's not so much as a single line to confirm as much.


OVERALL:

Excellent beginning, good middle, rushed conclusion. Lost in the Wakefield Triangle benefits from efficient-but-descriptive prose by writer Vin Marsden Hendrick, and Katy Manning does her usual, splendid job performing. The result is immediately engaging and quite entertaining. I just wish it had been a little bit longer, so that the ending could match the quality of the rest of it.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Set after Terror of the Autons and before The Green Death.

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3-c. Pop-Up.

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 16 minutes. Written by: Dave Curan. Directed by: Nicholas Briggs, Ken Bentley. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: Katy Manning.


THE PLOT:

After attending a peace conference, the Doctor is in a hurry to leave the asteroid Epsilon Gamma. Jo is confused by the rush - until she notices the flood of advertising everywhere, so pervasive that the TARDIS has been literally buried under billboards planted by Micro Server Robots.

The Doctor shoes the robots away... most of them, at least. Jo notices one with a crippled leg and, out of misplaced compassion, tucks it away in her pocket when they leave in the TARDIS. She is able to repair it, which leaves her quite pleased with herself.

Then the robot taps into the TARDIS systems and begins flooding the time/space vehicle with ads, leading the Doctor desperate to stop the promotional deluge!


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: He has fond memories of Epsilon Gamma as it was before it was consumed by advertising. He abhors the current state of it, observing to Jo that people have long stopped paying attention to the ads, but that hasn't stopped the corporations. He reacts with weary disapproval to Jo's sympathy for the tiny robot, but he quickly gives up on trying to get her to see that the robot isn't alive and therefore can't be in pain. By this point, he's realized that he's not going to change her nature (nor does he particularly want to).

Jo Grant: When she notices the injured robot, she can't help herself from trying to rescue it, which leads to the entire situation in the story. We see again that underneath her surface ditziness, she's rather capable. She's able to repair the robot without any help in a matter of minutes. This time, that ends up not being such a good thing. Though the Doctor doesn't berate her for creating the mess, she feels enough sense of responsibility to take it on herself to organize afterwards.


THOUGHTS:

Like most of the early Big Finish Short Trips, Pop-Up is a trifle. Fortunately, it's a fun trifle.

Writer Dave Curan works within the 16-minute running time by keeping his structure simple and precise: The advertising robots are introduced creating minor mayhem by covering the TARDIS exterior with ads, setting up the larger mayhem created when one manages to tap into the interior systems. The Doctor tries to resolve the problem, only for the situation to keep escalating. It's small scale, but it works because there aren't any deviations. There's some minor and obvious commentary about pervasive advertising, but everything is here to advance the base story.

The piece benefits from a splendid reading by Katy Manning. As usual, she does an equally fine job of capturing the Third Doctor's voice and of recapturing her old, early 1970s performance as Jo. She's also extremely good with the advertising voices, putting on an inauthentically chirpy tone for the promos, which adds to the humor while at the same time conveying how annoying it would be to be stuck in the center of this.


OVERALL:

Pop-Up is a tiny diversion; but within that stricture, it's expertly turned. It's meticulously structured and benefits from an outstanding performance by Katy Manning - and it's also quite a bit of fun. A good listen, though it probably won't linger long in the mind afterwards.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Set during: Season Ten

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2-c. Walls of Confinement.

1 episode. Approx. 18 minutes. Written by: Lawrence Conquest. Directed by: Nicholas Briggs, Ken Bentley. Produced by: Nicholas Briggs. Performed by: Katy Manning.


THE PLOT

When the Brigadier all but orders the Doctor away from his lab for the afternoon, the Doctor goes to one of his few local haunts: the zoo. Liz is surprised when she finds him there, saying that she didn't think the zoo would be his kind of place. But he isn't really there to wander around and look at the animals. His attention is drawn by a single animal: A tiger in a tight, narrow cage, pacing endlessly back and forth in its confinement.

The Doctor's reverie is broken when the crowd sees that a small child has found his way into the cage. The tiger has the child's hand in its mouth. The boy is too terrified to react, which is probably all that has saved him from real violence. The Doctor works his way into the cage - but every step he takes toward the tiger results in it tightening its grip on the boy. With no way to help, the Doctor's only course now is to push the boy to help himself...


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: It is surprising just how strongly Katy Manning is able to suggest Jon Pertwee's voice. The first of her Big Finish Companion Chronicles truly startled me, in that there were times when Manning got Pertwee's tones and inflections so dead-on that it was almost like hearing Pertwee delivering the lines himself. That proves to be the case here, strongly enhancing the sense of the Third Doctor's presence within this little tale. The script itself does a good job of capturing the Doctor's frustration at being trapped on this world, as he is downright intense in identifying with the tiger pacing around its tight and rigid cage.

Liz: Very much a supporting presence, though her warmth toward the Doctor shows itself when she tries to comfort him at the end. Again, Manning does a splendid job of suggesting Caroline John's characterization. When she speaks Liz's lines in the story, never for an instant does my mind summon up Jo Grant; it's firmly Liz I'm picturing, and credit for that is due to Manning's excellent impression of John's cool, occasionally harsh delivery.

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: The one regular Manning doesn't channel is the Brigadier. The deep and gruff voice she puts on for the Brig does the job, but is noticeably less dead-on than her Third Doctor and Liz impressions. Lethbridge-Stewart does get a decent role in this slight tale, mainly in his final speech to the Doctor about trying to show him what this planet is truly all about.


THOUGHTS

The problem with reviewing the Short Trips stories is that, while a few may be either outstanding or dreadful, the bulk of these little 20-minute pieces are going to be what you'd expect from such a time-frame: trifles. It's difficult to individually rate a trifle. In the end, you can only judge how the story stacks up against the limitations of its format.

In this, Walls of Confinement is a success. It's enjoyable, with a strong portrayal of the Third Doctor. The parallels drawn between the Doctor and the tiger are effective, and the story's final image comes close to being haunting. Within the confines of what it is, it works.

But it's always clear that the story is a trifle. It's a solid Short Trip, but I doubt many cite it as their favorite of the range. The same release features three stories that I find to be much better, though it also contains at least two stories that I find to be much worse. It's... average, maybe slightly above. Worth a listen, certainly - but probably not one to revisit.


Rating: 6/10.

Set during: Season 7

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1-c. A True Gentleman.

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 18 minutes. Written by: Jamie Hailstone. Directed by: Nicholas Briggs, Ken Bentley. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: Katy Manning.


THE PLOT:

A young boy suffers a punctured tire while riding his bicycle home from the shop. Times are hard, leaving no money for a new tire, so the boy has been patching it to stretch out its lifespan - but this puncture is beyond repair.

Then a bright yellow roadster approaches. The driver stops, and the boy recognizes him as his father's tenant: the Doctor, who rents out a small croft every year. The Doctor offers to take the boy to the croft, promising to repair his tire. With his father's assurance that this is no stranger but "a true gentleman," the boy agrees.

Then there's a knock at the door - a visitor with green skin who demands to see Doctor, and who won't take "no" for an answer!


CHARACTERS:

The Third Doctor's natural authority is emphasized; but because he's interacting with a child, we see only his kindest side, with none of the brusqueness. Despite appearing middle aged, the boy is startled to see the Doctor jumping out of his car with youthful energy. When the boy sees the TARDIS and wonders how the Doctor got it into the croft when it's taller than the door, the Doctor draws an analogy with a ship in a bottle before pointing out that while he could go into more detail, that wouldn't fix the bicycle tire.

Katy Manning does her usual fine job of capturing the overall persona of Jon Pertwee's Doctor. She also does well with the child, putting on a country accent that suits both the young character and the narration.


THOUGHTS:

The Third Doctor's tale from the first Big Finish Short Trips anthology, A True Gentleman provides a small-scale piece that spotlights the most likable aspects of the main character. Atmosphere is strong, with the well-written narration and Katy Manning's reading emphasizing the country setting and the narrator's youth. There's just enough incident for there to be a story, but nothing here calls for additional time.

And... there's really not much to say beyond that. This is a thoroughly pleasant minor work that makes good use of its short running time. The Third Doctor is well captured; the story is well-written and well performed; and the entire piece is enjoyable.


Overall Rating: 7/10.


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Big Finish Audio Short Trips.

Pre-Range Releases:

One Small Step

Set during Season Six

Release Date: January 2009

Volume One:
Release Date: November 2010.

1.1. Rise and Fall
Set directly after The Reign of Terror.

1.2. A Stain of Red in the Sand
Set during Season Six

1.3. A True Gentleman
Set any time between Season Seven and Season Eleven.

1.5. The Deep
Set between Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity.


Volume Two:
Release Date: February 2011.

2.1. 1963
Set any time between The Romans and The Space Museum.

2.2. The Way Forwards
Set between The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Abominable Snowmen.

2.3. Walls of Confinement
Set during Season Seven.

2.4. Chain Reaction
Set any time between Terror of the Zygons and The Hand of Fear.

2.7. Critical Mass
Set any time between Dragonfire and The TV Movie.



Volume Three:
Release Date: May 2011.

3.2. The Five-Dimensional Man
Set during Season Six.

3.3. Pop-Up
Set any time between The Three Doctors and The Green Death.

3.4. The Wondrous Box
Set any time between Terror of the Zygons and The Hand of Fear.


Volume Four:
Release Date: August 2011.

4.1. A Star Is Born
Set any time between Marco Polo and The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

4.3. Lost in the Wakefield Triangle
Set any time between Terror of the Autons and The Green Death.

4.7. The Shadow Trader
Set any time between Dragonfire and The TV Movie.

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