| DOWNTIME by Marc Platt |
| Story ? Synopsis: Victoria returns to Det-sen, haunted by the voice of her father. 15 years later, she is the Vice-Principal of New World University, a mysterious London university where pupils follow guided learning, and are known as Chillys. Sarah Jane is commissioned to provide data for them, but she is concerned at what they're up to. Meanwhile, the Brigadier experiences a cognitive dream, and wakes to find someone is after him. He still has a small model of a Yeti, known as the Locus. He finds it, but the Chillys apprehend it, allowing the Great Intelligence a chance to return. Victoria belatedly realises she's been tricked, as the Intelligence spins its web around the world, based from New World University. The Brigadier realises the Intelligence is still vulnerable through its connection to the Internet, and Sarah Jane and Victoria manage to pull the plug. The Intelligence is destroyed. |
| Review:- The independent sector has produced a few Doctor Who related products over the years. In 1995, Reeltime Pictures gave us this, a chance to reunite several characters from the series in an all-new adventure. As well as the Brigadier, Victoria and Sarah Jane, there are also several cast members who appeared in the series in other roles, such as Geoffrey Beevers and Nick Leeson. It's directed by Chris Barry, who worked on several stories. The Yeti return, redesigned, in a bold attempt to follow on from their last appearance in The Web Of Fear. The only problem is that this isn't very good. The idea that the Intelligence wasn't destroyed as seemed the case, but is now using a pseudo-University to track down one missing piece is a little bit silly. Half the cast are rubbish, or badly written, or both. The concept that Victoria might be so deluded as to believe her very dead father is still alive is a painful misuse of her character. Sarah Jane at least gets to be bold in her all-too-brief spots. The shining light is Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier. He brings his usual calm reassurance to the screen, which is much needed with other characters being either changed beyond credibility (Victoria), too confusing (Daniel), too dull (Kate) or too hapless (Sarah). His visits to the astral plane are an unpleasant diversion, but his home life looks pretty real, and he manages to bring a polish to his scenes, despite the variety of his on-screen opposition. The other worthy names here are Beevers and Leeson. The latter has little to do as the DJ, but does it well. The former has to act as a mysterious figure initially, becoming desperate later, but once he has a name and a background, he becomes much more interesting. He seems to possess far more potential than this story merits. It would be harsh to slag off Sladen and the two Watlings, so I won't. Neither of the two main new characters, Daniel and Kate, seem personable, and it's hard to care for either of them. The final scenes, with a Yeti scrap, and the brief return of Sarah, seem almost to be there to justify the whole enterprise, which is a fatal error. Neither enhance the story, and after some nice graphics to show the spread of the Web, it's pathetic that the conclusion boils down to "pull out the plug!", and no desperate "Daniel is a Yeti, but still Daniel" can save it. Possibly the best thing that can be said about this story is that the following year, Doctor Who came back. Sadly, silly spin-offs came back after a while, too. |
| Disclaimer: I have seen the video, and read the book. |