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Aboard the TARDIS, Turlough records a testimony about a recent adventure. A trip to Buzzard Creek in the USA, where he encountered the sinister Winklemeyer, who claims to have discovered a cure for every known illness…
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: FREAKSHOW
The second Companion Chronicle released to the readers of Doctor Who Magazine, Mark Morris’s “Freakshow,” came out soon after the first, also standing as Mark Strickson’s second and final Companion Chronicle appearance as Turlough. The result is an entertaining though slight Doctor Who story that avoids some of the mistakes of its predecessor while still remaining accessible.
One of the bigger weaknesses with “The Mists of Time” was the clumsy way in which it was designed to introduce listeners to the range: “Why don’t you tell it like a story with us as the characters!” and so forth. “Freakshow” doesn’t bother with that and just gets on with the story, and it’s much better for it. It’s a story very much in the vein of the classic X-Files episode “Humbug,” featuring a carnival of grotesques who turn out to be normal, sympathetic people – but it’s Doctor Who, so of course they’re really aliens and there’s also a bad guy with a scheme to take over the world. As plots go, it’s nothing special, but the American Old West setting is a delight, something I think has worked rather well on the rare occasions that Doctor Who visits it. Morris does a fine job of evoking the setting, using descriptive prose that nicely captures the feel of an endless, dry desert.
It goes without saying that Mark Strickson is great in this. Much like “Ringpullworld,” he makes an effort to narrate the story entirely as his character, explaining the comically broad Australian accent he uses to mock Tegan and the overly formal, fussy tones he uses for the fifth Doctor. We also get an interesting look into his thought processes and the difficult relationship he has with his traveling companions – for once, the opening TARDIS bickering scene actually adds something to our understanding of the characters. Unfortunately, when the Doctor turns up in the second episode, Turlough is relegated to his usual position as bystander, playing capture-recapture while he watches the Doctor figure out the problem. This isn’t unusual for a Doctor Who story, of course, but it’s a disappointment for a showcase Companion Chronicle.
Toby Longworth is equally entertaining, using an utterly convincing American accent in his performance as villain Thaddeus P. Winklemeyer – and what a great ringmaster name, to boot. The sound design from Toby Hrycek-Robinson is convincing, and Lisa Bowerman’s direction nicely captures the atmosphere of the era. Overall, “Freakshow” is a nice little story that works well as a giveaway. It’s a shame that something intended to introduce the range to a wider audience doesn’t aspire to anything greater than generic Doctor Who, but at least it’s written solidly and performed well with an appealing central performance.
Recommended.
6/10