In this sixth Doctor adventure do we really want to see Bill Oddie as an evil pirate? The answer is YES! This may seem unbelievable it and was at first, but he actually is quite scary.
The Doctor and Evelyn drop in on her student Sally one evening and they proceed to tell her a story or pirates, violence and treasure hunting on the high seas.
Sally doesn’t really want to hear the story for reasons that will become evident later on, The Doctor persists and the story followszp>The TARDIS dematerialises on The Sea Eagle, a ship Captained by Captain Swan (Nicholas Pegg). Red Jasper (played by ex Goodie Bill Oddie) and his pirate crew then board the Sea Eagle. The Doctor and Evelyn, after a clash with Red Jasper decide to leave, but when Evelyn spots the TARDIS being loaded onto the pirate ship they both realise that it isn’t going to be that straight forward.
For a play with the Doctor declaring himself the Gallifreyan buccaneer and several bouts sea shanty style singing, there is, as with all good Doctor Who, a serious, dark edge that weighs against the fun and humour.
I feel sure that Colin Bakers fans and even those Who fans that aren’t particularly fond of Colin are going to love this. As well as his usual flamboyance and arrogance we get to see a, rare, softer side to Colin Bakers Doctor.
Personally being new to Evelyn as a character I wasn’t sure what I would think of the her. I thought, however, that actress Maggie Stables did a fantastic job of conveying Evelyn as a wholly believable character.
The character of Captain Swan was played extremely well, so much so that I could quite cheerfully have made the bugger walk the plank myself.
My one criticism is that songs are, despite being a good and inspired idea, were a bit on the long side.
You can always tell when a script is well written as you can picture yourself there almost as a silent observer. I can still picture it now. I have always loved pirate stories ever since my mother first read me Peter Pan as a child. But then why take my word, I loved ‘Cutthroat Island’. But seriously you will enjoy this on every level.
My advice is to go and buy it.
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