DOCTOR WHO Audio Review Episode 154 - "The Witch from the Well"
If you like McGann, it’s a worthy purchase, as he’s in top form...
rating: 2.5
In keeping with Big Finishs addition of Mary Shelly (Julie Cox) to the 8th Doctors (Paul McGann) TARDIS, we have something of a horror story, involving witches, religious zealotry and murder. So, basically a Tuesday for the TARDIS crew. Our story begins with Mary saving the lives of two teenage twins from a strange, monstrous creature living inside a recently unsealed well. The twins, Finicia (Alix Wilton Regan) and Lucien (Kevin Trainor) wind up inside the TARDIS, and then the TARDIS winds up in 17th century England. Theyre still all in the same village, but a different time, and yet a place where the twins are recognized. It turns out theyve arrived during a witch scare, and a local woman, Agnes (Serena Evans), is about to be burned for witchcraft. Shes surprisingly sanguine about her upcoming fate, but before the Doctor can really look into whats going on with her, the TARDIS, with Mary and the twins aboard, disappears. The TARDIS has, it seems, been hijacked by the twins. It reappears in modern times, where the twins begin a plan of their own to find something called The Witch Star. Meantime, Mary meets the man they claim is their father (Andrew Havill), but he has no recollection of them. This leaves the Doctor to try and figure out whats going on with the village and the twins, who appear to be here and in the present, and to do so as quickly as possible, because in addition to whatever alien threat might be happening, theres also the little matter of the witch-pricker(Simon Rouse), whos showed up to do what he does best: kill witches. And the Doctor seems more than a bit witchy to him I wanted to like this story. As it is, it felt mediocre. It feels like there was a lot of potential, but it wasnt really lived-up to. The twins were mildly interesting, but came off more as petulant brats than any kind of a real threat, no matter what time we find them in. Far more interesting was the character of Agnes, but even she sort of petered out by the end. The witch-pricker was always fascinating. One thing I did really enjoy was the interaction in modern times between the twins alleged father and Mary. This is made even more entertaining by the fact that the man is a fan of certain romantic poets of Marys acquaintance. And of course the performances by McGann and Cox are always a pleasure, though to me they still havent really geled as a team. Perhaps separating them for a long period in this story wasnt something wise to do so early on in their development as characters. I think the biggest problem with this story is that its somewhat all over. I think had they simply focused on one time period (the 1600s), with the Doctor, Mary, the witch-pricker, the twins, etc, all there and doing what they do, it might have made for a more interesting, more compact story. As it is, they lose a lot of focus by having the scene constantly shift by 400 years. Ultimately I dont feel that I can really recommend buying this story, but I cant recommend not buying it. If you like McGann, its a worthy purchase, as hes in top form. But if youre not a huge fan, or youre not a completest, this might be one worth skipping.