Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles 6.12 - "The Rings of Ikiria" Review

This, more than most Companion Chronicles stories, is very much a “your mileage may vary” kind of story.

By Chris Swanson / July 13, 2012

rating: 3

(WARNING: Significant spoilers follow!) This, more than most Companion Chronicles stories, is very much a your mileage may vary kind of story. Mostly it varies based on how much you liked the character of Mike Yates (Richard Franklin) from the Third Doctors time at UNIT. If you liked him a lot, youll probably really enjoy this story. If notwell The story concerns mysterious symbols appearing in different places around the country. The Doctor figures out that they are alien characters, and not long after, a mysterious alien woman (Felicity Duncan) arrives. She then begins handing out mysterious alien rings, the Doctor mysteriously disappears and before long, the Brigadier and the rest of UNIT are acting very mysteriously. If youre getting the idea that theres a lot thats quite mysterious in this story, youre on the right track. Mike Yates doesnt get a ring, and instead starts investigating exactly whats going on. He then runs afoul of the Brigadier and is drummed out of UNIT. Then he sees the face of the Doctor crop-circled into the ground and from there, things get a little strange. Now it must be said that Ive never been that hugely into Mike Yates. I think hes a decent character, but Ive always found Sergeant Benton to be a lot more interesting, though the fact that hes in more stories helped. I did like what they did with Yates toward the end of the Third Doctors time, though, and this story continues that general feel. This serves to make his character someone thats more entertaining to spend time around. Franklin does a good job of playing Yates and the various other characters, and Duncan does a good job with her roles. The overall story also does a good job of capturing the feel of one of the Third Doctor UNIT stories. But something here felt off. I think it might be that the story came off a little predictable. Yes, of course the rings are some sort of mind control device. Yes, of course Ikiria wasnt all that she seemed to be. Yes, of course this was a prelude to an alien invasion. While this is all in line with what was being done in the series back in the early 1970s, the story concept hasnt aged especially well, and I think perhaps a Third Doctor companion chronicle that did something a bit different, like Binary and The Many Deaths of Jo Grant might have worked out a little better. That said, this wasnt a bad story, and I did really enjoy the character of Mike Yates and Franklins performance. Id like to have him come back and do more of these, though Id prefer it to be in a story thats a bit more modern feeling or, perhaps, a story alongside one of the various other Doctors. Next month, William Russell returns as Ian Chesterton, telling a story about the First Doctor in The Time Museum!