DOCTOR WHO

Robert Holmes may be regarded as one of Doctor Who's greatest ever writers, but his first two contributions to the series were decidedly lacklustre.

Holmes' first story for the series, The Krotons, survives intact in the BBC archives, but of his second, The Space Pirates, only episode two has survived.

However, thanks to those fans who recorded the series onto tape back in the 1960s we at least have audio copies of the whole series, which, as usual, has been cleaned up for audio release by Mark Ayres.

Although it was the first time that Doctor Who had done a space opera, The Space Pirates is more like a Western that's been transplanted into outer space.

The story gets off to a rather dull start, as the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are absent for most of the episode. This would have been less of a problem had the story's original characters been more interesting, but they're not. General Hermack's Space Corp come across very badly, and aren't helped by the appalling fake accents adopted by the actors.

Episode 2, which was included on the Troughton Years video back in the 1990s, is slightly better. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe might be largely sidelined on beacon Alpha Four, but at least things are livened up a little by old-time prospector Milo Clancey (Gordon Gostelow), who is one of the story's few highlights.

That sole surviving episode also showed off some of the most impressive modelwork seen on Who at the time, but of course, that's lost on this audio only release. Instead, we simply get to hear Hermack's staff chasing after the Argonite pirates, and just missing them, which is just about all they do for the entire story. The time taken for the various space journeys might be realistic, but it makes for dull listening.

On the plus side, the Doctor is well characterised, such as in the scenes with the marbles and drawing pins. As in The Krotons, he also gets some good scenes with Zoe, including the scene where she asks why he hasn't worked out where the argonite pirates are sending the parts of the beacon. Zoe also gets the best cliffhanger in the entire story - shouting "you murderer!" at the end of episode 2.

However, these aren't nearly enough to save the story. It's too long, too dull and most of the characters aren't particularly interesting. There are also some unbelieveable plot elements, such as Madeleine being unaware that her father's being kept prisoner in the next room!

As usual, Mark Ayres does a good job on the restoration, and Frazer Hines' narration is fine, but the low score reflects the fact that this is one of the weakest stories of the entire sixties. BACK TO THE TOP

THE SPACE PIRATES

Written by ROBERT HOLMES

Starring PATRICK TROUGHTON,
FRAZER HINES, WENDY PADBURY

Narrated by FRAZER HINES

BBC RADIO COLLECTION 2-CD

RATING: 3/10