Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112057 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-31
• Format: Audiobook
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Audio CD

Customer Reviews

theatre of blood
fifth release in the third batch of audio plays featuring paul mcgann as doctor who, with sheridan smith as his companion lucie miller. this one runs for roughly sixty minutes, and is divided into two episodes of roughly thirty minutes each. whilst there are some references to stories earlier in the season you can get into this one without having heard them.

the disc ends with eight minutes worth of interviews with two of the cast and the writer, and a trailer for the next release in the range.

the scapegoat is a rather original and very inventive litle tale. the tardis crew are intending to visit the moulin rouge when the tardis is forced off course and lands in paris during world war two. the ship then vanishes, and whilst the doctor has to elude the gestapo lucie is captured by a group of goat headed humanoid aliens who force her to perform in a play, alongside an actor who has died on stage many times. literally. in very bloody ways. but always come back.

the aliens have plans for the tardis. and the nazis would like it as well. the tardis crew have to fight to stay alive and escape. and stop the alien plans.

drawing on the history of grand guignol theatre, there's a lot to like here. some very original aliens characters who are all very well played and characterised. and some great moments for lucie as she deals with them and has to act herself, leading to some geuninely funny moments.

there's also a very nice little emotional scene at the end with the doctor and lucie reaffirming their relationship.

but this is one of those stories you'll either love or hate. the second episode feels about five minutes too long, and filled to the brim with analogies and nazis, it never quite comes together as well as it possibly could.

even so, there's a lot of entertainment to be had along the way. whilst this isnt quite as good as it could be it's still an entertaining listen.

I aint afraid of no goats
As Sheridan points out in the extras, this is called Scapegoat, not Space Goat. Confusingly though, this is about a tribe a space goats stranded on Earth that the Doctor and Lucie encounter in Nazi occupied Paris.

At first the story is a well written and performed Doctor meets the Nazis; it is only the Theatre de Baroque enters along with the previously mentioned goats that this takes off.

There is a lot here to like, including Lucie doing some camp acting and a different story set in wartime Paris, however I felt the line between entertainment and moralising was crossed when the story spends some time moralising about victims and scapegoats. The story also shines a slightly dark light (if that makes sense) into the human psyche and bloodlust of the masses.

Probably really a 3 and 1/2 but there you have it;not really bad but not the best in the series.