Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #88877 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-30
• Format: Audiobook
• Binding: Audio CD

Customer Reviews

terror in the black forest
Third in the latest series of audio plays featuring Paul Mcgann as the Doctor and Sheridan Smith as his companion Lucie Miller. This story is complete on one disc in two episodes of roughly twenty five minutes duration each, followed by interviews with cast and crew and a trailer for the next release in this range.

The story also stands entirely on it's own so you can get into this without having heard any of the earlier ones.

Set in the black forest in 1827 it's like something out of the brothers grimm. A small town in the woods is being terrorised by a monster. There are chases through woods. A castle. A Baron who knows more than he's telling. And a mob of angry villagers.

Although this uses familiar elements it's a great listen because it uses them all so very well. The supporting characters and the actors who play them are all very good, the atmosphere of the story is superb. And the two leads have some great chemistry and lines together. I could probably listen to this many times and still discover great lines I've forgotten.

Whilst it slips into more conventional Doctor Who territory in part two, after some surprising revelations at the end of part one, it's still highly entertaining anyhow. There are some decent ideas on display here and a few clever references for those who know german literature and legend.

Best in the season so far and really worth a listen

Return to form
After Hothouse (see previous review) this is a much more successful number with a cast that clearly enjoyed what they were doing (as exemplified by Miriam Margolyes).

The plot is set in the Black Forest and has many in jokes (unfortunately mostly german) and a Hansel and Gretel / Frankenstein plot with drops of the Government Inspector for good measure. There is plenty of gruesome murder / castle action and burgemeister pomposity to keep the plot bubbling along.

The plot manages to avoid being entirely one-dimensional and although (as far as I can tell) being entirely stand alone finds everyone well 'in the groove'.