Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: The Moonbase (BBC TV Soundtrack)

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A four part story with episodes 1 and 3 still surviving in the BBC film vault Doctor Who - Lost in Time Collection of Rare Episodes - The William Hartnell Years and the Patrick Troughton Years with Lost In Time having just the audio for 2 and 4 without linking narration. Here we see The Doctor, Ben and Polly having their second run in with the Cybermen who are trying to take over a Moonbase which controls the Earth's weather. New companion Jamie stuck in the sick bay after suffering an accident while leaving the TARDIS and while goofing around on the Moon's surface. While some find this adventure a bit boring, I really like it and the regulars are quite good. The narration is done by Frazer Hines.

To be quite honest, I don't actually have the audio CD of this one, but I do have all of the scripts of this story as well as the complete "Lost in Time" Collection on DVD which includes the two surviving episodes as well as the audio of both missing episodes. Unlike this CD though, the audio episodes don't have a narration, but since I've got the scripts, it doesn't really matter because I know exactly what's going on. So I can give an honest review on this one.

The story is great. It makes a great sequel to "The Tenth Planet" and introduces the return of the Cybermen well. The Doctor and his companions land on the moon in the late 21st century where the Earth's weather is now controlled by a gravity device on moon called the Gravitron. But the moonbase there has been having some trouble recently. A mysterious alien disease is spreading throughout the base, people have gone missing, and a range of strange malfunctions are threatening the very life on Earth itself. The Doctor suspects the Cybermen, and he is right. They invade the base and intend to use the Gravitron to destroy the Earth and mankind for good. The infected men who have disappeared are now under Cyber-control. It's now a race for the Doctor and his companions to stop the Cybermen before time runs out and the Earth is destroyed!

It's not quite as good as "The Tomb of the Cybermen", but it does come close. If it had Cybermats in it then who knows. By both listening and watching the episodes you can get a real feel of the eerie atmosphere the dark and isolated moonbase creates. The Cybermen are certainly scarier than they were in "The Tenth Planet" and it has some great action pieces during the last two episodes. The cliffhangers were great and Patrick Troughton is as good as ever. I highly recommend this one!