"That's an easy question, Master."
IN THIS ONE... The Doctor hosts a game show about astronomy.
REVIEW: On the face of it, you'd think this episode of Search Out Science wouldn't count as even extracanon, but there are a number of factors that help it out. One is that the Doctor, Ace and K9 are all playing their characters, and though we don't know the context of the adventure, we can choose to accept that the Doctor has to host an intergalactic quiz show for some reason. There is no mention of Search Out Science, it doesn't even follow the usual narrated documentary format of its other episodes, and it ends on the Doctor's theme music. Then there's a Short Trip story called Storm in a Tikka, which means to bridge the gap between Dimensions in Time (the Eastenders crossover that can be considered canon thanks to flashbacks in the recent Wish World) and this piece of apocrypha (it comes second), both stories aired in the Wilderness Years and both showing Doc7 travelling with K9. Another link to the extracanon is in Paul Magrs' novel The Blue Angel, which features Cedric from this show as a companion to a future Doctor with a small moustache (Ncuti?!).
And look, this thing is obviously for kids (the target demographic was 9 to 11 year-olds), and the questions on astronomy are pretty basic (not that all adults these days can answer "What shape is the Earth?". But I do find it very charming. The way questions play out, with demonstrations and props, it wants learners to figure things out for themselves and understand WHY things are as they are instead of just spoon-feeding them information. I do find it a shame that the most complex bit of info, about the colors of stars, is a patently ridiculous sequence with K9 finding Smarties while the music and the other contestants' cheers drown out John Leeson's voice. But otherwise, it's good fun.
It's obvious none of the participants were together at ANY point, which is a shame - you just want more Doctor/Ace scenes - and begs the question why Cedric, an alien unknown, is played by former Sophie Aldred Corners co-star Stephen Johnson, if they're never going to directly interact. Only at the end do the Doctor and K9 meet up in CSO land. So it's a bit of a jumble, but an amusing jumble, especially with all the commercial parodies thrown in for laughs, everything from tourist tours of the Solar System to washing powder for astronauts, to a Blue Peter-style crafts project. (Does Terry Nation know they used the drawing of a Dalek in this?)
THEORIES: So which K9 travelled with the Seventh Doctor? Well, the K9 and Company theme when he visits the radio telescope, so you might think Mark III, the same who was still with Sarah Jane Smith in School Reunion. He's certainly more emotional and flustered than Marks I and II. Storm in a Tikka calls it the Mark IV, created by this Doctor.
VERSIONS: The first draft of the script had the Doctor also being a contestant, but it was felt that with him there, the show wasn't participative enough, so they made him quizmaster instead, so he could address the young audience and ask THEM to find the answers.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium-Low - It's silly, but kind of fun to check out. Who can watch K9 careening through space here and not think of his fate in the Sarah Jane Adventures, for example?
Comments