BBC Audio adventure, April 8 - May 13, 1967
I loved the aircraft that turned into a space ship. That totally rules! And Frazer Hines gets to ditch the Scottish accent for once, too. That’s pretty nice. But turning everyone into miniatures? And since they’re so very brazen about kidnapping the kids on the planes, how did they think they wouldn’t get caught? They depended a bit too much on human narrow-mindedness and the airport folks definitely lived up to that. But mostly, wouldn’t people notice that their kids, 50,000 of ‘em, have gone off to holiday in Europe and never returned!? Only two people have noticed? Well, okay then. A different time that was, I’d say!
Frazer Hines is his usually jolly self, doing the voiceover. He really does it so well that it blends right into the story! It may help that he plays Jamie but his toned-down performance really fits the stories. This is the episode where Ben and Polly take off, finding their own way in their London. Nothing too sentimental about their departure in general. Though it does lead right into the next story, Evil of the Daleks. That’s very nice to hear! I rarely get to hear those story transitions.
The replicants turning into goo is pretty gross but not really described all that well to make me feel oogie. There are plenty of characters in this one but I didn’t get them too confused. And everything works out, including Jamie getting a goodbye kiss from Samantha. Hehehe. Ben is out of the picture for awhile, Polly is taken hostage pretty quickly and turned into an alien, and Jamie gets to do the real sleuthing work with Samantha. Ben pretty much gets to be the muscle in this one but I really didn’t feel like they were in any real danger. Good but not great.
Patrick Troughton, Anneke Willis, Michael Craze, and Frazer Hines
writers: David Ellis and Malcolm Hulke
director: Gerry Mill
read by: Frazer Hines