‘The Crooked Man’ (Audio)

‘THE CROOKED MAN’

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The Land of Fiction with the Fourth Doctor and Leela

This is an intriguing and mind-boggling ‘Doctor Who’ story to listen to! It’s one I’ve greatly enjoyed!

‘The Crooked Man’ is the third adventure in the second season of Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’ starring Tom Baker as the Doctor and Louise Jameson as Leela. It’s a story that revisits familiar territory in ‘Doctor Who’ but with a different slant on it. I’m very happy I managed to listen to this audio drama.

This is a two-part adventure by John Dorney and it is directed by Nicholas Briggs. This is John Dorney’s second contribution to the second season of Fourth Doctor and Leela audios (the first was ‘The King of Sontar’). The producer David Richardson specifically asked John Dorney to write this one, based on an idea.

In this, the Doctor and Leela visit a seaside town called Eastwold in England. A series of murders have taken place at this strange town and a mysterious creature stalks the streets of Eastwold. The Doctor and Leela know something is amiss and it concerns this young family with a connection to fiction itself.

Tom Baker and Neil Stuke in ‘The Crooked Man’.

This story, in many ways, is a sequel to ‘The Mind Robber’ as the Doctor and Leela visit the Land of Fiction. Or rather, the Land of Fiction visits them. The Crooked Man maliciously haunts the young Corbett family and they become these victims when fiction and reality become too much to cope with.

I like how John Dorney gradually builds up the story when revealing the Doctor and Leela are in the Land of Fiction. It’s not as exciting as I found ‘The Mind Robber’ to be, but it’s intriguing how that world becomes over-filled and the gateway to that world gets opened for the Crooked Man to get into ours.

Tom Baker is superb as the Doctor in this adventure. I like some of Tom’s funny lines and he clearly enjoys working on the John Dorney-penned scripts as he said so in the CD extras. It’s interesting how Tom’s Doctor works things out and realises what’s happening as he and Leela are in the Land of Fiction.

It was funny when the Doctor and Leela interacted with the author Lesley King and how he initially thought she was asking for his autograph when she wasn’t. The Doctor recalls his experiences of being in the Land of Fiction before, though it’s very different with there being no Gulliver or Rapunzel.

Lizzie Roper and Tom Baker in ‘The Crooked Man’.

Louise Jameson is lovely as Leela in this adventure. Recently, Leela was reading books such as ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ in the TARDIS from ‘White Ghosts’. It’s interesting how Leela copes with being in the Land of Fiction and the Doctor remarks how she can be so literal-minded and not very imaginative.

There’s a nice touching moment and an interesting character point for Leela where she mentions her father’s death in ‘The Face of Evil’. She shares this with Laura Corbett who also lost her father. It’s intriguing how the comparison is made with how Leela mourned for her father and how Laura mourns her father.

Sarah Smart guest stars as Laura Corbett. Sarah has appeared in the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Rebel Flesh’/’The Almost People’ with Matt Smith. It was lovely to hear Sarah in this audio drama. She’s lovely; got a clear voice for ‘Doctor Who’ audio and delivers the emotional core of this story superbly.

Laura is a mother and a wife who lives in Eastwold. She tries to sell books to a bookshop run by someone called Rance and she lives in this idealised world with her perfect husband and baby. But Laura’s life isn’t as cosy as it seems since her father was an author and she knows of the Crooked Man.

Robin Pearce and Sarah Smart in ‘The Crooked Man’.

Neil Stuke guest stars as the Crooked Man. Neil delivers this chilling and terrifying performance as the Crooked Man, making him sound so maniacal and malicious. Neil was the choice of producer David Richardson and it’s interesting how John Dorney toned down the character during the scripting stages.

The Crooked Man comes from the Land of Fiction and haunts the streets of Eastwold. He kills people by stuffing paper down somebody’s neck including bookkeeper Rance. He also breaks the spine of a book to kill Celia Turner and he steals the Corbetts’ baby. Will Tom Baker’s Doctor defeat this monster?

Robin Pearce guest stars as Simon Corbett, Laura’s husband. I enjoyed the scenes between Laura and her husband Simon as they seem so happy and idyllic in their marriage and raising a family. But it transpires that Simon isn’t what he seems and may prove to be an important link to the story’s events.

The guest cast also includes Richard Earl as P.C. Ellis Andrews as well as Rance and there’s Lizzie Roper as the sweet Celia Turner as well as the not-so-nice author called Lesley King. I won’t say any more about the tale’s conclusion since that would give away the spoilers. That would never do, would it? 😀

‘The Crooked Man’ has been a great ‘Doctor Who’ audio adventure to listen to. It’s not as good as ‘The Mind Robber’ in my humble opinion. But it’s an interesting angle that John Dorney’s taken to revisit the Land of Fiction and it’s interesting how the Doctor and Leela cope with what happens during the story.

The CD extras are as follows. At the end of the disc, there are behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew. They are interviews with Tom Baker; Louise Jameson; Sarah Smart; Neil Stuke; Robin Pearce; Richard Earl; Lizzie Roper; writer John Dorney; producer David Richardson; director Nicholas Briggs; etc. There is a trailer for the next story with the Doctor and Leela called ‘The Evil One’.

‘The Crooked Man’ rating – 8/10

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The previous story For the Fourth Doctor was ‘White Ghosts’ (Audio) For Leela was ‘White Ghosts’ (Audio)	The next story For the Fourth Doctor is ‘The Evil One’ (Audio) For Leela is ‘The Evil One’ (Audio)
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