Unbound 5: Deadline

[Anthony Williams]

Deadline
Starring Sir Derek Jacobi

I remember when this story came out, how so many people absolutely loved it, and said that it was a marvellous addition to the Doctor Who Universe.

Which may come as even more surprising when I say that I hated it. This is a nasty little play, from which little good comes out.

Let me explain what I mean... we meet Martin Bannister, who is the would-be creator of Doctor Who. Except that it never got made. It turns out that Bannister is in a nursing home, having ruined his family life over his fantasies of having had Doctor Who made.

We're introduced to his son - equally a failure, and find that he starts seeing people from real life as characters from the series he never managed to create. We also see him give an extremely awkward and bitter interview to Juliet Bravo Magazine - which was the show he mostly wrote for.

The story ends after he unsucessfully tries to drag his grandson into the wardrobe which he believes to be his TARDIS, re-alienating his son in the process, he ultimately succumbs to insanity, genuinely beliving that he is the Doctor, and he is travelling with Susan in the TARDIS.

So, you'll see why I don't think that this is a nice play. Some may say that it was a fantastic character piece - but I merely found it to be awkward and cringeworthy. And ultimately, an absolute waste of the considerable talents of Jacqueline King and particularly of Sir Derek Jacobi. It doesn't help, either, that is uses lots of horrible, horrible stereotypes - the journalist from the Juliet Bravo magazine is clearly meant to be the same sort of stereotypical nerdy fan that many people believe Who fans to be. Nasty.

I disliked this play so much, that it gets a mere 2/10 - for having a good cast, and for daring to try to be different.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Finally finished relistening this morning. It is a very well written piece with lines that you can't help laugh at (I actually gave up on Friday afternoon after the handful of people left in my office all looked round when I laughed a little too loudly at the suggestion that the character being called Doctor Who made him sound oriental).
However this is a very sad play and I can see why some wouldn't like it. It's not even a proper play about the Doctor Who as TV series as it's set in a reality where the pilot was never filmed so whilst it is almost too clever for its own good in places. Rob Shearman's plays tend to work best the first time you hear them but on repeated listening the impact is never quite as profound (although Chimes of Midnight is still pretty damn good).
Shearman also recycled some of the ideas here from a BBV audio called Punchline written under the pseudonym of Jeremy Leadbetter.
Ultimately despite well written scenes and lovely performances (especially from Jacobi and King) the overall feeling is one of futility, and I've come away feeling almost as dejected as the Benjamin Cook of Juliet Bravo Magazine (a great charicature from Ian Brooker who incidentally was the Eleventh Doctor in Full Fathom Five).
Rather sad to note we're on the third consecutive Unbound play to have an unhappy ending.