BF 097: The Wishing Beast & The Vanity Box

[SiHart]

Jean Marsh returns to Doctor Who in this Colin Baker adventure!

THE WISHING BEAST
(A Three-Part Story)
What can it mean when the Doctor and Mel are drawn to an asteroid by a message from the strange, elderly Applewhite sisters? The travellers are promised that they will receive their dearest wishes when they enter the frozen forests of this benighted shard of a world. But the ghosts that haunt this place are desperate to warn the Doctor about the sisters' promises. Only the ghosts know the true nature of the legendary Wishing Beast.

Cast List
The Doctor Colin Baker
Mel Bonnie Langford
Maria Jean Marsh
Eliza Geraldine Newman
Mildew Sean Connolly
Daniel Toby Sawyer
Wishing Beast Toby Longworth
Female Ghost Rachel Lawrence

THE VANITY BOX
(A One-Part Story)

A strange beauty parlour has opened its doors for business in a dowdy Salford terrace circa 1965. Monsieur Coiffure is the talk of the street with his fabulous make-overs. When the Doctor arrives, however, he knows at once that there's been some unnatural titivation going on.

Cast List
The Doctor Colin Baker
Mel Bonnie Langford
Nesta Diana Flacks
Winnie Christine Moore
Bessy Rachel Laurence
Monsieur Coiffure Toby Longworth

These stories takes place between "The Trial of a Time Lord" and "Time and the Rani".

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

I thought that was David Bowie on the cover for a minute!

[Dirk Gently]

It does rather.

The audio sounds quite average but time will tell.

[SiHart]

It's here and it's a Paul Magrs so people will love it and hate it in equal measure!

Si xx

[SiHart]

Well, this was the best BF release for ages! I loved it- it was fun, there were laughs, there were absurd situations played straight and it was imaginative and great to listen to because you really sensed the actors appreciated the material. Strong perfomances all round- Colin and Bonnie were as great as ever and Jean Marsh and Geraldine Newman were suitably bonkers (and menacing too!) as the Applewhite sisters.
The Wishing Box was good too- like a bonkers episode of 60s Corrie. OK, so the premise was exactly the same as Magrs's novel Never The Bride (which I enjoyed reading last year) but that didn't ruin it for me.

Lovely release! More like this please!

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

I agree. Any BF that uses the word 'Tittivation' gets 8/10 automatically from me, which goes up to 10/10 when it's said in a broad Salford accent.

[Andrew Curnow]

I listened to it this week (borrowed from Mr Morgan, very kindly) but have to say I thought The Wishing Beast was a load of old tripe. I have to assume Jean Marsh needed the money, poor thing. Particularly bad things were the Doctor's over-laboured self-sacrifice which just came over as stupid, then there was the fact that the script couldn't quite decide whether he knew he'd survive or not, and then there was his rather trite speech to the brother inside the beast - not to mention the instant transformation after that speech into the brother knowing what he wanted to do! Drivel, I'm afraid, drivel.

Mind you, Bonnie Langford was excellent!

[SiHart]

See Paul Magrs has this effect on people. Some people love his work, others think it's drivel!

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

To be fair, I did enjoy his "Horror of Glam Rock" back in January, and despite myself I enjoyed "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" for the EDA range... but those have been the exceptions. "The Scarlet Empress" was, or even is, an appallingly bad book, not just as a Doctor Who book but in general. Mind you, "The Blue Angel" was an elegantly-written and very readable book, but not necessarily a good Doctor Who book (if that makes sense).

And yet, bizarrely, I am looking forward immensely to his forthcoming 'New Series' book - so maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment.

But, back on topic, The Wishing Beast - drivel. I wouldn't want to be the companion of a Doctor who would 'happily' decide to sacrifice himself to save some people he's only just met, knowing full well that (a) it mightn't even save them; (b) the villains of the piece would still be alive; and (c) that I'd be bloomin' well stuck on an isolated rock in space. What kind of Doctor is that??!!

But again, Bonnie Langford is excellent throughout.

[Pip Madeley]

Some of you might be interested in hearing the latest podcast of "Cadmium II" which features interviews with the cast of The Wishing Beast/The Vanity Box, including Jean Marsh and Bonnie Langford. It's a great little running podcast actually, I'd thoroughly recommend it.

http://www.cadmium2.blogspot.com/

[Si Hunt]

I've been trying to upload this to my MP3 player for listening to on holiday. However, the tracks arn't titled by number, meaning they will be listed alphabetically on my MP3 player and therefore I won't be able to hear it in order. It's a lot of fuss!

Si.

[stuartdg]

This was good fun,a romp into the realms of fantasy from Paul Magrs,with clever dialogue and a sense of atmosphere and fun

As for the Vanity Box I liked the way it ties in to the Wishing Beast,and the allusions to 60's Coronation Street are all too obvious(a good thing) theres a character in the mould of Ena Sharples,she even drinks in the Snug and again the dialogue crackles