‘ALADDIN TIME’
Please feel free to comment on the review.
The Fourth Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey Have an Adventure with Aladdin
Thankfully, the Doctor and Wibbsey don’t run into a fight with Will Smith. 😀
The third ‘Serpent Crest’ story in ‘Doctor Who’ is a bizarre tale called ‘Aladdin Time’. This shouldn’t be a surprise, considering the Doctor and Wibbsey ended up inside an egg from the end of ‘The Broken Crown’. There are also characters from ‘The Broken Crown’ presented in bizarre ways in this.
I’m familiar with the story of ‘Aladdin and the Magic Lamp’ from ‘One Thousand and One Nights’, having seen the Disney 1992 animated film and the Disney 2019 live-action film. I’ve also seen an ‘Aladdin’ pantomime at the New Theatre in Cardiff many years ago one Christmas when I was a boy.
So, it was fascinating to listen to a ‘Doctor Who’ adventure by Paul Magrs doing its own take on the Aladdin story. I welcomed the chance to check it out in the ‘Serpent Crest’ saga and I’ve yet to see other interpretations of the Aladdin tale, whether they be animated or live-action to be enlightened.
‘Aladdin Time’ is another story in ‘Serpent Crest’ that’s narrated by someone else, though this has more significance to the plot rather than just inserting narration for the sake of narration because it’s a BBC audio adventure. I still prefer the full-cast audio drama approach that was in ‘Tsar Wars’. 😐
The ‘Aladdin Time’ narrator/storyteller happens to be Sophie Ward as Scheherazade. Scheherazade is a name I’ve come across before, having listened to the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa story ‘1001 Nights’. Scheherazade narrated stories to a sultan to keep him entertained for one thousand and one nights.
Mind you, I don’t think this is the real Scheherazade, considering that this story takes place inside the Skishtari egg. The fantasy world of Aladdin is created by Alex, the heir to the Robotov Empire (more on that shortly). Also, Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor meets Scheherazade at the story’s end.
I don’t know much about Sophie Ward as an actress, considering that this is the only ‘Doctor Who’ credit she’s done so far. Mind you, she did a ‘Miss Marple’ with Joan Hicks called ‘A Caribbean Mystery’. She was also in 1992’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ and 2011’s ‘Jane Eye’. I enjoyed her in this story.
Apparently, Sophie Ward and her partner Rena Brannan held their unofficial wedding in August 2000 before they officially married each other in December 2014. And ‘Aladdin Time’ was presumably recorded and released in 2011. Maybe in this world or another, Scheherazade had a same-sex lover.
Anyway, in ‘Aladdin Time’, Scheherazade narrates the story to her sultan about how Aladdin met the Fourth Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey in a cave filled with treasure. It’s fascinating this story doesn’t reprise the Fourth Doctor and Wibbsey’s arrival in the cave from the end of ‘The Broken Crown’ story.
We go straight into the story with it being taken from Aladdin’s point-of-view. Mind you, a listener who might have heard ‘Aladdin Time’ first before hearing the other ‘Serpent Crest’ stories might not have been bothered that the Doctor and Wibbsey were already in the cave when Aladdin met them.
Aladdin tells the Doctor and Wibbsey that he was sent into the cave by a magician to look for a fabled lamp. Hmm. I wonder if the magician’s name is Jafar. 😀 The Doctor and Wibbsey join Aladdin to search for the lamp that may be the power source to switch off the domain they’re trapped in. 🙂
It’s intriguing how this audio story unfolds, as the Doctor, Wibbsey and Aladdin come across obstacles in their journey through the strange domain. This includes peculiar creatures with mythical proportions to them as well as vast rooms that give way to torch-lit tunnels and deadly precipices. 😐
Mind you, as the story progresses, the Doctor and Wibbsey gradually realise that everything isn’t as it seems, particularly when it turns out Aladdin, the magician and the mythical creatures are actually people they know. They’re people that they’ve encountered in Hexford village in the previous story.
Tom Baker and Susan Jameson continue to be excellent together as the Fourth Doctor and Wibbsey in these audio stories. I like that Wibbsey manages to cope when being in a strange situation with the Doctor. I suppose she has become used to the Doctor’s lifestyle and adventuring by this stage. 🙂
Also, the Doctor isn’t befuddled by the strange things going on in the Aladdin world he and Mrs. Wibbsey are in, especially when it’s a fantasy world inside an egg. Things do become peculiar for Tom’s Doctor when he sees his multi-coloured scarf taking a life of its own (more on that shortly). 😐
You might have worked it out, but Aladdin is actually Alex/Andrew, played by Guy Harvey, who appeared in the previous story ‘The Broken Crown‘. Alex as Aladdin is more likeable compared to Andrew, especially when he has the Doctor and Wibbsey help him on his mission to find the lamp. 🙂
The Doctor and Wibbsey are careful not to reveal too many details to Aladdin about his true identity. Thankfully, Aladdin doesn’t go into a temper tantrum like when he did when he was Andrew in Hexford village. I suppose he’s comfortable being Aladdin in that fantasy world whilst inside the egg.
Gradually, Alex/Aladdin comes to realise that he isn’t what he seems. He learns to accept that he’s Alex, the heir to the Robotov Empire, and listens to the Doctor and Wibbsey when it comes to finding the lamp. It’s quite a contrast to how Alex behaved as Andrew compared to being Aladdin. 🙂
In the fantasy world, our heroes meet a Gryphon, played by Terrence Hardiman. For your information, a gryphon, griffin or griffon happens to be a legendary creature with the body, tail and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and sometimes an eagle’s talons as its front feet.
Gryphons appeared in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ films, particularly in ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. You might have also worked this out, but the Gryphon in ‘Aladdin Time’ happens to be Reverend Dobbs, who was in ‘The Broken Crown’ as played by Terrence Hardiman. Quite unusual for the vicar.
Dobbs as the Gryphon doesn’t do much, apart from giving cryptic riddles to the Doctor, Wibbsey and Aladdin when they meet him. I’m surprised the Gryphon didn’t become a major threat. Thankfully, Dobbs survives and returns to Hexford village, even if there isn’t a scene for him at the story’s end. 😐
Going back to the Doctor’s scarf, yes, I was astonished to find that the multi-coloured scarf had taken on a life of its own. What’s more astonishing is that the scarf happens to be voiced by Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel in ‘Fawlty Towers’. And the scarf didn’t even say “I know nothing” in this. 😀
Andrew Sachs has also been in the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’, including ‘The Boy That Time Forgot’ (coincidentally also by Paul Magrs) with Peter Davison’s Doctor and 2003’s ‘Shada’ with Paul McGann’s Doctor. The Doctor’s scarf in ‘Aladdin Time’ seems to take on a serpent/snake style of life.
I did wonder if there was a significance to the Doctor’s scarf being snake-like and having a voice of its own. Perhaps it was possessed by the Skishtari, considering the Doctor and his friends are inside the Skishtari egg. There didn’t seem to be an indication of that, especially as the Skishtari aren’t in this. 🙁
Simon Shepherd returns as Boolin in ‘Aladdin Time’. It turns out he’s the magician who sent Alex as Aladdin to find the lamp. It’s intriguing how everyone’s roles in the audio story are unravelled, especially as the Doctor, Wibbsey, Alex/Aladdin and Boolin find the lamp to shut everything down. 🙂
Incidentally, Simon Shepherd has appeared in the ‘Alex Rider’ TV series, playing Sir David Friend in three episodes out of the first two seasons. It’s astonishing what details you find about actors, learning they’ve been in something else you’ve enjoyed as well as being in a form of ‘Doctor Who’. 🙂
Su Douglas guest stars as the Toad in the audio story. The Doctor comes across the Toad when he’s separated from Wibbsey and Aladdin. It turns out the Toad happens to be the Cook who was in ‘The Broken Crown’. Like Terrence Hardiman as the Gryphon, Su Douglas has only one scene as the Toad.
I did think it was a bit harsh of the Doctor to call the Cook/Toad a ‘ghastly woman’ once he left her to wallow in her own sorrows. After all, the Cook was a victim when she got sucked into the Skishtari egg. I don’t recall a toad being in ‘Aladdin’, unless there’s a version of the story I haven’t come across.
The story concludes with the Doctor, Wibbsey, Alex and Boolin getting out of the Skishtari egg as well as everyone else. Burying the egg in 1861 where Nest Cottage is going to be, they manage to return to 2011 Hexford, thanks to the third wish granted by Alex when he got to use the magic lamp.
After spending Christmas time in Nest Cottage, and it turns out Mike Yates is alright in hospital, the Doctor decides to take Alex and Boolin back to where they come from in the Robotov Empire, leaving Mrs. Wibbsey behind. Once the TARDIS is gone, Mrs. Wibbsey decides to do the washing-up.
‘Aladdin Time’ is another enjoyable audio story in ‘Serpent Crest’. I enjoyed the ‘Doctor Who’ take on the Aladdin story by Paul Magrs and the cast led by Tom Baker and Susan Jameson are very good throughout. I’m intrigued about where the ‘Serpent Crest’ saga will go next in the fourth instalment.
‘Aladdin Time’ rating – 7.5/10
| The previous story
For the Fourth Doctor was For Mrs. Wibbsey was |
The next story
For the Fourth Doctor is For Mrs. Wibbsey is |
| Return to The Fourth Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to Mrs. Wibbsey’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Doctors’ Timelines Index | |
| Return to The Companions’ Timelines Index | |
| Return to Doctor Who Timelines | |
| Return to Doctor Who | |
| Return to Sci-Fi |