‘SPLINTERS’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
The Tenth Doctor reunites with K-9 and meets Leela
This is exciting! David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor reunites with K-9, Leela, Nyssa and Ace! 🙂
By the time you have read these reviews, I’ve already met David Tennant at the ‘London Comic Con Winter’ in November 2022. David Tennant was also confirmed the Fourteenth Doctor following the end of ‘The Power of the Doctor’. A lot has happened since these audio stories were recorded in 2020.
Back in December 2020, it was announced David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor would be reunited with Louise Jameson as Leela, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, Sophie Aldred as Ace, and K-9, voiced by John Leeson, in a brand-new box set of ‘Doctor Who’ audios. The box set would be released in September 2022. 🙂
I was disappointed that we had to wait for September 2022 for the box set to come out, especially since it features Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ companion, as well as David Tennant being one of my favourite Doctors in the TV series. But I learnt to be pretty patient about it.
It’s interesting that David Tennant gets to be reunited with these specific companions from the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series and I wondered how and why he was reuniting with them. Things became clearer, as the Doctor and K-9 go off on a quest in reuniting with Leela, Nyssa and Ace respectively. 🙂
I was intrigued about at what point these stories fit into Leela, Nyssa, Ace and K-9’s timelines and most definitely the Tenth Doctor’s. I’m also happy to say that I’ve met Louise Jameson, Sarah Sutton, Sophie Aldred, John Leeson and David Tennant at conventions and they’re really nice people indeed.
The stories in the ‘Tenth Doctor, Classic Companions’ box set include ‘Splinters’ by John Dorney, featuring the Tenth Doctor, K-9 and Leela; ‘The Stuntman’ by Lizzie Hopley, featuring the Tenth Doctor, K-9 and Nyssa; and ‘Quantum of Axos’ by Roy Gill, featuring the Tenth Doctor, K-9 and Ace. 🙂
David Tennant in ‘Splinters’.
In ‘Splinters’ by John Dorney, the Tenth Doctor is in the TARDIS when something odd happens. The console reverts from the coral look to the wooden TARDIS he had for Season 14 of the classic series.
Eventually, it goes back to the coral look again. With the Doctor confused, the TARDIS soon picks up a signal and it happens to be K-9 floating in space. Eventually, the Doctor picks up K-9 in the TARDIS.
The Doctor is happy to see K-9 again. This happens to be K-9 Mark II, who was with Romana and Leela on Gallifrey from the ‘Gallifrey’ series. It’s interesting how this model of K-9 ended up floating in space.
K-9 has been sent by Romana for a special mission. Soon, he and the Tenth Doctor journey to Earth and they end up in a Cornish village that is under siege from a fairy tale monster called the Spriggan.
There, the Doctor and K-9 meet up with Leela, who’s defending the Cornish village from the Spriggan. I enjoyed it when David Tennant’s Doctor got to reunite with Leela in this audio adventure.
The scenes between Leela and the Tenth Doctor and how they reunite with each other are very well-handled. The chemistry between David Tennant and Louise Jameson is also very good when you hear them.
It’s interesting how it gets unveiled as to what point Leela is in her timeline. I assumed this was Leela who fought in the Time War, and it is, but there’s a lot more to her when the episode unravels itself.
It’s soon revealed that this is actually a splinter of Leela who fought in the Time War. As the Doctor describes it, it’s like the splinter of a tree torn from its branches or something, which was fascinating.
I like that this episode doesn’t end with Leela disintegrating or something like that. She remains true to her Leela character. She continues to be the village’s defender instead of going back to Gallifrey. 🙂
At least that’s what I think she does. The story does leave it on an open-ended note, which is fine for me. Louise Jameson does well with playing Leela in this episode and sparks off David’s Tenth Doctor well. 🙂
Louise Jameson in ‘Splinters’.
It’s also great to hear Leela being a wiser warrior woman compared to the young, impulsive noble savage she used to be. I could easily visualise that when hearing Louise Jameson as Leela in this story.
David Tennant, as ever, delivers an excellent performance as the Tenth Doctor in this episode. He also plays the Spriggan, which is truly a legendary creature from Cornish folklore connected to trees.
I initially assumed this was a future incarnation of the Tenth Doctor when hearing this audio episode. And in a sense, the Spriggan is, although there’s more complexity in terms of how he ended up like this.
David Tennant puts on a whispery sort-of voice when playing the Spriggan, and it’s interesting how this connects to Leela, especially when she and the Doctor begin to enter what is actually his TARDIS.
It must have been a joy for David Tennant to work with Louise Jameson and John Leeson in the episode, especially when hearing the trio during the behind-the-scenes interviews at the end of this.
K-9 was a joy to listen to in this episode and John Leeson voices him well. It’s surreal to find that this is K-9 Mark II as opposed to K-9 Marks III and IV, who the Tenth Doctor has encountered in the TV show. 🙂
It’s good that K-9 accepts David Tennant as the Doctor without questioning it. It’s also fun that K-9 and the Tenth Doctor get to go on these adventures to restore balance in their universe for Romana.
The story also features Joseph Millson as Peter Kelly, one of the men in the Cornish village. Joseph Millson is well-known for playing Alan, Maria Jackson’s father in ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’ series.
Recently, Joseph Millson was in ‘The Dalek Defence’/’The Triumph of Davros’ with David Tennant. Peter Kelly is anxious when her daughter, turned 18, is to be taken away by the Spriggan’s walking trees.
There are echoes of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ here. Scarlett Courtney guest stars as the mother Kathy Kelly and the daughter Jessica Kelly in Peter Kelly’s family. Peter Kelly sadly does get killed in this episode. 😦
Louise Jameson and her little friend in ‘Splinters’.
Overall, ‘Splinters’ is a good episode featuring David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor, Louise Jameson’s Leela and K-9, voiced by John Leeson. It shouldn’t be a surprise, as John Dorney wrote the episode himself.
The CD extras are as follows. At the end of ‘Splinters’, there are behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew including David Tennant, Louise Jameson and John Leeson, Joseph Millson, director Helen Goldwyn, producer David Richardson, writer John Dorney, etc.
‘Splinters’ rating – 8/10
| The previous story
For the Tenth Doctor was
For Leela was
For K-9 MkII was
|
The next story
For the Tenth Doctor is For K-9 MkII is |
| Return to The Tenth Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to Leela’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Timelines of K-9 | |
| 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 |
Bradley's Basement 