‘LOST IN THE WAKEFIELD TRIANGLE’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

A Metal Bug in West Yorkshire with the Third Doctor and Jo

This story is by Vin Marsden Hendrick. It features the Third Doctor and Jo; and is read by Katy Manning. I enjoyed this little tale, although I didn’t feel it went anywhere. It was a basic story about the Doctor and Jo visiting a forcing shed for some rhubarb and the tale ended rather abruptly.

The story starts with a man called Martin Chimson who gets attacked by some expanding rhubarb within the forcing shed. The Doctor and Jo eventually show up and Brain and Claire Forest, who found Martin unconscious in the shed, assume that the TARDIS duo came from the hospital to help.

The story features an alien that looks like a ‘red metal bug about the size of a cat’. The alien wants the shed for itself, especially with all the rhubarb stored inside it. I liked it when the Doctor suggests that they talk about this over a cup of tea before coming to an arrangement with Brain and Claire Forest.

I was a little disappointed that Jo didn’t feature much in the short story. There’s a period where Jo goes missing and the Doctor naturally assumes she’s gone to the forcing shed to investigate. But it turns out that she went to the wrong shed when she returns at the tale’s end, which is so typical of Jo.

I did like the familiar Earth atmosphere of the story, especially with the forcing shed being set in West Yorkshire. I was able to keep my attention throughout this story. Katy Manning reads the story so superbly and clearly. But I didn’t find this one very exciting and it was an average tale to say the least.

‘Lost in the Wakefield Triangle’ rating – 6/10