Izzy’s Story

My name’s Izzy and I chose the Doctor!

Izzy Sinclair

Synopsis

TARDIS travel opens one’s eyes to a universe of possibilities, reckons the Doctor. For geek girl Izzy, it’s also a fantastic way to track down ultra-rare back copies of ‘Aggrotron!’, the most dangerous comic in history…

Review

Whilst The Company of Friends is a largely enjoyable anthology, Izzy’s Story is the weak link.

Izzy’s Story does have some solid ideas at its core. I really liked the concept of searching for a missing issue of the Aggotron comic – that feels somehow quintessential to Doctor Who, albeit an item not quite at the scale of the usual missing items in Doctor Who. There is also the idea of aliens working on Earth comics, which is really enjoyable. Alan Barnes has also got an important point to make about erasing art from history completely, as Derek has done as it offends his personal tastes. I appreciate that Izzy originates from the comics, but the comic book feel of the story did take me out of the narrative and impact my enjoyment of it. I did, however, like the asterixes – they worked really well.

Izzy unfortunately did not work for me. I’m not sure whether that’s down to the casting or the writing, but Jemima Rooper does not convince as a teenager. Perhaps once she was cast, the part should have been rewritten for an adult version of Izzy. I’m not entirely convinced that this would have fixed all of the issues with the character, as Izzy is genuinely quite irritating and entitled. Writing geeky characters is a difficult task, as they can do easily become grating. In an intellectual property such as Doctor Who, you also need to consider whether you are potentially damage the relationship with the fans. Whilst some geeky behaviour is distinctly harmful, the vast majority is ultimately most harmless, but a vocal minority tend to result in all being tarnished with the same brush. Izzy demonstrates some of those traits; she is disgusted when Courtmaster Cruel turns out to be a girl.

The Doctor is in a very laid-back mood here again. In these 30 minute adventures, there’s little chance to build up to universe-destroying stakes and McGann feels quite relaxed, albeit offended that Izzy would use the TARDIS to find the missing issue.

Verdict: Izzy’s Story is the weakest of the bunch. 5/10

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Jemima Rooper (Izzy Sinclair), Anthony Glennon (Courtmaster Cruel), Robert Forknall (Foreman/Suit 1), Katrina Cooke (Juror), Ian Ballard (Captain Cannibal/Suit 2), Teddy Kempner (Grakk/Clerkie/The Camp Robot) & Steve Hansell (Grubb/The Man).

Writer: Alan Barnes

Director: Nicholas Briggs

Sound and Music: Thea Cochrane

Main Range Release Number: 123c

Release Date: 28 July 2009

Behind the Scenes

• This is the only performed story in which Izzy appears.

Cast Notes

• Jemima Rooper has also appeared in Restoration of the Daleks.
• Anthony Glennon also appeared in Paper Cuts.
• Robert Forknall played a guard in Utopia.
• Ian Hallard played Alan-a-Dale in the Twelfth Doctor story Robot of Sherwood. He has also appeared in multiple Big Finish stories, including Invaders from Mars, Destroy the Infinite and Time’s Horizon.
• Teddy Kempner also appeared in Castle of Fear, 1001 Nights and My Brother’s Keeper.
• Steve Hansell has also appeared in The Condemned, Brotherhood of the Daleks and The Raincloud Man.

Best Quote

Tell me you’re not using my TARDIS, your doorway into the realms of infinite space, tell me you’ve got something more on your mind other than picking up back copies of Aggravation!

The Eighth Doctor