Kippers

I’ve got a sonic screwdriver and a bag of jelly babies, but I have a funny feeling that’s not going to be enough.

The Second Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor and Jamie have attempted to break free from performing covert missions for the Time Lord agent Raven. But things haven’t gone according to plan. Jamie has vanished, Raven finds herself in a familiar yet strangely disturbing location. And all the while, half-glimpsed, unnervingly perceived… something… fluttering, buzzing, tugging at their very souls…

Review

Conspiracy of Raven is the third box set in the Second Doctor Adventures, and one that promises as reunion of the Season 6 TARDIS team of the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe. Neither companion features heavily in this story, with the focus being squarely on the Second Doctor and the enigmatic Time Lord, Raven and get some answers about what the Time Lords have planned for the Second Doctor. The stories in this release are written by Nicholas Briggs and Mark Wright, who are both the producers of this range, so would have major revelations.

You’re just as much a pawn in all of this as I am.

The Second Doctor

Whilst there are more characters in the story, it does boil down to being a two-hander between Emma Noakes’ Raven and Michael Troughton’s Second Doctor. We are given a new foe in the shape of the Kippers, but they do not speak beyond a buzzing noise. As a result, the performances of both Noakes and Troughton are crucial to this story working. They are comfortably the best part of this story. It is hampered by being the first part of a longer story, which means that it is more about setting up the mysteries and threads for the rest of the box set. Nicholas Briggs has also written a base under siege story, which were staples of the Patrick Troughton era of the show. They do work well on audio, especially if listening on headphones, as the claustrophobic atmosphere really comes across well. In Kippers, it is also helped by a strong score, which increases how eerie the story sounds.

The Kippers are an interesting concept, if a bit underdeveloped in this story. We are shown that they are able to wipe out the Time Lords on the space station and are able to seemingly teleport Jamie off the station too. I have listened to this box set before, but cannot recall how it concludes and whether we will find out more about them as it progresses, but hopefully we will be given more information about them. They are not really even described here, although the audio trope of having them buzz was quite effective, and the way they kill Paul by dissolving him is really sinister.

I think that having the story of this box set focus on Raven is a good idea for the show. Whilst she has been an ever-present in these Second Doctor Adventures, we do not know that much about her at this stage. This story crucially does set up the fact that she is not as all-knowing as she has previously appeared and does not know what the purpose of the missions she has been sending the Doctor on. After the events of the previous story The Shroud, Kippers continues a chain of Raven being rattled. She starts this story still escorted by Paul, the avatar of the Time Lord weapon, the Shroud, who was intending to take her back to Gallifrey and the High Council, but, like the Doctor, have been pulled off course to this space station. Raven has previously seemed to be unflappable, but when she is out of control she becomes panicky and flustered. Understandably keen to contact the Time Lords when the station she is familiar with turns out to be deserted, she is frustrated by the Doctor’s refusal to do so. Emma Noakes has been really good in this role since the beginning, and continues to shine here.

The Doctor is separated from Jamie throughout this story, and it is a good opportunity to see how Michael Troughton’s portrayal of the Second Doctor has come along, as the story places him firmly in the spotlight. Troughton is really good at capturing some of his father’s traits and mannerisms. It is particularly good when he feels that he and Raven are finally equals and when the Doctor revels in Raven being disconcerted by this turn of events. The story does feel like it takes a little while to get going in the early stages, hampered by the Doctor’s search for Jamie feeling as though it is restricted to just calling his name in the early stages of this story. Michael Troughton, however, is sharp as tack throughout this story. The way he rounds on Raven when she is not moved by Paul’s death is superb, highlighting that her indifference is one of the things that makes them so different. This interplay really works well and Troughton captures that stubbornness of the Doctor so well. He is reluctant to tell the Time Lords of the situation, given how his last meeting with them went, and the difficult limbo-like situation he finds himself in.

Verdict: Kippers sets up a lot of questions and does not answer many of them, and relies heavily on the performances of Michael Troughton and Emma Noakes. 6/10

Cast: Michael Troughton (The Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon), Emma Noakes (Raven), Mickey Knighton (Paul) & Nicholas Boulton (Time Lord Commander Stelkor).

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Director: Nicholas Briggs

Music: Toby Hrycek-Robinson

Sound: Luke Pietnik

Release Date: 9 July 2024

Cast Notes

• Nicholas Boulton played a businessman in Gridlock. He has also appeared in Meanwhile, Elsewhere and The Children of the Future.

Best Quote

My superiors always insisted your pathetic, ineffectual fiddling…

Ineffectual?!?

…was a mask for a towering intellect and an exhaustive inventive genius.

Oh, well that’s very kind of them to say so.

Raven and the Second Doctor

Previous Second Doctor review: The Shroud

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