From Newsgroup: rec.arts.drwho.moderated
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Subject: Re: jphalt's Doctor Who reviews

THE RESURRECTION CASKET (BBC AUDIO)

2 episodes. Approx. 150 minutes. Written by: Justin Richards. Produced
by: Kate Thomas. Read by: David Tennant.


THE PLOT

Starfall is a world powered by steam. There is no electricity, because
nothing electrical will function. Starfall is in a region of space
called the Zeg, a region of electromagnetic disturbances that simulate
the effects of an electromagnetic pulse.  One so strong that even the
TARDIS is put out of commission by it.

This leaves the Doctor and Rose to find a more conventional way out of
the Zeg to continue their journeys. They quickly make friends: Silver
Sally, a young woman who runs a pub and who is half steam-powered
machine thanks to an accident; Jimm, a boy raised on stories of the
legendary space pirate Hamlek Glint; and his Uncle Bob, Starfall's
foremost expert on Glint.

Glint disappeared ten years earlier, leaving behind the mystery of
what happened to his ship, The Buccaneer, and his treasure. Wealthy
Drel McCavity is obsessed with the lost treasure, particularly its
centerpiece: The Resurrection Casket, the secret to Glint's seeming
invulnerability.

The Doctor senses an opportunity in this, promising that he can locate
the pirate's lost ship.  The TARDIS is bundled aboard a steam-powered
spaceship, and Silver Sally is quick to locate a robot crew. All is
going according to the Doctor's plan, and they are quickly on their
way out of the Zeg, free from its interference.

But Sally hides a secret past. McCavity has secrets of his own, and
his own agenda. All too soon, the Doctor and Rose discover that the
pirate past they have gone searching for is all too real in the
present!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Having lost so much himself, he is quick to recognize loss
in others. That doesn't require much effort when dealing with Drel
McCavity, who wraps himself up in his loss as if it were a heavy (and
gaudy) cloak. But he also recognizes this quality in Jimm's Uncle Bob,
and shows clear empathy. These moments,  when the Doctor becomes quiet
and empathetic, make this a particularly good characterization. The
flippancy is there, and even a touch overdone in places - but it's not
the only note used, as is the case with certain other 10th Doctor
books.

Rose: Her joy at befriending Sally, a young woman close to her own
age, keeps her from picking up on hints that there is more to Sally
than what's on the surface. She is shocked when she overhears Sally's
secret, even after witnessing the ease with which the young woman
gathers a robot crew and the familiarity with which she talks about
the space sharks. Despite her sense of betrayal, Rose cannot condemn
the other woman to death. The Doctor seems to trust in Rose's
compassionate nature, stating that she "always makes the right
(choice)."


THOUGHTS

Fun.

That's the word that best describes this story. The Resurrection
Casket is unapologetically constructed out of pre-owned parts. It's
basically a Robert Louis Stevenson pirate yarn in space... directly
transplanted into space, complete with real space sharks. I was
surprised there was no scene involving the Doctor having to walk a
plank.

It's all very silly, of course, and every plot twist is signposted
well in advance. But it's good-natured and sprightly. The Doctor and
Rose are well-characterized, the guest cast is sufficiently colorful,
and there are a handful of very well-turned set pieces.

In short, this tale is really rather good fun.

The Resurrection Casket was one of the three audio books that launched
the BBC new series audio range. As with the other two titles, The
Stone Rose and The Feast of the Drowned, the audio benefits greatly
from the reading by David Tennant. Seemingly born for audio books,
Tennant throws himself in with real enthusiasm, altering his pitch and
delivery for each character so as to create the illusion of a full
cast.

As with all of the early BBC audio books, The Resurrection Casket is
abridged. There are points at which you can tell there are gaps -
places where material should be, but isn't. This isn't a criticism of
the abridgment, which has been done with care and judgment. But when
you cut a book's text in half, the odds are good that you're going to
leave a few holes in the story.

The most noticeable of these occurs about a third of the way into Disc
Two. The Doctor, Rose, and the various non-robotic guest characters
connive their way into an escape pod. It is not the pod carrying the
TARDIS, though, which leaves them at an impasse. There's a pause for a
scene change - and then the pod is arriving at the Buccaneer! It feels
like an entire chapter vanished into the abridgement and, while the
plot itself remains intact, it is jarring.

Despite minor issues, this pirate pastische in space is the most
purely enjoyable of the early new series audio books. Boosted by a
spirited reading by David Tennant, I have no hesitation about
recommending it.


Rating: 7/10.

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