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How very nothingy. And yet I feel all the nostalgia for how hyped it got me on release.
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I really enjoy this one, the shoe gag is funny and the cheeky 221b is cute.
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People say these are dull and have nothing to them, which I sort of understand but on the other hand, this one includes a literal death of a character? It’s not nothing, it’s quite exciting? Also the phrase ‘counter measures’ is used.
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This one gets a bit corny. But the shot of Kate is a lovely one, considering they presumably had no budget.
Okay so is this where I get to talk about Time Fracture? Because BOY did I have thoughts on it. There are many (many) Doctor Who experiences and events that I’m gutted to have missed out on but I do of course count myself very lucky to have attended this one, thanks to a very generous birthday present from my wonderful wife, who dutifully attended with me.
It was certainly a strange beast. For those not familiar with immersive promenade theatre, this one was roughly in the style of Punchdrunk (who, incidentally, produced The Crash of the Elysium back in the Smith era, but I didn’t get to attend that one), but with a little less freedom. First, you’re lining up outside, ready to enter a UNIT facility, surrounded by little Easter eggs and references to Who history, which is great fun. Then you’re ushered in and there’s an opening Spiel about the time fracture and how dangerous it is, and then you enter the fracture in groups, and different groups pursue different routes through the story, seeing different scenes and parts of history - in theory, every visit is different and no one visit will show you every scene and everything there is to see. So some get to see Torchwood of old, some see a more modern version, some see some Shakespearean antics, some meet an off-world scavenger, etc., etc.
In terms of design, the stes, the costumes, the realisation of the Whoniverse, Time Fracture really was stunning. It was amazing walking around and discovering so many little details, and creatures and characters, both new and familiar. In the centre of the complex is a bar that everyone gets to access, where you can chill and listen to aliens singing fun songs live for you on a stage - this was particularly memorable and like we’d stepped into the Star Wars Cantina. As delta mentions, some routes take you through a small ‘wood’ where you are pursued by weeping angels and while I applaud delta’s devotion to his child, I have to say he really missed out by skipping this - it was by far the highlight. The lights would flash on and off and the actors playing the angel were remarkable at moving swiftly in the blink of an eye, literally coming up behind you in brief moments of darkness - it was very well done and petrified my wife.
In terms of the story itself, well, this (alongside much of the acting - you need a lot of actors for an immersive experience and these things are notorious for attracting fresh graduates and people who have been out of work for a while (not necessarily a bad thing of course, but in this case, very few came off very well)), was the event’s downfall. Of course it’s difficult to have a coherent story when different episodes are experienced by different audiences, but this really was messy and incredibly difficult to follow. It ends with a very lengthy scene in a huge audience chamber - all the audience groups are brought in to experience the finale, which suddenly and unexpectedly dives headfirst into exceptionally intricate Gallifreyan lore, discussing the different chapters of the society and making deep cuts to books that I’m confident very few of the audience will have read. This show was essentially aimed at families (rightly so) and casual fans (rightly so) and yet I, as a fan of the whole run of the show for (at this point) around a decade, couldn’t follow all the Gallifreyan politics that were relied upon during this very dialogue-heavy finale to the event. Honestly, it was a real let-down and I thought totally inappropriate for how the event had branded itself and would have worked best.
If you’re sad that you missed out on Time Fracture, you have my sympathy and I’m sorry you didn’t get to experience the wonder of strolling through the Whoniverse. BUT, that was absolutely the thing you missed out on, and it’s also the thing that has been available in many other guises and forms over the years and I’m sure will be again. In terms of a story you missed and don’t get to experience, you’re missing far less - indeed, I attended and still feel like I missed out on the story. As for a chapeter in Time Lord Victorious, well of course the fracture itself is integral to the wider event, so it does tie in. But as far as I remember, nothing in the story itself connects to anything specific in the event. This is the story of the fracture, that happened - quite separately - to enable events in the TLV arc.
