And who said Dr Who was strictly for kids?
- Publication: Wolverhampton AdNews
- Date: 1989-04-27
- Author: Mike Williams
- Page:
- Language: English
THE touring theatre production of Dr Who I would make an ideal Christmas pantomime.
Lots of colourful costumes, song and dance routines, a multitude of scenes and a most definite tongue-in-cheek approach is surprisingly used in liberal amounts at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, this week.
This supernatural hokum is ideal for the young at heart, but it is debatable whether it would satisfy the avid adult fans who outnumbered the kids three to one on the first night.
Powerful sound effects, smoke, lasers and giant video screens help to recreate the inter-galactic travel and mayhem of the TV series, plus a few strange creatures flying around the stage for extra effect.
Dr Who, John Pertwee, is self-mocking as he wisecracks his way in fine pantomime style, once observing: "You would be amazed at the damage a Dalek can do considering it is only armed with a lavatory plunger and an egg whisk."
Graeme Smith and Rebecca Thornhill are the hero and heroine time-travellers joining the Doctor in battles against an alliance of Daleks and Cybermen, added to which are a group of mercenaries led by David Banks and Judith Hibbert, the equivalent of the wicked king and queen as they scheme against the intrepid trio.
The plot loosely revolves around the kidnap of a US peace envoy who is taken through outer space by the wicked aliens.
After a briefing from a look-alike Mrs Thatcher, Pertwee zooms across the galaxy dodging a variety of nasty characters.
Yvonne Milnes' costumes are imaginative and colourful, and Steve Playford's laser designs are brilliant in every way.
Although Suffolk Scenery's sets are sometimes tenuously flimsy, the general atmosphere of intense inter-galactic action is comfortably achieve4.
With such magnificent special effects nowadays available in cinema, theatre must adopt an alternative approach —perhaps even a compromise — using the script as much as imagery to achieve the same result. And in this, Dr Who really works.
It is excellent entertainment for a young audience whose imagination is still vivid, although whether the many Dr Who fanatics will be satisfied with this interpretation remains to be seen.
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- APA 6th ed.: Williams, Mike (1989-04-27). And who said Dr Who was strictly for kids?. Wolverhampton AdNews .
- MLA 7th ed.: Williams, Mike. "And who said Dr Who was strictly for kids?." Wolverhampton AdNews [add city] 1989-04-27. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Williams, Mike. "And who said Dr Who was strictly for kids?." Wolverhampton AdNews, edition, sec., 1989-04-27
- Turabian: Williams, Mike. "And who said Dr Who was strictly for kids?." Wolverhampton AdNews, 1989-04-27, section, edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=And who said Dr Who was strictly for kids? | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/And_who_said_Dr_Who_was_strictly_for_kids%3F | work=Wolverhampton AdNews | pages= | date=1989-04-27 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=18 June 2024 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=And who said Dr Who was strictly for kids? | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/And_who_said_Dr_Who_was_strictly_for_kids%3F | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=18 June 2024}}</ref>
