Earth & Beyond: Bounty

1 episode, approx. 35 minutes.  Written by: Peter Anghelides.  Directed by: John Taylor.  Performed by: Paul McGann.

THE PLOT

The Doctor has promised Sam Jones, a young London girl, one trip in the TARDIS - and then straight back home, much to her disappointment. She is angling to extend her time with him during their easy, relaxing visit to a beach. But that vacation is cut short when the Doctor and Sam discover alien debris in the sand. Abruptly, the piece of debris is knocked away by a shape-shifting alien, who runs off with it - and with the Doctor's TARDIS key!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: This story has a splendid chase sequence, in which the Doctor uses his mind to catch up with the alien he's pursuing. The alien has much faster transportation, while the Doctor is on foot for this leg of the chase. But the Doctor observes the winding road, and uses it to keep the chase viable.

Sam Jones: Given the limited time available, writer Peter Anghelides does a good job of making Sam likable and plucky. Her interplay with the Doctor over a game of "I've never done..." is quite amusing, and Anghelides gives a nice turn of mood when Sam challenges the Doctor to deny that he's ever killed anyone, and then is disconcerted by the Doctor's non-reply. She enjoys being with the Doctor and clearly has a fairly strong teen crush on him (one wonders if she'd have been half as fast to go off with the First or Sixth Doctors), but she isn't quite sure of him at this point - something used to good effect when the Doctor feigns callousness for the aliens' benefit.

THOUGHTS

Another short story which, like Benny's Story, is fairly thin on a storytelling level. This is actually an even more generic story, as the meat of the tale amounts to a big chase scene.

But it may well be that very thing that makes this story work within its brief running time.  When you only have about a half hour to work with, a simple story is usually best. Because the story itself is so uncomplicated, there is plenty of time for some charming character interplay. Anghelides is a good writer, one who understands setting up a moment to pay it off later. As a result, Sam's offhand challenge to the Doctor of "I've never killed anyone," ends up having multiple payoffs by the story's end.

This isn't a fantastically ambitious Doctor Who story. But it's a well-judged short piece, very entertaining with some decent character bits. Well worth a listen.


Rating: 6/10.

Next Story: Earth & Beyond: Dead Time


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