Start to Finish: 7.09 - The Scorchies

Image (c) Big Finish Productions

What price quality television? It's a question that Jo Grant must ponder when she finds herself on air. Live from Television Centre, it's The Scorchies Show!

There's a new show storming the ratings, an addictive blend of puppets, music, slapstick and alien mind control that's taking over the world, and that's just to begin with. The Scorchies are a race reduced to mental patterns and trapped in the bodies of puppets, but that hasn't stopped them leaving a swathe of destruction across civilised, television-watching space. Now the Doctor is missing and only Jo stands between these malevolent Muppets and the destruction they crave. She'll have to dig deep if she's to stop them, as well as singing a song, telling a story and making a thing.

One of the things that The Scorchies reminds us is how difficult it is to get a parody of the Muppets spot on. It's not a bad effort, but probably better in itself than as specific parody, and the Magic Mice in particular feel far more like anarchist rebels against the Mouse Organ of the state than anything Henson. Of course, it is also reminiscent of Angel's classic 'Smile Time' episode, which aired almost a decade before this audio play was I AM SO OLD.

Ahem.

Yes, there's definitely something of 'Smile Time', just with aliens instead of demons, but by focusing on the show itself instead of behind the scenes the presentation is entirely different. It's a fun and slightly sinister entry in the series, and old hand Melvin Hayes turns in a range of creepy puppet voices, with a few more from Katy Manning.

Back into history next week, as The Companion Chronicles salutes the show's very first ship as it calls at The Library of Alexandria.