Coming off of a really dull two-parter definitely helped “Cry of the Banshee” stand out, but that’s a little harsh because it is a good story by itself, raised by having Leela and the Brigadier meet and rather than have it as a cheesy thing writer Tim Foley came up with some fun things to do with the pair. Let’s take a look!
The story kicks off with The Doctor (Tom Baker) and Leela (Louise Jameson) being called to Earth by the Brigadier (Jon Culshaw) thanks to the old Time-Space Telegraph after a delegate at a “World Peace Conference” was killed by a Banshee of all things, despite being in Geneva (not that being killed by a Banshee is Ireland or Scotland would make much more sense, to be fair…) The Doctor eventually traces it back to a space station orbiting Jupiter in the far future, the interior of which is just like a saggy bog, leading to K9 being told to stay behind (handy!) While there the group encounter three “survivors” in Marla (Rakie Ayola), Garth (Reece Pantry) and Holl (Jonathon Carley, possibly before he started voicing the War Doctor given how far in advance these stories are “banked”…) as well as a bunch more Banshees, who seemingly hunt by sound, leading to some “quick be quiet!” tense moments.
As The Doctor goes exploring with the new guests Leela and The Brig are left on the survivors’ ship, which soon accidentally takes off just as The Doctor makes a startling discovery to do with how the station got so marshy…
I’ll leave it there, at two parts it does run at a good pace but as a recap of the story that’s about it before I spoil the ending! It’s a fun one though, and the trio of leads are all on fine form, again especially Louise Jameson and Jon Culshaw, who bring their character’s banter to life perfectly.
The Continuity:
Now the Brigadier being on the cover makes sense! Told you to wait until the last story in the set…
Not much, although this is the first time Leela and the Brig have interacted, in the multi-Doctor (sort of) Eighth Doctor story “Zagreus” Leela meets an evil avatar of the TARDIS that has taken the Brigadier’s form and is voiced by Nicholas Courtney, so a “more legit” meeting between the two vocal-wise, just not actual character-wise!
Overall Thoughts:
“Cry of the Banshee” was a fun mini-story that while it didn’t light the world on fire its goal of having the Brigadier meet Leela and having it be more than just that was accomplished well, and I’m looking forward to more with the trio next time.
The Doctor finds out that the space station was actually a large arms market for crazy sci-fi weapons, one of which created the Banshees and one of which turned the station into a bog. One of either Garth or Holl betrays them to get his hands on some tech which when activated sends a Banshee back to Geneva in the “present” to explain how that happens, then he dies (sorry, I can’t remember which is which by name alone…) leading to The Doctor and Marla being trapped. Meanwhile Leela and The Brig manage to use each other’s knowledge and instincts to bring the spaceship back around and re-dock with the station, and then lift a bit of tech all the way to where The Doctor and Marla are to assist them.
In the end the Banshees are left to roam the station and Marla escapes (can’t remember the fate of the other bloke…) and while The Doctor means to drop the Brigadier back home it seems this new trio (or quartet, I keep forgetting about K9…) are about to have at least one more adventure before all is said and done…
Hogan Reviews 