Upstairs                        

Doctor Who The Companion Chronicles 8.3                        

The Doctor, Vicky and Steven arrive in the attic rooms of a house in London.

Peter Purves and Maureen O’Brien star in this story, with Vicky narrating.

You get the idea of this very quickly, The Doctor manages to see out of a skylight to se the familiar markings of London, sometime in the  18th century give or take. As they venture through the rooms they realise that there’s no exit, just endless rooms.

Its the kind of set up I really like, just enough mystery, a little reminiscent of part 1 of the space museum. What adds to the intrigue is that they realise that the rooms are the same but in different timezones, and the fact that, if they can’t find their way back to the TARDIS they may die there.  There’s also a fungus that’s a concern.

Part 2 is where they actually meet other people and this where it starts to lose its appeal. Without wanting to give too much away, the people are the servants of the house and want to use the fungus. 

I didn’t get any feeling of satisfaction or resolution from the ending. With the circumstance at the start it felt maybe someone like the Toymaker was involved, perhaps it was a trap of sorts. There were good idea here but not used in an effective way. They didn’t make the most of them.

I’m a little bereft, I feel that I should be reflecting on a great adventure, or marvelling at a exquisite ploy that put everything right. In reality I’m a bit lost.

A great start but led nowhere.