Review by Steve Bennett

If you’re going to ride the coat-tails of a more successful endeavour, you could do a lot worse than Dr Who. A faithful lot, are the Whovians – as evidenced by the odd action figure and Forbidden Planet carrier bag visible in this audience.

Jessica Spray and James Wilson-Taylor – the self-styled Master Of The Whoniverse Theatre Group – have made great efforts to appeal beyond the geeks. However, it certainly helps if you’re a die-hard fan, as there are plenty of sly references and in-jokes aimed squarely at the faithful that could baffle the more casual viewer.

But the thrust of the Whosical is another Fringe comedy staple: spectacle on the cheap. For this duo have a budget that makes the wobbly-set Seventies version of Dr Who look like Transformers 3. Another running gag is that they have been warned against ripping off the TV series by showrunner Stephen Moffatt, so have to change all the characters, for fear of falling foul of the BBC’s tenacious copyright lawyers. Thus our hero is not The Doctor, but *a* doctor, a ‘lord of the time’ who travels the universe in his ‘phone box’. Funny at first, it becomes a little laboured.

The financial constraints provide a richer seam, as Cyber-gents, Exterminators and K-10 are all inventively cobbled together with everything including the kitchen sink. Jamie needs all his skills to play every part other than the companion; while their special effect for making the Tard... sorry, ‘phone box’... dematerialise is genius in its simplicity.

Everything in the show is achieved with a buoyant energy that pervades the song and (reluctant) dance numbers that pay subtle homage to a number of blockbuster stage musicals. The renegade Master, attempting a rap while evil villaining it up like a champion, is especially delightful, but they all share a certain joy.

There are issues: the musical could do with a more purposeful plot on which to hang the silliness, and occasionally our duo lapse into the self-indulgence that was always going to be a potential trap. Doctor Who fans will need little encouragement to materialise in Pleasance Above; but there’s fun to be had for even the casual viewer who knows their Tom Baker from their Colin Baker.

Review date: 3 Aug 2014
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Pleasance Courtyard