Doctor Who review: The Crowmarsh Experiment (Fourth Doctor audio)
By James Aggas
When Leela wakes up in a strange institute on Earth in The Crowmarsh Experiment, she’s told her memories with the Doctor aren’t real. She doesn’t believe what everyone’s telling her. But how much can she really trust her memories?
The Crowmarsh Experiment is something a little different for the Fourth Doctor Adventures. It focuses on what happens when Leela “wakes up” in Seventies England. When she does, she’s made to believe that her time-traveling adventures were all a dream. That she’s really Doctor Marshall, working for the Crowmarsh Institute. Can she really trust her memories?
This interesting setup sounds both fitting for the era, and yet at the same time, very modern, too. This is probably because quite a few television series have explored this idea. Particularly in science-fiction and fantasy.
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For example, Buffy the Vampire Slayer had the episode Normal Again. Smallville also had Labyrinth. Both stories focused on the lead characters facing the very real possibility that their superpowers and adventures were nothing more than hallucinations.
It’s interesting that The Crowmarsh Experiment uses this storyline with Leela. Particularly as Earth isn’t even her world. As a result, she has a far harder time believing that her travels with the Doctor were just a dream. And then she’s given a reason to want to believe that her life on Earth is real…
Leela finds herself questioning her memories and her very identity in The Crowmarsh Experiment!
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
Louise Jameson
Louise Jameson is wonderful in The Crowmarsh Experiment. Particularly as she herself carries it in this one. While Tom Baker still plays the Doctor, it’s Leela’s perspective that we experience this story. And Leela’s the only one having this induced hallucination. But what’s causing it?
David Llewellyn has written some very strong drama for this story. As a result, Jameson is given a lot to work with, and there are a number of emotional extremes that she has to portray. Particularly fear, despair, hope, and joy. And she portrays them all brilliantly, too. In fact, it may just be one of Louise Jameson’s very best performances as Leela.
The Crowmarsh Experiment is an exceptional Fourth Doctor Adventure. David Llewellyn has given us a very challenging and very rewarding story. It’s a story that really puts its audience through the ringer. And it’s a wonderfully modern story that still fits the era its written for. Once again, another excellent Fourth Doctor story.
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Have you listened to The Crowmarsh Experiment? What were your thoughts on it? Are you a fan of Leela? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.