The Age of Endurance

Early Adventures #3.1

Released: 14 September 2016

Listened: 1/3/20

This Early Adventure was recorded a few years after the previous one, and there are some differences. Jemma Powell steps in to play Barbara, but she’s still sidelined for most of the story, which seems an odd choice. Then again, Carole Ann Ford and especially William Russell sound quite a bit older than even the last story, and might make a poor contrast to Powell. Russell even plays the Doctor sounding rather older than previously, although he does spend most of the story injured and fatigued. As for the story itself, it seems like it should be part submarine thriller, and part morality tale regarding the dangers of genetic engineering, but the baddies don’t really stick in the memory, and the sacrifice play at the end is fairly obvious. The nebula the story takes place in probably would have looked great on TV if this story were made with modern-series special effects, but likely not in 1964 black-and-white.