Doctor Who Audio Review: The Doctor Gets A Visit From The Other Side

The Ghosts of N-Space is a Doctor Who radio play that was first broadcast on BBC Radio in 1996. The story was written by Barry Letts an directed by Phil Clarke. Jon Pertwee returns to the role of the Third Doctor and is reunited with Elisabeth Sladen and Nicholas Courtney as Sarah Jane Smith and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. respectively. Richard Pearce, Stephen Thorne, and Sandra Dickinson are included in the guest cast.

The Brigadier is on holiday in Sicily visiting a great-uncle. The uncle has some trouble with a local mobster and some spectral intruders. The Doctor is asked to come out for a little investigation where he diagnoses the ghosts as being left behind due to a breach in something called the N-Barrier. The problem gets a rather more alarming due to the monsters from that realm gathering to invade our plane of existence. The Doctor has to travel back to two different past centuries to get a handle on this looming catastrophe. Fortunately, Sarah is on hand to help out in spite the clumsy assistance of her colleague Jeremy Fotzoliver.

As much fun as it was to experience a Third Doctor adventure I had not heard before, the story is a bit of a mess. The sound effects were not entirely convincing. It seems to go on a little longer than necessary. Pertwee sounded great as did his co-stars, but I had a hard time staying with this particular adventure. I have the novelization, so I may need to revisit that as well. In spite of the mild disappointment, I was still glad that I finally got to hear this bit of Doctor Who history.