Doctor Who: The Doomsday Quatrain

The Doctor (sans companion) arrives in 16th century Florence and meets the famous astrologer Nostradamus. But, from a fairly early stage, it's clear that all is not as it seems, and we're soon whisked away to a story that's mainly set in alien spacecraft and research stations.

The explanation for what's going on (which becomes clear at the half-way point, although you may have worked out the basics before then) has been used before in Doctor Who, including twice in the classic TV series that I can think of. In fairness, though, the details are different here, notably with the interplay between two different alien races, as well as the specifics of how it's being done, which is quite original. So that's not really a problem.

On the other hand, while it's not a particularly bad plot overall, it does suffer from the “monster” aliens, the Kro, being particularly dim and inclined to self-destruction. It also doesn't deal too much with Nostradamus himself. Certainly he's a key figure in the story, but it's largely as a maguffin, and there's certainly no real exploration of the man. There is a sound reason for this, which is also connected with why he's in Florence, when, at this stage of his life, he'd really have been in France. But it feels a missed opportunity, with even the titular quatrain being underplayed until the last 20 minutes or so.

As a fan of stories set in the past, I also felt that the evocation of late Renaissance Italy was another missed opportunity - as noted, most of the story isn't actually set there. Granted, we're over a hundred years too late for DaVinci or Michelangelo, and a few decades too early for Galileo, but even so, this is certainly no Masque of Mandragora. (One does wonder, in fact, why it isn't set in Provence - there doesn't seem to be any particular reason for this, and it just emphasises what could have been, but isn't).

On the plus side, the play makes good use of its cast, with most of the actors playing two roles, and this not being at all noticeable. And it's quite a decent science fiction story, with plenty of action and a dramatic climax, if perhaps, with insufficient reflection on the morality of what's going on. But, overall, I'd give it no more than 3.5 stars, which I'm going to have to round down.