Action Figure Theatre: Fast Return, by Jim Sangster

There's a cross-pollination in the marathons in The Long Game section of Gallifrey Base. Bethhigdon's Timelines marathon is currently covering the period I've just finished (with Susan, Iananbarbara) and an entry there put me on to Action Figure Theatre - too late to tackle the same story, but there's another that is set in this gap, and it's been created by a published Who author.

This is a short, four-page comic. The visuals for Action Figure Theatre productions mostly come from photographing models in handmade sets, and the sets here are fantastic. There's even a visual joke on the second page, where the gates of the junkyard on Totter's Lane are opened just enough to read "Foeman" - behind two Daleks and some robomen.

What's that, you say? Totter's Lane? Daleks? In a story named after a feature of the third serial? Yes, this is nostalgia city - and the plot sets up the events of the Daleks' next starring role, The Chase. It's positively overflowing with continuity, and if I were to take this seriously it would be all too much. Fortunately I don't have to: it is, as the saying goes, just a bit of fun. It contradicts Venusian Lullaby, and requires us to assume that the junkyard looks just the same 200 years after Iananbarbara were first kidnapped, but I don't care. Look at the way the shots are set up! Smile at the shiny "Vworp Vworp" sound effect! Admire the timey-wimey plan of the dastardly Daleks!

Perfect reading for a lovely sunny day at the beginning of the summer hols.

Aaand that's it. I've reviewed all the stories in this gap that I have access to. Before I move on, though, I want to take a brief look at the one or two short stories placed here that I haven't read. I'll deal with them (though not review them) using internet summaries:

Short Trips, Companions 5.17: A Long Night, by Alison Lawson
This gets put in different places by different people: I've seen it in the post-Season One gap, after Planet of Giants, and here. Since it takes place in one night and concerns one of Barbara's dreams (as well as one her mother Joan's) I guess it could go almost anywhere, but because it is set on the first anniversary of Iananbarbara's departure for Joan it should perhaps be placed near there in the schedule. Whatever, it doesn't really affect anything else so far as I can tell.

Short Trips, The History of Christmas 18.05: Set in Stone, by Charles Auchterlonie and John Isles
This is a bigger deal. It takes several months, and is set in the 1950s. Apparently it has another discussion between Iananbarbara over whether they should stay or not, as in The Witch Hunters and The Revenants; and again it uses elements of real history to spice up the tale, like The Nine-Day Queen and The Matter of the Ram's Skull. Without reading it, I'm not quite sure how it fits, so I'll have to make some guesses. But for that, you'll have to wait until next time.

Next Time:
A look at the post-Susan gap period overall.