From Newsgroup: rec.arts.drwho.moderated   
   From Address: jphalt@aol.com   
   Subject: Re: jphalt's Doctor Who reviews   
      
   THE RESURRECTION CASKET (BBC AUDIO)   
      
   2 episodes. Approx. 150 minutes. Written by: Justin Richards. Produced   
   by: Kate Thomas. Read by: David Tennant.   
      
      
   THE PLOT   
      
   Starfall is a world powered by steam. There is no electricity, because   
   nothing electrical will function. Starfall is in a region of space   
   called the Zeg, a region of electromagnetic disturbances that simulate   
   the effects of an electromagnetic pulse.  One so strong that even the   
   TARDIS is put out of commission by it.   
      
   This leaves the Doctor and Rose to find a more conventional way out of   
   the Zeg to continue their journeys. They quickly make friends: Silver   
   Sally, a young woman who runs a pub and who is half steam-powered   
   machine thanks to an accident; Jimm, a boy raised on stories of the   
   legendary space pirate Hamlek Glint; and his Uncle Bob, Starfall's   
   foremost expert on Glint.   
      
   Glint disappeared ten years earlier, leaving behind the mystery of   
   what happened to his ship, The Buccaneer, and his treasure. Wealthy   
   Drel McCavity is obsessed with the lost treasure, particularly its   
   centerpiece: The Resurrection Casket, the secret to Glint's seeming   
   invulnerability.   
      
   The Doctor senses an opportunity in this, promising that he can locate   
   the pirate's lost ship.  The TARDIS is bundled aboard a steam-powered   
   spaceship, and Silver Sally is quick to locate a robot crew. All is   
   going according to the Doctor's plan, and they are quickly on their   
   way out of the Zeg, free from its interference.   
      
   But Sally hides a secret past. McCavity has secrets of his own, and   
   his own agenda. All too soon, the Doctor and Rose discover that the   
   pirate past they have gone searching for is all too real in the   
   present!   
      
      
   CHARACTERS   
      
   The Doctor: Having lost so much himself, he is quick to recognize loss   
   in others. That doesn't require much effort when dealing with Drel   
   McCavity, who wraps himself up in his loss as if it were a heavy (and   
   gaudy) cloak. But he also recognizes this quality in Jimm's Uncle Bob,   
   and shows clear empathy. These moments,  when the Doctor becomes quiet   
   and empathetic, make this a particularly good characterization. The   
   flippancy is there, and even a touch overdone in places - but it's not   
   the only note used, as is the case with certain other 10th Doctor   
   books.   
      
   Rose: Her joy at befriending Sally, a young woman close to her own   
   age, keeps her from picking up on hints that there is more to Sally   
   than what's on the surface. She is shocked when she overhears Sally's   
   secret, even after witnessing the ease with which the young woman   
   gathers a robot crew and the familiarity with which she talks about   
   the space sharks. Despite her sense of betrayal, Rose cannot condemn   
   the other woman to death. The Doctor seems to trust in Rose's   
   compassionate nature, stating that she "always makes the right   
   (choice)."   
      
      
   THOUGHTS   
      
   Fun.   
      
   That's the word that best describes this story. The Resurrection   
   Casket is unapologetically constructed out of pre-owned parts. It's   
   basically a Robert Louis Stevenson pirate yarn in space... directly   
   transplanted into space, complete with real space sharks. I was   
   surprised there was no scene involving the Doctor having to walk a   
   plank.   
      
   It's all very silly, of course, and every plot twist is signposted   
   well in advance. But it's good-natured and sprightly. The Doctor and   
   Rose are well-characterized, the guest cast is sufficiently colorful,   
   and there are a handful of very well-turned set pieces.   
      
   In short, this tale is really rather good fun.   
      
   The Resurrection Casket was one of the three audio books that launched   
   the BBC new series audio range. As with the other two titles, The   
   Stone Rose and The Feast of the Drowned, the audio benefits greatly   
   from the reading by David Tennant. Seemingly born for audio books,   
   Tennant throws himself in with real enthusiasm, altering his pitch and   
   delivery for each character so as to create the illusion of a full   
   cast.   
      
   As with all of the early BBC audio books, The Resurrection Casket is   
   abridged. There are points at which you can tell there are gaps -   
   places where material should be, but isn't. This isn't a criticism of   
   the abridgment, which has been done with care and judgment. But when   
   you cut a book's text in half, the odds are good that you're going to   
   leave a few holes in the story.   
      
   The most noticeable of these occurs about a third of the way into Disc   
   Two. The Doctor, Rose, and the various non-robotic guest characters   
   connive their way into an escape pod. It is not the pod carrying the   
   TARDIS, though, which leaves them at an impasse. There's a pause for a   
   scene change - and then the pod is arriving at the Buccaneer! It feels   
   like an entire chapter vanished into the abridgement and, while the   
   plot itself remains intact, it is jarring.   
      
   Despite minor issues, this pirate pastische in space is the most   
   purely enjoyable of the early new series audio books. Boosted by a   
   spirited reading by David Tennant, I have no hesitation about   
   recommending it.   
      
      
   Rating: 7/10.   
      
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