Doctor Who Live! (Tour – Manchester)

Doctor Who Live! is an arena spectacular of special effects and pyrotechnics, showcasing many of the TV show’s most popular monsters.  Accompanied by Doctor Who composer Murray Gold’s original scores – superbly realized by Ben Foster’s talented live band and choir – we are introduced to Vorgenson (Nigel Planer), a character adapted for the tour by Executive Producer Steven Moffat. 

A self-styled “inter-galactic showman”, Vorgenson is also The Doctor’s biggest fan, who summons monsters using his Minimiser for the audience’s delight.  However, as his enthusiasm for the Doctor veers into fanaticism, it’s clear that it’s not Vorgenson in control of the Minimiser after all.

Planer does his best to keep up the momentum, but on this scale, the production inevitably lacks the intimacy and fear factor of the TV show. Matt Smith’s pre-recorded clips certainly get the biggest audience response as he tries hard to inject some jeopardy into the plot, but with no plausible narrative, Vorgenson’s character is never much more than a device to reveal one monster after another.

This, however, is what the fans have come to see, and there are some great moments of audience interaction as the monsters infiltrate the auditorium: rhino-headed Judoons scan the crowd to amusingly detect humans from “unknowns”, and the show is “interrupted” by a police team whose members are picked off by the terrifying Weeping Angels.

This show is certainly spectacular, and great if you have young children or are a big Doctor Who fan yourself – but the weak story sadly means it isn’t a must-see in its own right. Overall, it’s hard not to compare the viewing experience unfavourably against the show’s slicker TV counterpart.

– Harriet Chandler