The Faceless Ones - Episode 4

The fourth episode resumes from the moment where we finally get to see something of what the Chameleon Tours people do. In the early stages of this episode we get to see why Sam Briggs would have been a good companion as acts like a companion and she fits in well with the Doctor and Jamie in a way that Ben and Polly couldn’t.  Speaking of Ben and Polly, it’s the second episode where they don’t appear but they aren’t mentioned by both the Doctor and Jamie in an attempt to show that the producers haven’t forgotten about them.

A ‘new’ character is introduced into this story in the form of Nurse Pinto played very well by Madalena Nicol. I think that the Nurse was a good character and her ability to get in the way of the Doctor’s investigation is a fun moment in the story. Another funny moment is when Jamie gets onto the plane but discovers that his 18^th century body can’t cope with 20^th Century air travel and the moment when runs to the toilet to be sick.

After getting a bit more information about the Chameleon Tours plane at the end of the previous episode. We finally get a bit more here when the airplane flies up and turns into a spaceship. This makes their threat that more impressive because up until now it seemed like a group of aliens that have been left on Earth for some reason. At least now we know that there is a grander plan. Sad that its taken until this stage for something substantial to be revealed.

It’s the first time that I feel that its lacked any of the fast paced action from the previous episodes. It’s not a terrible episode but compared to the previous three episodes it seems like a bit of a let down. The thing that this episode has compared to other audio-only episodes that I have listened to recently (and that’s a high number) is that the supporting characters along with Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines help keep my interest in the story and there is still some stuff that needs to be revealed so as we approach the final two episodes it seems that this story will still be as good as I think that it is.