Seattle International Films: Visions of Utomu

The Wrath of Eukor was a fairly decent post-regeneration story. With Visions of Utomu we get to see the Doctor and Carl having a standard adventure as Seattle International films branches out to give us a sci-fi adventure.

The story opens in a castle on a medieval planet. The Prince Germain and Princess Aldraina are meeting and are due to marry to unite two kingdoms. This plan is thrown into jeopardy when the Prince is kidnapped by the minions of the evil Utomu.

The Tardis lands in Castle and the Doctor and Carl are blamed for the Prince's disappearance.
Fortunately, the King recognize the Doctor from the legend and asks for her help in rescuing the Prince. The Doctor agrees. The Princess wants to go but the King prevents her.

The Doctor and Carl disguise themselves as entertainers to infiltrate Utomu's castle but the Princess has followed them, determined to rescue the Prince. Meanwhile, Utomu tries to persuade the Prince to join him.

Barbara Benedetti continues to be a great  Doctor. She is confident and brave. Carl continues to be the comic relief character. He gets the indignity of being hypnotised into being a great singer but he could have had more serious moments.

Utomu proves a more interesting villain than Eukor was. A former advisor who was banished from the Kingdom. He has the ability to predict the future but misinterprets the signs. Wesley Rice puts in a good peformance.

The Princess Aldraina is likeable enough. Just as the Doctor is now a woman the Princess takes on the rescuer role usually associated with the Prince. On the other hand Prince Germain is a book reader and has to be rescued. It's a nice gender role reversal.

While Wrath of Eukor was made on exterior this is made in almost entirely interior and suffers for it. The backgrounds look sadly unconvincing. The Tardis interior is just a white corridor. The music is once again recycled from previous adventures, specifically the medieval themed King's Demons. 

Ryan K. Johnson has written a much tighter script this time around with a lot more humour. It's a shame  the production values let the story down buut it is still a fun way to pass the time.

6/10