Doctor Who retro review: The Unicorn and the Wasp (Tenth Doctor)
By James Aggas
In our latest retro review, the Tenth Doctor and Donna meet Agatha Christie, while trying to find a very unusual murderer, in The Unicorn and the Wasp.
The Unicorn and the Wasp is a neat little episode of Doctor Who by Gareth Roberts. Telling a murder mystery in the style of one of Agatha Christie’s stories, with Christie herself investigating, is a risky idea. But somehow, the episode works quite nicely.
There are several reasons for this. One is that Roberts makes sure to have a lot of fun with the formula. Scenes like unnecessary flashbacks add a nice amount of humor to the story.
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Yet at the same time, Roberts avoids the easy trap of poking too much fun at Christie’s style. The episode never feels like a total spoof of Christie’s work. Only a nice tribute to it.
This approach helps to ensure that the style is treated with respect, and therefore makes it easier for the audience to appreciate the mystery more.
We also have a very strong cast for this. Felicity Kendal is great as Lady Clemency Eddison, someone who does her best to keep up appearances while hiding a few secrets.
Christopher Benjamin is fantastic as her husband, Colonel Hugh Curbishley. (Classic Whovians would know him better as Henry Gordon Jago from both The Talons of Weng-Chiang, and from the spin-off series Jago & Litefoot.)
The Doctor and Donna meet Agatha Christie while facing a giant wasp in The Unicorn and the Wasp.
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: BBC Press.)
Cast
But of course, it’s Fenella Woolgar who really stands out as Agatha Christie. Gareth Roberts has made sure to write her in a believable way. Not simply as a straightforward detective, although she is definitely intelligent. But she’s also someone who’s at a rather bad point in her life.
Woolgar portrays the intelligence, the dignity and the vulnerability brilliantly. Making her and the Doctor detective partners especially works well, as we get a lot of great dialogue and banter between the two.
The standard science-fiction element also works rather nicely. It doesn’t overshadow the plot, or the style that Roberts is going for. Instead, it very neatly provides a reason for why a killer would use Christie’s formula for her novels.
The Unicorn and the Wasp is a fun little episode. It doesn’t try to do too much, simply going for a sci-fi pastiche of Agatha Christie and her novels. Overall, it’s a pastiche that works really well, and an easy watch for Series Four.
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What did you think of The Unicorn and the Wasp? Are there other famous writers you’d like the Doctor to meet at some point? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.