The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Evelyn to the Clutch, a ragtag fleet of ships flying in a constant close formation for mutual protection. The chief inhabitants of this interstellar gypsy caravan are a repitilian race known as the Galyari, who – according to their legends – are forbidden from ever settling a world of their own. They’re not safe on the Clutch either, as a number of them, both young and old, have turned up dead recently. The Galyari believe that the Sandman, the being who banished them from their planet, is also responsible for the murders. But they also believe he wears a coat of blindingly bright colors, travels in a blue box, and calls himself the Doctor. To Evelyn’s shock and horror, the Galyari are right about all but one of those things.
written by Simon Forward
directed by Gary Ryssell
music by Russell StoneCast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Maggie Stables (Evelyn), Anneke Wills (Director Nrosha), Mark Donovan (Orchestrator Shol), Mark Wharton (Commander Brel), Robin Bowerman (Mordecan), Stephanie Colburn (Nintaru), Ian Hogg (General Voshkar)
Timeline: between Project Twilight and Jubilee
LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green
Review: An interesting “what if the Doctor was the monster?” story, The Sandman would’ve been interestingly told with any number of Doctors – the first, the second, the fourth, and yes, the sixth. But in some ways, the mystery of why the Doctor is regarded as a curse incarnate is wrapped up too easily…and in any event, Colin Baker is the only available Doctor who could’ve made this story work. (You wouldn’t believe that the fifth Doctor could muster the necessary nastiness to be the Sandman, and something like this would be just another day at the office for the seventh.)
Speaking of the first and second Doctors, Anneke Wills – who played TARDIS traveler Polly in the mid/late 1960s – plays a fairly significant guest role in The Sandman, though her voice winds up being so processed that you’d never be able to tell. Ultimately, The Sandman merits at least one listen, though a lot of its second half is bogged down by explanations – many in flashback – of what’s really going on. It’s worth that listen, though, to hear Colin Baker wax menacing.