Kathryn Sullivan

FRIENDS OF DOCTOR WHO Volume 9, Number 4 Spring 1998

"Without a Who"

"Without A Who", the newest release from Mini-Unit Ministrels (MUM), is a 25 minute video that takes as its main idea the premise of a 1988 Sherlock Holmes movie "Without a Clue": What if Watson was the great detective rather than Holmes? In this video, what if a certain companion was masquerading as dumber than she was and letting the Doctor take the credit for her deductions?

Through the use of careful film editing, the same actor is able to portray both the Doctor and his foe. Peter DePalma handles the opposing roles quite well with different body language and slightly different voice. While Roger Stockman as the Brigadier varied from over the top to totally oblivious (which was probably following the Jeffrey Jones' depiction of Inspector Lestrade in “Without A Clue”), Blair Keith did an excellent job as Benton ("This might take awhile. I'll go make some tea."). Deb Bauer was great as the new version of Jo–quick thinking and skilled in TARDIS programming. I for one would have preferred a little less reuse of "Without A Clue" scenes and a little more information on how the TARDIS was acquired, but enough hints were dropped for interesting speculation.

Since this is a fan production, the technical qualities are low-budget: one obvious flaw was a scene supposedly filmed in a moving car–only the background didn't move. The cast is small, so UNIT soldiers, thugs, barkeeps and other minor characters tend to look alike. Costumes (listed in the end credits as provided by Goodwill) and hair also vary wildly from the TV production, but, if you are willing to forgive that, "Without A Who" works. The ending credits are rather creative, and a short blooper reel is provided at the end. I'm not a big fan of parody fan videos, but at 25 minutes, "Without A Who" is a clever and interesting video.

"Without a Who" can be obtained by contacting
Sue Bartholomew
7632 157th St. #210
Apple Valley, MN 55124
SUEBART666@aol.com
$7 plus shipping and handling

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