17 July 2019
The eponymous series occupies a space somewhere between Doctor Who and Blakes Seven. Sirtis’ character Marianne played Ragana, a scenery-chewing villainess in the mould of Servalan. Her best friend in real life, Kate, is played by Jacqueline King, aka Sylvia Noble. Their friendship is tested when Kate begins a new relationship with Suzanne, played by Sophie Ward¸ and Marianne seeks companionship from the star-struck Oli (and an assortment of snacks -frazzle or foam banana, anyone?) The plot involves Ragana's search for a 'shadow ruby' whilst being pursued by a motley crew of misfits in a malfunctioning time machine.
Studio 2 at the Trafalgar Studios is a very intimate
performance space - from my seat in the front row I felt that I was in
Marianne’s living room. I also had a
clear view of the rest of the audience, some members of which could identify
with the subject matter even more closely than I could. After the interval, when
we became the audience at ‘RubyCon’, a convention organised by Oli, it was
strange to see Louise (Leela) Jameson, Katy (Jo Grant) Manning and Annette
(Margaret Slitheen) Badland in the audience hooting with laugher. Writer Michael Dennis portrayed the convention
perfectly. I swear that Oli’s speech
about the computer console prop being for selfies only, and not to break things
off as it was only a fan-made replica was almost word-for-word one which I
heard Andrew Beech give at Panopticon 2003.
The action is interspersed by flashbacks to scenes from the
series, with another Doctor Who
connection provided by Mark Gatiss, who somehow found time between his many other
commitments to record the Voice of Kosley,
the ship’s computer.
All in all it was an affectionate reflection on
fame and fandom, with a feel-good happy ending.
What better way to spend a birthday?
