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 | Reviews for Serpent in the Silver Mask |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Sunday 12 October 2025 |
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| Rating: |   8 |
Two farces bookend this trio of adventures. Kingdom of Lies starts it off with a kind of medieval-punk story of what could be Italian nobles but feels more like Noel Coward. Ghost Walk, the middle story, was a serious spooky adventure. Then, it is back to farce with Serpent in the Silver Mask. I found Serpent funnier than Kingdom, but that is mostly a matter of taste. Serpent is played as a cross between the film Kind Hearts and Coronets and Sherlock Holmes mystery. In the far future, the Mazzini family are gathered for the wake and reading of the will of the deceased patriarch, after which, the Mazzinis start getting murdered one by one. Samuel West plays the entire Mazzini family just as Alec Guinness had done in Kind Hearts. West is great at distinguishing the characters in all their over-the-top manners. The funniest bit is when Maria Mazzini is putting the moves on The Doctor. West leans into this so brilliantly and Peter Davison is in his element as a Doctor who has met his match, reducing him to an embarrassed, gibbering wreck. Some jokes do not land quite so well, such as the detective who literally has a nose like a bloodhound. The script works well in dividing the TARDIS crew so that each has something real to do and is not just asking questions of The Doctor. It's not genius, but it is well done.
