Drawn off-course, the TARDIS passes through a CVE into a closed universe – a hugely improbable event with a tragically obvious cause. In order to escape inescapable E-Space, the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Turlough are forced to venture in the wilds of planet Alzarius.
But they’re not the only unwanted visitors to this strange world. A Starliner has landed, captained by Decider Merrion – but why would Merrion risk rousing the Planet that Slept, and the monsters in its marshes?
Mistfall is coming. The Marshmen are coming. But while Nyssa and Turlough find themselves caught in the open, in the hands of fanatics who model themselves on the legendary Outlers, the Doctor and Tegan discover that the supposedly secure Starliner affords them no protection from monsters both within and without…
MISTFALL
Season 18 of Doctor Who certainly divides opinion among fans, but like it or not, it is an indisputable fact that it took the program in a bold new direction, eschewing many of the staples that had brought the series to that point. I make no apologies about loving it to death, especially the E-Space trilogy – so naturally you can imagine my disappointment when the plodding boredom of the Big Finish monthly range comes to consume this era as well.
“Mistfall” comes from Andrew Smith, penning a sequel to his earlier “Full Circle” from television. “Full Circle” was a fine episode: rich in atmosphere and full of great ideas, it tied its themes of evolution splendidly to the season-long theme of entropy, drawing fine performances from the cast in the process and even featuring some interesting direction, especially on location. “Mistfall” accomplishes literally none of these things. It flirts with some interesting ideas, building on the earlier story and threatening to explore the implications of the rapid evolutionary development of the Marshmen. But it fails to follow through on any of it, opting instead to focus on a standard, predictable revenge story built on cliché instead of drama. Solus (Nigel Carrington) and Drell (Paul Panting) are staggeringly uninteresting characters, one focused on revenge to the exclusion of all else and the other a one-note ranting savage distrustful of all technology. I’m not sure if Smith actually intends us to wonder along with the main characters who the saboteur is – it’s so obviously Solus that revealing it doesn’t even count as a spoiler. And what about the horrible choice that Decider Merrion (Jemma Redgrave, wasted) was forced to make? Does it inform her character throughout the script, or is it vomited upon the audience in a solid block of exposition near the conclusion? What do you think?
Perhaps more disappointing, though, is the quality of the production. I usually take it as read that a Big Finish production will sound professional, with convincing sound design and actors invested in their performances. Sadly, I can’t even say that about “Mistfall,” which sounds like it was about as boring to make as it is to hear. The regulars are unconvincing across the board – Davison sounds half-asleep, Fielding is all over the map, Sutton is barely in it, and Strickson is trying but his character is almost unrecognizable. Jemma Redgrave, so good in the TV series, doesn’t even sound like she understands what she’s reading. I didn’t listen to the extras – did the actors talk about how much they loved the script? THAT would be good acting.
Everything sounds so flat that there’s no way I can call Ken Bentley’s direction a success. Nigel Fairs handles the sound design, which also fails to convince. There are multiple scenes in which the main characters are traveling with a whole group of people from the ship, and there is NO evidence of this apart from characters occasionally (and embarrassingly) saying “Everyone!” and then issuing a command. Even the score isn’t that great – it apes Paddy Kingsland’s work from the original story, but fails to capture the atmosphere of its predecessor. In its defense, though, I think season 18 had the best incidental music of the entire classic series, so I’m probably holding this to an impossibly high standard.
Overall, this is yet another boring entry in the monthly range, indicating that 2015 is probably going to be another long year. “Mistfall” is remarkably short for a 2-CD release, and yet it still feels padded and overlong. So what do I have to look forward to next month? Is it going to be vampires? Is it going to look like vampires but – oh ho! – it’s something else? Are they going to kick the dead horse of the “older Nyssa” arc and see if it twitches? Boy, I can’t wait.
Recommended for insomniacs.
4/10