Jamie McCrimmon and his new friend the Sixth Doctor are lost on the moors of Scotland, where the legendary Kelpie roam…
They are offered shelter by the Reverend Merodach, the minister of the parish of Lammermoor, and are welcomed to his castle. But strange forces are at work within its walls, and Merodach is not what he appears.
Can the Doctor and Jamie prevent their powerful enemy from taking the TARDIS for himself?
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: NIGHT’S BLACK AGENTS
The penultimate Companion Chronicle of the fourth series, Marty Ross’s “Night’s Black Agents” is another new step in the range’s direction. Not only is it the first Companion Chronicle to feature Colin Baker’s sixth Doctor, it is also directly linked to the monthly range: it is set between “City of Spires” and “The Wreck of the Titan,” picking up where the former left off and leading directly into the latter. Unfortunately it does nothing with this unique position, and in fact is so uninspiring that it is incredibly difficult even to finish.
“Night’s Black Agents” is unapologetically part of the monthly range trilogy, and it does nothing to accommodate new listeners. If you haven’t heard “City of Spires,” you’ll have no idea what the hell is even going on at the beginning and this situation will only be marginally rectified by the conclusion. Fortunately I am familiar with the preceding story, and as a one-off this would be okay – but this is part of a range of stories that encourages subscription and yet provides no warning about its content. Big Finish occasionally assumes that their listeners are caught up and familiar with everything they have ever released, as though every customer has thousands of pounds of disposable income and a photographic memory to boot. Would a recap at the beginning have killed them? If this seems like I’m overstating a minor complaint, consider the events of the story, which are overtly supernatural without any hint of the usual rational explanations in which Doctor Who deals. Is there a reason why creatures from legend are menacing the Doctor and Jamie? Well yes, as a matter of fact – but you’ll find that reason in “The Wreck of the Titan!” But then I guess I shouldn’t complain – after all, it says “Part 2 of 4” right on the box. Oh, wait. It doesn’t.
If “Night’s Black Agents” was a fantastic story, I wouldn’t spend an entire review slamming its needless inaccessibility, but the complaints just go on and on. “City of Spires” sets up an interesting dynamic between the Doctor and the older Jamie: does Jamie trust the Doctor? Why doesn’t he remember anything? Just what is going on? “Night’s Black Agents” takes these issues and does absolutely nothing with them. “Ah, but Styre,” you say, “they can’t answer monthly range questions in a Companion Chronicle!” Then why did they make this into a sequel in the first place? Furthermore, what actually happens in this story? There are a couple of intolerably long action sequences surrounding dialogue-heavy scenes in the castle, but none of these capture the interest or offer anything innovative. Really? The bad guy wants to steal the Doctor’s TARDIS and use it to conquer the universe? That’s what we’re going with? Hugh Ross gives a fantastic performance but it’s empty at its core, while the story does little more than tick all the generic Doctor Who boxes.
The narration comes from Frazer Hines, who is taken out of his comfort zone of the Troughton era and asked to portray the sixth Doctor. Unfortunately, I’m not sure he even bothered to do an impression, apart from occasionally adopting an RP accent for Baker’s lines – it is frequently hard to distinguish which character Hines is even portraying, for that matter. And Marty Ross actually writes great Colin Baker dialogue! Thankfully Hines ups his game for his scenes with Hugh Ross, but otherwise things feel awkwardly rushed. There’s also no narrative frame at all, just Jamie reciting a story. Why, if you were going to plunk a Companion Chronicle into the middle of the main range, wouldn’t you exploit some of the unique advantages of the Chronicles? Why not tell a story that truly benefits from the different format?
I’m not sure if the uncharacteristically unsure performance from Hines is down to director Lisa Bowerman or other factors, but it’s disconcerting. The sound design from Howard Carter, at least, is quite effective, giving the story a dark, oppressive atmosphere. Overall, though, “Night’s Black Agents” is a failure, a story needlessly stuck between two others from a completely different range that fails to distinguish itself in any meaningful way. That it’s not actively dreadful is irrelevant – why does this story exist?
Terrible.
3/10