A close encounter with a stray missile leads the Doctor to materialise his TARDIS on a planet that hangs in the dark at the edge of the known universe. A planet so dark that it exists in near-permanent night. A planet that enjoys just a single day’s light once every thousand years…
Exactly what happens on the planet in its rare daylight hours – that’s what a geographical survey headed by Senior Tutor Bengel is stationed here to establish. They, the Doctor and Leela are about to discover that when daylight comes, the White Ghosts rise…
So don’t be afraid of the dark. The cover of night is a mercy.
WHITE GHOSTS
After the successful and interesting “The King of Sontar,” the third series of Fourth Doctor Adventures from Big Finish rolls on with Alan Barnes’ “White Ghosts,” a claustrophobic, horror-type story in the vein of “Planet of Evil” or “Image of the Fendahl.” For the most part, it succeeds in its endeavors, though an overly-cluttered concluding episode drags the release down a bit.
Perhaps the most interesting part of “The King of Sontar” was the conclusion, in which the Doctor and Leela fall out over a decision she makes at the conclusion of the story and the Doctor threatens to put her off the TARDIS. When “White Ghosts” kicks off, Barnes appears to sweep the conflict under the rug, the Doctor literally saying he’s stopped worrying about it. It’s hard to say if this is true: for most of the story, Leela is worried about disappointing the Doctor, but the Doctor rarely gives any indication that she’s actually disappointed him. The Doctor’s ruthless actions at the conclusion are certainly intended to parallel Leela’s at the end of “The King of Sontar” – the script even draws attention to this – but it’s hard to tell from the cluttered material exactly what the message is supposed to be. Obviously, with only two stories in the series thus released, it’s difficult to predict where this is going, but I would have enjoyed a bit more clarity.
What of this clutter I’m discussing? For most of the story, Barnes presents a slowly-escalating threat: a planet, shrouded in darkness, its surface covered in dormant, deadly plants that grow rapidly when exposed to any amount of light. As the story continues, the characters are threatened by more and more of these plants, their escape becoming less and less likely. But suddenly, as the story seems to be approaching a natural climax, we’re assaulted by revelations about Grim Reaper-like Harvesters, human/vampire bat hybrids, and Time Lord intervention. To Barnes’ credit, it all hangs together logically, but these revelations are largely unnecessary: they add little to the story and complicate the plot. It does, however, allow Tom Baker to indulge his darker side, as the villains are disposed of in a very “Family of Blood” way.
This is among Tom Baker’s best performances in this range – his enthusiasm for the material shines through, much as it often did on television. Barnes also includes a great scene for Leela: instead of depicting a fight with yelling and violent sound effects, he gives her an inner monologue summarizing her instincts and decisions. The sound design slows everything down around her, emphasizing her quick thinking. It’s a great bit of character work using the advantages of audio – it’s the sort of thing Big Finish should be doing more of. Let’s also not forget Farscape veteran Virginia Hey’s intriguing turn as the Senior Tutor.
The production is solid. The aforementioned scene is the highlight of director Nicholas Briggs’ and sound designer Jamie Robertson’s work, but most of the story maintains a creepy atmosphere. Overall, “White Ghosts” is successful, featuring great performances, especially from the regulars, and a good sense of atmosphere. As above, the cluttered ending keeps it from the heights of success, but this is nonetheless the second strong release in a series that is desperate for them.
Recommended.
7/10