Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow
And everywhere that Mary went, that lamb was sure to go.
The TARDIS is empty. The Doctor has gone.
Jo Grant steps outside into the darkness and finds the frozen body of her friend, and the ship’s log recorder. On it is attached a simple message – ‘Use Me’.
As she explores this place, recording her every move, Jo discovers the horror that lies in the shadows.
But by then it is too late.
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: GHOST IN THE MACHINE
The fourth release in the eighth series of Companion Chronicles is “Ghost in the Machine” from Jonathan Morris. It’s another example of a “live” story, as it eschews the narration so common to the range. Instead, it’s similar to the BBC Audio story “Dead Air,” in that it depends heavily on recordings, but rather than relaying the story through recordings, those recordings are an integral part of the plot.
I generally enjoy Katy Manning’s work on audio, as she’s one of the best audio performers available to Big Finish. Though I did not enjoy “The Scorchies,” her ability to disappear into so many different voices was truly impressive. “Ghost in the Machine,” however, spends almost the entire first episode following Jo as she wanders around a deserted ship talking to herself. Manning really gives this her all, but it’s impossible to avoid the pitfalls of overly descriptive dialogue – and that’s even considering that Jo is one of the companions most likely to ramble on unnecessarily. Fortunately, as the episode wraps up and the villain is introduced, things pick up quickly.
There’s a being on the ship that inhabits audio recordings, and can pass itself from person to person after they record their own voices and after it recites the words to “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” This is because the creature was born on the first-ever audio recording made by Thomas Edison. No, it doesn’t make much sense when you think about it, but like all good Doctor Who, the story confidently embraces the nonsense at its heart. Morris uses a great conceit when characters are confined to recordings: they can only use the words they’ve recorded in the past. This provides retroactive benefit to Jo’s rambling in the first part: it gives her a greater vocabulary once she’s imprisoned on a tape. I admit I’m unsure if the story ever violates its own rules on this idea, but Morris seems to think it’s okay and I believe him.
Also trapped on the recording is the consciousness of scientist Benjamin Chikoto (Damian Lynch), as well as the Doctor himself. But the Doctor didn’t record his own voice, so he can only speak if he inhabits another body. This, of course, allows both Manning and Lynch to play the Doctor, and to have the third Doctor appear in a “full-cast” story without recasting the character. And I love Katy Manning’s impression of Jon Pertwee, so it’s a worthwhile exercise.
But while I like all of those elements, they’re generally superficial. The story itself is incredibly simple, and the Doctor’s solution is so obvious it’s almost shocking that it actually works. There’s not much here to get your teeth into, even if the narrative games the story plays are entertaining in their own right. Fortunately, things are helped along by Louise Jameson’s direction, and the sound design from Richard Fox and Lauren Yason is effective if not particularly memorable. Overall, “Ghost in the Machine” is an entertaining Companion Chronicle that plays with narrative but is content to stop there. That it still entertains as much as it does is a testament to the strength of this range and Jonathan Morris’s writing in particular.
Recommended.
7/10