The TARDIS materialises on a dying world circling a dying sun, where the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are welcomed to Sanctuary – an entire monastery carved out of a mountain.
But little here is quite what it seems.
Quadrigger Stoyn has waited through the centuries. And it is time for the Doctor to pay for his first terrible mistake.
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: THE DYING LIGHT
After the disappointment of “The Beginning,” the second Companion Chronicle in the anniversary trilogy, Nick Wallace’s “The Dying Light,” is a great improvement. It’s a quiet, character-oriented story that doesn’t have any true villain, and as a result it’s a rewarding listen.
The problem with Stoyn in “The Beginning” was that he wasn’t especially interesting. While he served as a point of comparison for the Doctor, and a representation of the attitudes the Doctor sought to escape, he was very one-note. In “The Dying Light,” however, that changes completely. Here, he appears deeply intelligent, even dangerous, as he recognizes his situation and works to change it. Stoyn is still desperate to get home, but since he knows that may be impossible, he has embraced the role of a fallen god and rejects that of a villain. It’s still a bit difficult to relate to Stoyn because we don’t actually know that much about his character, but this presentation is much more layered and interesting than what came before. His relationships with the Doctor and Jamie are the most interesting: while he’s still hostile toward the Doctor for the events of “The Beginning,” he develops an unexpected respect for Jamie, perhaps viewing him as another man out of time due to the Doctor.
The setting is absolutely brilliant. Big Finish doesn’t do a lot of world building in its Doctor Who stories, so “The Dying Light” is a pleasant surprise. The planet is covered in a silicon sea, with vessels afloat atop an ocean of fine sand. The dying light of the title is the planet’s sun, in the (relative) final days of its life, keeping the world in perpetual twilight. And then there’s Sanctuary, the ancient city carved into a mountain, all floating on that aforementioned sea, serving as a refuge for those that have lost their way or their faith. Finally, the planet itself is a living being, something that understands the needs of its inhabitants and provides for them. All of this enables Stoyn to construct the seemingly magical equations intended to draw in the Doctor’s TARDIS and finally give him a way back to heaven.
Of course, with such a slow, contemplative story, there isn’t much of a plot: the Doctor and his companions basically arrive, figure out what’s happening, and leave, barely making time to restore control of Sanctuary to its people. And this is odd for a Troughton story, coming from an era that rarely featured anything particularly deep or thoughtful. But it works in spite of all this, as the atmosphere and the performances deliver a pleasantly melancholy feeling to the listener. Frazer Hines has the narrative duties, and it’s good to hear his Troughton impression kept in check by the nature of the Companion Chronicle format, as it is exceptional in limited doses. They also have Wendy Padbury along to play Zoe, and while her presence is always welcome, it does make me wonder why she didn’t voice the other female characters, since her voice is already part of Jamie’s narrative.
With all the praise I’ve been heaping on the atmosphere, it should come as no surprise that I think the sound design from Richard Fox and Lauren Yason is absolutely exceptional, and Lisa Bowerman’s skilled direction holds the whole thing together. Overall, “The Dying Light” is a success. It’s an unusual story for its era, but it’s also the kind of thing the Companion Chronicles do so well, and it sets up the trilogy for an interesting conclusion.
Highly recommended.
8/10