1199: Returning from the Crusade, Hubert, the new Earl of Mummerset, comes to take possession of Stockbridge Castle, his ancestral home. The only trouble is, in his absence, demons took possession of his Castle.
1899: The Stockbridge mummers’ play takes a wholly unexpected turn, when the Dragon slays St George.
These events are not unconnected, the Doctor and Nyssa discover. There’s an alien presence squatting in Stockbridge Castle, and it’s their job to expose it. If Turkish Knights, killer boars and a gang of rogue paladins don’t stop them first.
CASTLE OF FEAR
With the story of Charley Pollard drawn to a close, the Big Finish trilogy format switched gears to the fifth Doctor in Alan Barnes’ “Castle of Fear,” the first of three stories set in and around the village of Stockbridge. Comic continuity aside, there’s also an old enemy for the Doctor to fight and more jokes than almost any other story in memory. Unfortunately, while the story features a strong production and some interesting twists and turns, it commits the cardinal sin of comedies: it fails spectacularly to be funny.
It’s quite clear that Alan Barnes is going for a Monty Python homage in this script: even if five minutes’ listening are not enough to reveal this, a cursory listen to the special features will confirm it. Unfortunately, the similarities stop at the superficial: “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” was set in medieval times and so is “Castle of Fear.” The difficulty in aping a group like the Pythons lies in actually understanding what made them funny: there are many arguments, of course, but few will dispute their mastery of absurdity and satire. Perhaps, then, “Castle of Fear” is actually not intended to be a Python homage, seeing as its humor is constructed almost entirely from terrible puns and comic voices. For a story that relies almost entirely upon this humor for its whole first half, there’s not much to take away if you don’t find that sort of thing funny. And yes, for those wondering, there is actually a plot-related explanation for many of the comedy accents – but as I have said many times in the past, stupid and unfunny writing is not enjoyable even if you turn around at the end and say “See? I was being stupid and unfunny on purpose!”
Which is all a shame – “Castle of Fear” might have been a success had it taken itself seriously. We get to see the Rutans for the first time since “Horror of Fang Rock,” and while Barnes does nothing new with the creatures, he smartly juxtaposes them against nearly identical human treachery. Every character has multiple roles to play, and Barnes weaves these strands together without becoming overly complex or confusing. In many ways it’s his smartest script for the range, let down by the overreliance on silly voices and horrible jokes. I’ve also seen comments about how this story really allows Nyssa to shine – while it’s certainly true that she takes a rare proactive role in the action, stories of her shining intelligence are vastly exaggerated. Tracked by a ferocious animal through the muck on her shoes, Nyssa’s genius-level intellect is needed to determine that the best course of action is taking off the shoes! Give me strength.
Director Barnaby Edwards has assembled a stellar cast for “Castle of Fear” but sadly has done very little with them. Joe Thomas, best known for fabulous comic timing on “The Inbetweeners,” and well-respected John Sessions are reduced to spending the majority of the running time affecting over-the-top comedy voices to further the plot. Susan Brown, late of Torchwood, actually manages to be occasionally funny as Maud the Withered. Peter Davison plays the straight man throughout, while Sarah Sutton stays away from the overtly comedic material. Lines in this play are delivered skillfully but leave the ear empty; there is neither heart nor brain to this humor which largely seems in place to pad out the running time.
To Edwards’ credit, the pace is excellent, and the performances as good as possible. The sound design from Richard Fox and Lauren Yason is excellent, effortlessly evoking the era in question, while the score is great for the second release in a row. But ultimately the production is an unfunny comedy, and because of that it struggles to succeed. Even the cliffhanger – after an unnecessarily padded ending – is insufficient to save “Castle of Fear,” but at least it did pique my interest in the sequel.
Not as bad as “The Dark Husband” as comedy stories go, but easily one of the worst Peter Davison release in Big Finish history.
3/10