In search of a cure for a sickness that’s so far claimed six billion lives, scientist Nyssa arrives at an abandoned gene-tech facility on the toxic planet Helheim. ‘Hellhole’, more like. Nyssa’s not alone. The TARDIS has also been drawn to the Helheim base – and in its cobweb-coated corridors, she soon runs into the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough, her travelling companions of half a century past. Who, or what, has engineered this strange reunion?
COBWEBS
Big Finish has covered almost the entire breadth of the 1980s over its Doctor Who main range with one notable exception: the “crowded TARDIS” Davison years. While virtually every Davison story has been with Nyssa, Turlough, or Peri – or Peri and Erimem – these combinations haven’t accurately reflected the fifth Doctor’s era, in which literally his only story with fewer than two companions was his last. Much of this, of course, was due to Janet Fielding’s reluctance to return to the role of Tegan – but she finally returns as a regular in Jonathan Morris’s “Cobwebs.” Morris does a fantastic job of recapturing the atmosphere and feel of the heart of the Davison era, but unfortunately he doesn’t accomplish much of anything else.
I understand the desire for nostalgia: the first few Big Finish releases were mostly quite traditional, and so is “Cobwebs” – and it makes sense. If you’re billing a story as the return of Tegan to the range, many people will pick up that story because they want to hear a good, old-fashioned 1983-84 story, and won’t be looking for experimentation. Morris certainly captures that feeling in spades: this is a grim, hard-bitten story, rife with unsympathetic characters and hopeless situations. It’s set in a scientific research base – you would assume the corridors would be comically overlit were this on television. All this needs is a score from the Radiophonic Workshop and you’d be right back in season 20.
Fortunately, Morris does work in a few changes. Despite the oft-crowded TARDIS in Davison’s time, this particular trio was only together for two stories – and even then, Nyssa was barely aware that Turlough had joined the crew, something Morris deftly picks up on. This is dodged by having Nyssa rejoin the crew after her departure in Terminus, nearly 50 years in her future. Unfortunately, Sarah Sutton doesn’t play the character much differently than in her “normal” appearances – but she’s written as even more devoted to the greater good, more than willing to sacrifice herself and her companions if a horrible disease can be cured. It’ll be interesting to see if this aspect of her character conflicts with Tegan’s defensiveness. Morris also wraps the story around a predestination paradox. Unfortunately, these plots always have to end with a discovery that the main characters aren’t dead after all, but the author’s solution is more creative than most. Revolving two cliffhangers directly around the paradox is eye-rolling, though – once is enough. Morris also introduces elements that apparently have no significance: for example, what’s going on with that alien city?
It’s great to hear Mark Strickson back – Turlough doesn’t get a lot to do in this story but he’s smart and manipulative as ever. The real star of the show is Janet Fielding, of course, and Morris writes Tegan as abrasive and confrontational as ever. It’s so clichéd that it risks veering over the top in places – and Fielding’s performance wrings every possible drop of emotion from the script – but this is what the character was like, and as a way to renew familiarity this works rather well. Davison, for his part, sounds energized to be working with a “new” TARDIS crew – his voice is more energetic than usual, and his chemistry with Fielding picks up as though it had been 20 minutes since “Resurrection of the Daleks,” not nearly 20 years. The supporting cast is largely forgettable, though Adrian Lukis is amusingly insane.
Overall, there’s not a lot to say about “Cobwebs.” It’s not particularly intricate, it’s not particularly insightful, and it’s not particularly memorable. Yes, it’s the first Tegan story in the main range (save “The Gathering”) – but there’s little else to recommend it. Competently made, certainly, but I don’t give bonus points because they swayed Janet Fielding. Morris is usually much better than this.
Meh.
5/10