Planet 14 - Doctor Who

Nick Briggs' sleevenotes for EMBRACE THE DARKNESS state that he had two main aims for the story - to create a totally scary story and one that could only work on audio.

He largely succeeds on both scores, but despite this, EMBRACE THE DARKNESS doesn't quite rank up there with the best of Big Finish's second McGann season so far (which for my money, has to be THE CHIMES OF MIDNIGHT).

The story itself takes place in the Cimmerian System, known for the sudden disappearance of its sun. Naturally, the Doctor is keen to investigate these mystery, and as you'd expect this plunges him and Charley into trouble.

On the scary side of things, Briggs does a good job, helped by a cast who actually sound like they are scared and some suitably chilling moments.

The ongoing Charley arc takes a bit of a backseat here, and India Fisher doesn't have quite as much to do as in some of the previous stories. However, she's still as good as ever, with some scary moments for Charley, as well as getting to be a little more feisty than usual in one or two places.

Needless to say, Paul McGann puts in another good performance, although the script does rely more on a series of misunderstandings than I would have liked. This sort of thing is fine for something like NEIGHBOURS, but coming so soon after the excellent THE CHIMES OF MIDNIGHT, the story itself seemed a little disappointing.

There's a small cast, even by Big Finish's standards. Mark McDonnell's Haliard starts off sounding rather too close to his DALEK EMPIRE character Alby Brooks, but the characters were different enough to make me forget any similarity. Or perhaps I was too busy trying to work out exactly what accent Nicola Boyce's Orliensa is supposed to have...

Apart from being quite chilling, Briggs' script also works well as an audio adventure, as you'd expect from something with "darkness" in the title. Unfortunately after a decent opening, the pace isn't really maintained, with things starting to drag around part three.

However, even the best seasons on television weren't comprised solely on classic stories, and while EMBRACE THE DARKNESS isn't the best story in "season 28", that's no disgrace. A solid if unspectacular adventure for the Doctor and Charley. BACK TO THE TOP

EMBRACE THE DARKNESS

Written and directed by
NICHOLAS BRIGGS

Starring PAUL McGANN
and INDIA FISHER

BIG FINISH PRODUCTIONS

£13.99 CD

RATING: 6/10

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