Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Louise Jameson, Sarah Sutton, Nicola Bryant, Sophie Aldred, India Fisher, Geoffrey Beevers, Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Frazer Hines, Peter Purves, Maureen O’Brien, Jean Marsh, Anneka Wills, Wendy Padbury, Katy Manning, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Benedict Briggs, Nicholas Briggs, Oliver Hume, John Dorney.
The Light At The End is an almost impossible task made very, very real. Virtually with no fanfare or extensive announcements, Big Finish and Nicholas Briggs have somehow put together a story in time for the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who by involving the first eight Doctors, a cornucopia of companions from each incarnation, a top notch story in the only way that the keeper of audio dramas knows how and one of the Doctor’s greatest nemesis that could bring them together – The Master. An achievement that sets the standard for Big Finish’s own major anniversaries that are coming up in the next couple of years, its own 15th birthday as supplying new Doctor Who stories and the big one, the 200th instalment.
Before those fateful days come about, The Light At The End goes further than any Doctor story written before it and stands in terms of its sheer enjoyment as equal to real classics such as The Chimes Of Midnight, …Ish, Colditz, The Brotherhood of The Daleks and The Doomwood Curse. The story, penned by Nicholas Briggs, brings together the Doctors that are in the Big Finish franchise including some expert mimicry by the excellent Frazier Hines and William Russell as the much missed Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell and some of the much loved companions who have had a big part in the audio dramas in nearly 14 years including the sensational and much admired India Fisher as Charley Pollard, Nicola Bryant’s Peri, the splendid Louise Jameson and her savage Leela and the energetic and dynamic Ace, portrayed as always by the superb Sophie Aldred.
To bring all these characters together, to give the fans of both the classic Doctor era and Big Finish’s a story that captures the very essence of what makes Doctor Who tick, must have been a complete labour of love and one that not just any writer could have put together. To give Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Paul McGann and Sylvester McCoy the right story line in which they all flourish and have their own personal stamp on is one that must have been almost terrifying to consider writing. It takes guts and perseverance in which to bring every strand conceivable together in such a way that nobody is left short or left down hearted by the experience, whether that is the enormous cast or the most important ones of all, the listener.
With the Doctor seemingly at his most trapped with all time lines converging on a single point on November 22nd 1963, The Master, played with utter conviction by the sublime Geoffrey Beevers, looks to have finally defeated his old friend/nemesis for good. Geoffrey Beevers deserves the plaudits for his continuing portrayal as the ravaged and reviled renegade Timelord. Many, (not true fans) forget his very short time going up against Tom Baker in a couple of classic stories. His time may have been short but they gave the character a depth not captured by any other actor, not even by the astonishing uncontrolled frenzied portrayal of John Simm or the menacing, brooding presence of Roger Delgado. This is a Master whose brain is perhaps at its sharpest because he is on the verge of complete decay, of oblivion. This is a Master in which to truly fear as his scheme is played out.
The struggle to keep the narrative from spilling over must have always been at the back of the mind and not to have the mish-mash of emotions felt in Zagreaus. The Light At The End avoided the pit-fall that was almost obvious from the start in the 50th audio anniversary edition by having each Doctor really The Doctor, not some half-hearted attempt. Tom Baker is at his true best and with arguably some of the best lines available, Colin Baker, for a long time the man who has gained so much by reprising his sixth Doctor part and whose genius in the role makes a mockery of the decision to let him leave all those years ago, shines and performs with great style and the pleasure in hearing Paul McGann in the fold, along with arguably the best companion in the audio series, the incomparable Charley Pollard, is enough to warm the heart on a cold November evening.
As specials go, as lead up to a big milestone in the history of Doctor Who, this was perhaps the most welcome, the most brilliantly insane story devised, pure and exceptional as they come.
The Light At The End is available to purchase from Worlds Apart on Lime Street, Liverpool.
Ian D. Hall