Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
Cast: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Mark Strickson, Jemma Redgrave, Nigel Carrington, Emily Woodward, Paul Panting, Matthew Carter.
Even with Adric having been dead for quite a while, his sphere of influence over the affairs over The Doctor nevertheless continues to compound the web of time and the lives of his companions.
Andrew Smith’s Mistfall sees the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa dragged through a pocket of Time and into a different universe. It is the result of Adric’s mathematical genius mind that the Doctor finds himself back within the complexity of E-Space and all the dangers that are found within.
Implausibly, there are still fans of Doctor Who who don’t count Big Finish’ plethora of material as being anyway cannon to the television programme, despite the many allusions to the contrary. In Mistfall, Big Finish take the television story of the fourth Doctor and give it new resonance in the audio fifth, the crossover between the sides of the same coin once more shining in the Gallifreyian sunlight.
With the exceptional news coming out of Big Finish that the new generation of Doctor Who television will crossover into the admired studio work supplied by Nicholas Briggs’ team in the shape of Kate Lethbridge Stewart’s led UNIT team, it is with particular interest that the highly talented actor Jemma Redgrave is in this particular audio adventure. As Decider Lana Merrion, Ms. Redgrave gives the fan base of the Doctor Who audio stories more than huge glimpse into what is too come when she stars in her own set of tales. Coming up against Peter Davison in full Doctor mode is not an easy task for any incoming actor; when Mr. Davison has as much gravitas in one episode as he does in Mistfall, only the likes of Janet Fielding as Tegan can ever compete with him. It is with this in mind, that Jemma Redgrave’s portrayal becomes even more adept and provoking.
Despite being set for the most part on an open planet, the feeling of constriction, of claustrophobia and inward danger are paramount throughout Mistfall. The tension is believable and credible and the thought of synchronicity between two incarnations of the Doctor palpable and convincing. Rarely do audiences get the chance to see how a different Doctor would react to a similar set of actions, the chance was gripped in the opening episode of Peter Capaldi’s reign, Deep Breath, as he found himself facing off against the Clockwork Men of David Tennant’s era but which wasn’t fully embraced.
In a series that fully justifies itself in re-inventing itself and is quite rightly the longest science fiction programme ever because of its ability to do so, to go back and pay homage to previous era is a nice and exciting touch, Andrew Smith, Peter Davison and Jemma Redgrave make it work where others could have failed.
Doctor Who: Mistfall is available to purchase from Worlds Apart on Lime Street, Liverpool.
Ian D. Hall