Big Finish Productions has started the Fifth Doctor on a very epic audio adventure with Tim Foley’s Doctor Who-Hooklight 1. Peter Davison is joined by Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, and Matthew Waterhouse. Ken Bentley returns to the role of director. There is a very intriguing surprise with Paul McGann lurking the shadows of the story as the Eighth Doctor. The guest cast is also impressive with Kieren Bow, Alan Cox, Ruby Crepin-Glyn, David Holt, Celia Imrie, Harriet Kershaw, David Shaw-Parker, Theo Solomon, and Issy Van Randwyck.
This release if the first six episode of what is going to be a whopping twelve when it is all over.
The TARDIS crew has basically landed unwilling on a planet called Morning. The Doctor has become aware of the presence of ancient and powerful substance known as Hooklight. Tegan, Nysse, and Adric are caught up in one of the Doctor’s more epic adventures that could lead to the end of all of the universe. The Doctor rarely plays for lower stakes. There is a being known as the Oracle, and he seems to know the Doctor very well.
This is a very promising story. The main cast puts in a typically compelling performance. Peter Davison is a solid performer, but he seems a little more energetic than usual with this one. Waterhouse is now a man in his sixties playing a teen-ager, and he kind of pulls it off. He sounds very much like he did when he first started in the role in the early 1980’s. Fielding and Sutton remain consistently enjoyable as Tegan and Nyssa.
The soundscape is well executed, but Big Finish has a lot of practice with that. I rarely notice any real problems on the technical end with their recordings,
There is a second half to this story to be released soon, and I am pretty anxious to hear that one. I am a little leery of having more than one Doctor in an episode, but Big Finish is usually considerably more successful in the writing of these adventures than what was aired on the television series. Paul McGann is also pretty much guaranteed to deliver his own captivating performance.
Hooklight appears to be on track to hold a special place in the hearts of Big Finish listeners. It’s a long one and will require a bit of patience, but I am enjoying the journey to unravel the layers of mystery alongside this Doctor and his companions.
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