Doctor Who-Hooklight 2 brings a twelve-episode audio saga from Big Finish Productions to a most satisfying close. Tom Foley has done quite well with writing a very lengthy audio drama featuring the Fifth Doctor, played by Peter Davison. Janet Fielding, Matthew Waterhouse, and Sarah Sutton continue to bring formidable performances in their roles as Tegan, Adric, and Nyssa, respectively. Ken Bentley returns to the director’s position with his extensive experience with this company.
We also have Paul McGann in the mix as the Eighth Doctor, who is also using the moniker, the Oracle. Alan Cox, Kieren Bew, Shogo Miyakita, Celia Imrie, and Theo Solomon are included in the guest cast.
The force known as Hooklight is attempting to control Nyssa. The Doctor and his friends have been scattered throughout various planets and times. They have to make their way to something called the Dark Forge where they must face the Oracle. The Oracle knows the Doctor quite well, and their connection is much deeper than the Time Lord can anticipate. The Doctor has to find a way to free his friend from the influence of the Hooklight and reunite with his TARDIS. Of course, forces are aligned against the Time Lord, and it will take all of centuries of experience and cleverness to keep a certain light from being lit.
Foley used the extra time quite effectively to explore the main characters and the significant guest characters. We get to see how Tegan fares in a long-term relationship, which is quite interesting and even moving at times.
The appearance of the Eighth Doctor is also well-handled, and Foley sort of avoids some of the usual tropes whenever a story features more than one incarnation. Paul McGann is still compelling and has a perfect voice for audio performances. He is just an interesting actor all around.
I thought the Fifth Doctor was an interesting choice to create a huge saga around, but it works quite well. I also thought Waterhouse was particularly good at almost sounding as he did when he originally played Adric forty years ago.
Davison’s voice has aged and deepened noticeably, but I think he makes a good choice in not trying too hard to imitate his younger self. I still enjoyed his performance, and there was an interesting and poignant moment between the Doctor and Imrie’s Kessica Myles. The Doctor has figured out that Myles is terminally ill and offers to be there for her if she needed to grieve her situation. It was a moment of sensitivity from the Doctor that would often be absent from the television series. It was beautifully performed because the emotional significance was played with that famous British subtlety.
I: am usually rather leery of this superlong sagas in Doctor Who because there is some drag. Although there are some moments that it strikes me how long this thing is going on, I enjoyed this one very much.
Big Finish chose to release this in two parts. If more of these hefty stories are to be produced, I think I would prefer the whole story to be released at once. I hope that Foley is willing to do another one of that size because he really seems to rise to the challenge.
Hooklight as a whole is likely to be the best release of the year. There is still plenty of releases to be announced, but this one will likely remain in the top tier of my favorites for some time.
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