The Mirror Matter is a Doctor Who audio novel produced by Big Finish Productions and turns out to be not as riveting as I had hoped. It is written by Kate Orman and performed by Jon Culshaw.
Mirror Matter is a hypothetical counterpart to real matter, but this story proposes to inject some intelligence into the strange phenomenon.
This adventure takes place in the early days of the Third Doctor’s era where he is working with UNIT alongside Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Liz Shaw not long after his exile by the Time Lord.
Strange spores have been detected, and the Doctor is able to identify it as Mirror Matter, which has been lurking on Earth for billions of years. He realizes that this Mirror Matter is not native to this planet, and the spores will change the nature of the planet and humanity on a fundamental level. There are also other human forces that want to take control of the Mirror Matter, but the Doctor knows that is not going to end well for anyone.
Culshaw, as usual, does a fantastic narration, which is enhanced by his impersonation of the late Jon Pertwee, who originally portrayed this version of the Doctor. Even if the story is a bit on the dull side, Culshaw seems to always help it make much more bearable with his enthusiasm and delivery of the prose.
The action depicted was a little hard to imagine at times. Also, I guess I had some trouble being interested in the concept of Mirror Matter, which is supposedly a real scientific idea.
Orman has been involved periodically with Doctor Who for years writing novels. She is an interesting writer, for the most part. There is nothing terrible about her writing style, but I just had a hard time staying interested in the plot.
I have plenty of memories of enjoying Orman’s previous works, and I expect that she will win me back.
As for Jon Culshaw, it is always great hear him coming through my speakers and this was no exception in spite of my other misgivings about this release.
I am still all for Big Finish, audio novels, and the Third Doctor. Hopefully, the next installment will be more engaging.
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