Night of the Whisper (2013)

The 9^th part of this anniversary series is where we enter new territory. Up until now the stories have featured companions that have appeared in the TV series and in the case of the eighth Doctor they didn’t use a TV companion but at least it was a character that I was aware of.

In the case of this story, they have decided to go down a different route.

They have decided to use Nicholas Briggs to be the voice of this story which is an odd choice if I am being honest. It makes sense because he was the voice of the Daleks and several other monsters in the new era but then on hand it’s a shame that they couldn’t convince one of the regulars to be in this. Are we expected to believe John Barrowman turned down the chance to be in the limelight? Anyway if anyone were chosen to do this then I am glad that they chose Briggs because he has shown time and time again that when he’s on form then he’s a great performer. However the thing that is a slight struggle to get over is the voice that Briggs uses when he is doing Christopher Eccleston. I don’t think it works that well. I think that Briggs would have been better just using his normal voice. When he’s not doing the Doctor then the voice he uses is great and it reminds me of the Stageplay that he did back in 2008 (Curse of the Daleks).

I had a certain level of expectation as I was about to listen to this and that was because it was written by Cavan Scott & Mark Wright who I am a big fan of. Project Lazarus and Twilight are two of my favourite Big Finish stories ever. Destiny is also an enjoyable story and they have one of the best track records in Big Finish.

The story takes place in New Vegas in the 23^rd Century and it focuses on the Whisper who is a vigilante who has been targeting the criminal underworld.  When the story starts off Rose is in a situation which mirrors being a dinner lady in ‘School Reunion’.

As much as I wanted to like this, I must say that I found it disappointing. I have a rule that if I have to listen to a story from the beginning three times then I take it that I am not connecting with the story and I wont start again a fourth time. I just try and get through it and hope that it picks up. It certainly did because in the final 20-25 minutes I did get more involved in the story because I understood what the Whisper was and the reason behind it and it made sense which is always a good thing. Another positive that I can give this story is that it feels like it comes from 2005. It’s vital that each of the Destiny stories has the vibe of its period and this is the case with Night of the Whisper.

It’s not a terrible story by any stretch of the imagination but its not a typical Scott/Wright adventure and when they have written the sort of stories that they have superb Project stories then anything that falls below that is going to be a little disappointing.