The Light at the End (2013)

This has to be the most anticipated stories that Big Finish have ever produced and this is their tribute to the show’s 50^th anniversary. It’s so anticipated that Big Finish released it a month early and it’s the first time ever that the five surviving classic Doctors are in the same story. It’s not the first multi-Doctor story of course as we had the less than successful ‘Zagreus’ back in 2003 and we had recently the Four Doctors a couple of years ago which was much better. This has a lot of expectations and they were raised further for me when all the reaction on twitter was positive. Would the following near two hour spectacular live up to those expectations? Nicholas Briggs has taken on the responsibility and is a very brave man indeed. The very beginning was quite intriguing as it seemed to be the sort of thing that would have come from the TV series. The theme tune was fantastic and I hope that they use it for more stories cause its brilliant. It seems like a scene that doesn’t have much in the way of drama but it’s obvious that it’s got some relevance to the story. The decision to bring the Master back for this special was a superb choice and the get Geoffrey Beevers to play the Master again was even better. Having being a fan of ‘Mastermind’, I was really happy with the choice.

The first Doctor we get is Paul McGann’s Doctor and what was brilliant about it was that India Fisher returns as Charley and this is their first scene since the 2007 story ‘The Girl Who Never Was’ and it seemed like we had gone back in time. Despite the long time since they were together, I was surprised at how it was just a couple of weeks. Just the way that McGann says “Run for it Charley” had me feeling like I was listening to Storm Warning again. The scene where all the familiar voices was one of those rare moments where I was giggling like a 5 year old. This opening 15 minutes alone was worth the money. The next great moment comes when Charley meets the Fourth Doctor and Leela and eight minutes later the fourth and eighth meet. It was a great moment. We don’t get an introductory scene with the Fourth Doctor and Leela which was noticeable at the time and I suppose it would have been nice to have a scene between them before Charley gate-crashes the TARDIS. Sixey and Peri haven’t had many adventures together recently out of the Lost Stories series and so this felt more like the main range and that was what helped feel like we were going back in time. Forty minutes into the story and the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa enter the story. It’s not been long since I listened to and enjoyed ‘Fanfare for the Common Men’. Not quite sure whether the events in this story take place before or after Fanfare but in a way that’s irrelevant.  A few minutes later and Sylvester McCoy becomes the last Doctor to arrive in the story with Ace. Even after 80 minutes we still get surprises when Straxus returns. Straxus has previous appeared in several Eighth Doctor adventures and most recently in the Dark Eyes series as played by Toby Jones. I think that the character is quite an interesting one.

In ‘Zagreus’, they stuck Jon Pertwee into the story with inaudible dialogue and they have learnt from their mistakes by getting the companions who have done the voices in the Companion Chronicles to do their impressions once again and it works much better. If only the companion chronicles were around in 2003. A massive round of applause should go to Jamie Robertson who has given this story the sort of music that would make Murray Gold look over his shoulder. Robertson has a fantastic track record with all his stories and he has stepped up his game for this story.

Tom Baker was on fine form. When he found out the name of The Vess he simply replied “Nobody’s perfect”. Tom Baker’s humour is often knocked as being over the top but was perfectly pitched here.  When the eighth Doctor says that the TARDIS console room design was one that he inherited, Baker quips “Who from? Jules Verne?”. I like how Paul McGann and Tom Baker become a nice double act. The Doctor’s best companion is himself. What a weird thought! The Sixth and Seventh Doctors become a double act briefly and I thought the interaction with Peri and Ace was fun to listen to. I thought Ace’s Joseph gag aimed at the sixth Doctor was funny even if it might not be original. Sylvester McCoy has had a good run of stories over the last two or three years and he continues that good run here. Colin Baker’s Doctor has undergone a renaissance since his first Big Finish story back in 1999 and this is the perfect way to show this. Peter Davison has been consistently good over the years even if his stories haven’t quite been as good. Davison shows what a great actor he is here by keeping at the same level as the other four Doctors and none of the leading actors let the side down.

Louise Jameson can’t put a foot wrong in my opinion. After just listening to her in the final Gallifrey series, even Stephen Fry would struggle to find words to describe how great she is. Sarah Sutton, Nicola Bryant and Sophie Aldred were all really good and were given enough to do which makes a change from the 1983 anniversary special. Even though they didn’t have massive parts to play I thought that it was nice how Frazer Hines, Anneke Wills, Jean Marsh, Wendy Padbury, Peter Purves (and others that I probably missed) got to be involved in an imaginative way. Geoffrey Beevers has the perfect voice for the Master and is my favourite actor to play the role after Roger Delgado. Every scene that Beevers was in was superbly played and very creepy. Beevers can make his voice sound quite terrifying at times.

The scene where all the Doctors are talking to each other (with companion chronicle impressions) is a superb moment and the final 20 minutes were just as good as the previous 97. The final big scene was a great way to end the story and the Master was defeated in a creative way. When the Doctor’s forget what they have just been through I was really sad because it would have been great if they could remember what they have all been through but it was inevitable that they would have to forget. They all go off into the sunset and off on their own adventures that we will hopefully get to listen to in the future.

After 15 minutes I decided that this was story of the year and it never gave me any reason after that to dispute this. Everyone involved in this story should be thoroughly proud of themselves. It’s not very often that I say this but the TV series will have to do a lot to beat this. At just under two hours it was possible that it would either become to complicated or just go off the rails somehow but I’m pleased and relieved to say that this didn’t happen. Nicholas Briggs can be relied upon to deliver a solid story and he has managed to write a strong story that utilises everyone. Everyone was on fine form and this is how multi-Doctor stories should be done in the future. This is the perfect 50^th anniversary present.