The Cloisters of Terror (2015)

I will make a confession and that is I have listened to this before the previous story Suburban Hell. Due to the fact I have these stories listed on my phone in alphabetical order and not numerical means that occasionally this sort of thing happens. Anytime that Jonathan Morris’ name appears on a Big Finish release then its cause for excitement because he has such a strong track record. This story features the return of Rowena Cooper who plays Emily Shaw or Dame Emily Shaw. Shaw is the daughter of Liz Shaw and was last heard in The Last Post. If you haven’t heard that release then I strongly recommend that you should because it’s one of the strongest companion chronicle stories in the range.

The story takes the Doctor and Leela to Oxford where they encounter three ghostly nuns. This bit alone is enough to lure me in and the ideas in general are really good. The idea that the nuns are trying to stop things from going a bit boom boom by kidnapping people every so often is one that works in the confines of this story but its not one that would work in a four parter. The music helps create a nice impression and credit should go to Jamie Robertson.

The performances are all really good. Tom Baker and Louise Jameson now come across like they have been doing this for a long time not just three or four years. It’s even more impressive when you take into consideration that they weren’t the best of friends on TV. Rowena Cooper’s previous performance in The Last Post was lovely and whilst this performance was good it wasn’t on the same level as that one. Hopefully this wont be the last time that we hear from Dame Shaw because I think that it’s the sort of character that could appear in a story every so often. Richenda Carey makes her third Big Finish/Doctor Who appearance and this time she plays Sister Frances Beckett. I thought that Beckett was a strong and enjoyable character. Jane Slavin makes her seventh appearance opposite Tom Baker and her fourth of 2015 following the Novel Adaptions. She was quite good as an Ancient Nun. The character was quite good but all the performances were good so Slavin’s performance sort of gets lost in the shuffle.

I thought that the first half was stronger than the second. There were aspects of the second part that I liked so its an enjoyable release from Jonathan Morris and Nicholas Briggs. The thing is that I keep in my mind that the Cybermen are coming in this series and just want it to get closer as quickly as possible. The Cloisters of Terror is a good story and one that I recommend to people if they want to have chills and suspense.