First Review: The Light at the End

I saw the light at the end and it was beautiful.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, Big Finish’s multi-doctor story The Light at the End brings together the first eight incarnations of the Doctor and a small selection of his companions. In an ode to fans and the show itself, writer Nicholas Briggs sets the majority of the story on November 23rd 1963. It harkens back to the 25th anniversary episode Remembrance of the Daleks yet this story does not contain any daleks or almost break of the fourth wall.

Not all is what it seems on this special day. Following the near self-destruction of the TARDIS, each Doctor becomes aware of a flashing red light on the console that wasn’t there before. The light indicates to the Doctor that something significant is happening on this date at 59a Barnsfield Crescent, Totton, Hampshire, England, Earth. Curious, the Doctor sets the Tardis coordinates to investigate. It is this action by each of the Doctors’ that threatens the very fabric of his existence.

The Light at the End uses the oft coined phrase ‘timey whimey’ to good effect. No, the phrase itself is not used but the story does lend itself to some of Steven Moffat’s convoluted plots. Fortunately, the plot in The Light at the End is simple. The Master, played devilishly by Geoffrey Beavers, uses a specifically designed weapon created by a group of arms dealers (The Vess) in an attempt to erase everything the Doctor ever did since leaving Gallifrey. The Master creates a situation at the aforementioned address in Totton to manipulate the Doctor into inadvertently setting off the very weapon meant to destroy him. The weapon makes time within the Tardis fold in on itself, creating paradoxes that only the mind of eight Doctor’s combined can thwart.

This somewhat literal race against time reminds me of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s final episode All Good Things… where the antagonist ‘Q’ once again confronts Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Yet it is Picard’s very actions in the story that threatens his and the galaxy’s very existence. Briggs brings that same sense of tension, mystery and warmth exemplified by that episode. Bringing each of the eight incarnations of the Doctor together to solve a mystery that the Doctor himself causes is genius.

The performances of Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann were amazing. So too were those of Louise Jamieson, Sarah Sutton, Nicola Bryant, Sophie Aldred, and India Fisher. It felt as though time had not passed since each tenure of the Doctor and his Companion. The story really felt it was part of the greater whole. Special mention must be made of Frazer Hines’ performance as the Second Doctor. I believed that Pat Troughton was speaking.

I found myself smiling quite a number of times as I listened to this story. The dialogue was for the most part believable and humorous despite the gravity of the situation. A wonderful mix of drama and comedy. A couple of lines stood out for me: “You know that talking to yourself is this first sign…”; “They’re going to time ram me. How dare they?”; “Could we really become that vulgar? I suppose anything’s possible.” Ace’s description of every incarnation of the Doctor had me in tears of laughter.

Is The Light at the End the best ever Doctor Who story? No, but it is up there. As a relative newbie to Big Finish Audios, it has inspired me to listen to more. The Light at the End certainly embraces the spirit of the Doctor’s anniversary and implies – to me at least -that the story of The Doctor is far from over.

“Now let’s go somewhere fun shall we?”

This was DWA’s first review of The Light at the End and a “second opinion” review from Anthony Burdge will appear shortly.