Night Thoughts

Review: Creepy cogitations in a House of Horrors

Nasty things happen to people in a spooky house at night. It's a simple idea that makes for great radio.

Some of Big Finish's triumphs have followed just this pattern (Chimes of Midnight and Master), and Night Thoughts doesn't tamper with a winning formula.

It's creepy, atmospheric, with cracking dialogue well-handled by a decent cast. Sylvester McCoy's Doctor is on top form - menacing, bad-tempered and far more sinister than when played evil in Dreamtime. Phillip Olivier's Hex continues to delight - his medical knowledge proving so useful here you wonder how the Doctor ever managed to travel without a nurse.

Sophie Aldred is her usual reliable self, but Ace is pretty much a spare part. That the character's worn out is confirmed when the script includes it's own troubled teenager. Please, let her head off to the home for retired companions soon, where she can put her feet up watching Trisha with Ben and Polly.

I really can't fault the first three episodes of this story - which even includes a spooky stair lift. That's all fine. The resolution, however, beggars belief. It all starts halfway through episode three, when you think 'that's daft, but it's bound to pay off cleverly...'

Episode four, however, is rubbish. Oh, it's well-acted, nicely written, tautly directed rubbish, but rubbish it remains. Bizarre explanations for events are all very well - if you can pull them off. If the audience reaction is 'you're kidding', then you're in trouble. It's very hard to concentrate on the conclusion when you spend the entire final episode thinking 'yeah, but-'. When even the cast and the script join in (as they do), then it's like the Titanic and the iceberg sharing a cocktail and a chuckle as they sink.

I wish I'd stopped listening at episode three. Then I'd have felt enchanted, rather than cheated. It's hard to sum up in any other way that to say 'You made me scared... for that?'

Send us your comment now. We'll publish the best on this page.

Heather
I think that this is a great CD! Episode 4 is one of the best bits about it. it may not be what everyone expects from an ending but then that's the point. oh and by the way did you notice that everytime someone get's bumped off the killer whistles the girls favourite tune! OOOOOO!

Mike Godfrey
My first Big Finish cd from a fan as old as the program-I loved it! The whole gothic eccentric scientist thing is what Dr WHO should be and this tape has it in spades. Well done Keep em coming .

mark jameson
I think that it does not matter, as long as it is a good exciting story, and stays in the doctor who continuum.

Andrew No 1 fan
i haven't got this audio yet! i will probably buy it, but i wish i hadn't read on, there was a great reveiw until the last episode was critisised which put me off purchasing this audio

michael
sonds quite good i might just buy it thanks for the great reveiw!

Dobby
I have to say, it's time for Ace to go. She's old news now, and considering she's not in the TV Movie ('Enemy Within'), she should go. Just let the Doctor travel on his own, like Tom Baker did.

Holly Riglar
Its amazing and i only got it coz i loved da bunny but it woz brilliant and i am such a great Doctor Who fan!!!

Michael Stead
To my mind, poor writing is to be found where reviewers stamp their own opinion over a product, at the expense of being objective. A reviewer might find that Episode 4 was not what they were expecting - perhaps not the ending for which they hoped - but when a reviewer stoops to words like 'rubbish' they are not doing their job properly. Throughout the history of Doctor Who there have been stories which were thought of as rubbish at the time - such as Deadly Assassin - which later came to be regarded as 'classics'. If you are writing on your own website, then you can be as partisan and quirky as you like, but when reviewers are contributing to a publicly funded website, they have a duty to be fair and considered. Big Finish have done a remarkable job in producing their audio dramas; my impression is that there is a real sense of commitment from everyone involved. I think it is far from fair to publish such a damaging review, which might put people off making a purchase - especially within the confines of a publically funded body which does not have to survive at the sharp end of market forces.

JonnyB
i am very happy with this doctor who story from big finish. as usual the story is well acted out and is everything youd expect from an adio CD. doctor who used to be a one pont a very dark and scary show, this story brings some of it back. ohh and episode 4 is the best one of the story. have you even lisend to the CD!!!!

Dr Papanikitas
The climax was pure movie horror, as are those members of the cast marked for death by their character and role in previous events. There is a thrill as we realise (those of us with two brain cells to rub together) that there is a formula by the end of episode 3 and by the start of episode four this is bourne out as the pieces come together and implicit become graphically explicit. The fate of the Major is a classic double bluff -I though he might get away alive... Oh and the plot of episode four may be gory rubbish - but very few horror plots aren't!

Josiah Rowe
I actually think that the introduction of Hex has reinvigorated the character of Ace. Sure, she's not the angsty teenager of the TV series any more, but I find I'm enjoying the character's fun-loving side. Big Finish's new characterization of Ace also seems to be a good match for Sophie Aldred's talents — it's clear that she's more comfortable with this than with the hardened version of the character influenced by the New Adventures.

Simon Strickland
Er... that "alien" you're thinking of is a rabbit.

Anthony Jones
I really enjoyed this audio, and felt it was a real return to form for Big Finish. I love McCoy's Doctor although I feel he has been overshadowed by Colin Baker in the audio series. In this one he shines, and you can tell what a great TV episode it would have been. (What a shame that we didn't get at least one more season of the Seventh Doctor). I thoroughly enjoyed the gruesome ending to Part 4 and don't agree that the story falls apart in the last quarter. It was a little incomprehensible at times and required repeated listens, but there certainly wasn't a major dip in quality at the denouement. I much prefer the maturer Ace, although I agree that she is possibly being sidelined by Hex at the moment. The beauty of the audios is that there is plenty of time and room for Ace to develop further. This is a character that is pretty much open-ended, and who could definitely provide the listener with some poignancy as she ages and her story develops. It depends on Big Finish and the writers. There is no need to adhere strictly to the New Adventures Ace, or the Death Comes To Time Ace. Her time with the Doctor after Season 26 ended is a fairly clean slate - there is plenty of room in which to explore her perception of the Doctor. Have a look at the relationship between Evelyn and the Sixth Doctor for some idea as to where Big Finish could head with Ace (although she is of course still a little younger than Evelyn). As for Hex, I still feel he is very much the new boy and although I have enjoyed Philip Olivier's performances Hex still seems to be lacking a bit of character in the writing. I have always loved the character of Fitz in the Eighth Doctor BBC books and wonder whether Hex might not be able to take up a similar role with the Seventh Doc? All in all, a very enjoyable audio with a strong central performance by Sylvester, and a very able supporting cast. Enjoy!

Luke Jones
Sounds pretty good i might go and buy it i like the creepy doctor who stories because they are the experts at scaring people i remember when it used to be on the tv and it really was scary - lovely to see them carrying on the good old dr who's!!

Magic
Ever have the feeling you'vee heard a completely different story to everyone else? Honestly, this was nasty, un-Doctor Whoish rubbish. Good acting?? What I heard was appalling! Sophie Aldred shivers away in the background - except when she talks, in which she's everday Ace - and Bernard Kay is clearly reading the script cold, never having set eyes on it before, and sounds very unsure. Nice sound design, I'll give you, but not my cup of tea at all. Did I get a duff copy? A lowlight of an otherwise improving range.

Dalek 2006
the alien looks creepy

Will Cox
I actually enjoyed 'Night Thoughts' from start to finish. The performances were great and the music and sound production superbly rendered an atmosphere of horror and dread. Nicely done, Big Finish! Keep up the good work.

Aaron Climas
Honestly I loved this from beginning to end, ESPECIALLY PART 4. It is dark scary Doctor Who, and back where Doctor Who belongs to be. It is Doctor Who finally doing what it does best in the medium. It is a cinema scope Doctor Who, it is a small group of people, and there is something out to get them. Everyone has a past, and everyone in the wrong. And who can save us? Is it the Doctor with the tape recorder? Or the girl? Or is there someone else? Who can forget the closing scene? Where everyone is begging for the Doctor to turn up, that’s what he does, he turns up at the last second to save people. But not this time, this time the monsters are out to get people and no one can stop them.

Ace
Maybe I'm just easily please, but who knows? I was delighted with this audio. A grusome little tale (the sound efeects really help with the atmosphere, that's for sure). The disturbed Sue was just delightful and Happy the rabbit a little sinister. Hex is just great, I'm really warming to him. The Doctor was just as dark as I remembered McCoy's Doctor to be in the New Adventures novels. I'm an Ace fan, but I agree that she was a spare part in this story. It seems that she is stepping aside to let Hex shine, but on the other hand, I think Sophie Aldred has done a great job in turning out fresh performances for a companion that has had more exposure than any other Doctor Who companion ever. I, for one, hope we don't lose her just yet, but I can see the point where character development has been taken as far as it can. All in all, a great creepy story and despite the 'too easy' explanation of events at the end, is worth a listen.

David
I agree about episode 4 being rubbish but I think it's a brillant story. Sophie Aldred and Bernard Kay have good bits in it

Sam
I thought it was great... but I know what you mean... ep 4 an anticlimax!!!

Jonny
I think it was great dont listen to the revews buy it now only 12 but feel like a long life fan

Izaak
Sounds good. Like the bunny

david
classic mccoy. you can tell this script was actually proposed for that era, it is a reminder of the great direction the programme was going in in the late 80s

Taras
I think the point of the ending is that there are multiple possibilities as to what happened, and you need to allow yourself to imagine who the real killer was. Could it be that even the Doctor got the explanation wrong? That is one option. Go on from there...

Greg Hobbs
(not meant to bag on Dr. Who!) This is exactly how I felt about Ghostlight. The first episode was great, halfway through episode two it was like, alright. Then episode three offended me it was written so poorly. If the whole thing had been bad, I can live with that, but since it had such a great start it just made it that much more irritating in the end. I'm sad that this is the case with Night Thoughts as well because I want to root for Sylvester McCoy's Doctor so bad! ... it's just, I can't stand bad writing. Good review, said exactly what it needed to tell me!

JJ
I think that Night Thoughts is a very good piece of listening and I think that Ace still makes a charming companion. However, I was disgusted by Part 4 where the plot seemed to fall apart. Altogether though, a witty, charming piece.

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