Starring Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Leslie Ash, Christian Coulson & John Pickard
Written by Jonathan Morris
Directed by Barnaby Edwards
Thomas Brewster is haunted by the ghost of his drowned mother. But she is not the only apparition to disturb his dreams. Every few years, he is visited by a mysterious blue box...
Helped by his new assistant, the young Scots scientist Robert McIntosh, the Doctor struggles to unravel the twisted knot of temporal implausiblities which bind the TARDIS to Thomas Brewster. Meanwhile, lost in the stews of Victorian London, Nyssa must face a host of spectral creatures gathering in the fog.
The Haunting Of Thomas Brewster was my first Big Finish audio, so considering that I'm still subscribed today to pretty much every Doctor Who range, it must have worked. One thing that immediately makes this release stand out to others in the main range is centring it around one guest character. And while Thomas would become a short-term companion to both The fifth and sixth Doctors, at this point no one knew that. So the novel idea of having the first episode centered around someone other than The Doctor or his companions makes this story stands out as something very different and original.
Jonathan Morris is, in my personal view, one of the greatest Who writers to work outside the television show itself. He has a great handle on the Who format, and knows how to construct a plot with great ideas, convincing characters and stunning twists. Obviously, he helped by the high standards of Big Finish production, so even when his stuff isn't quite as good as it's usually is, there's still something salvageable. But in this case, Morris story is so good that if these elements were off-kilter, it still wouldn't affect the story too much. His plotting is so thorough and complicated, so much so that it almost out Moffs Steven Moffat for his time twisting plot. He manages to keep his plot moving, and the final episode raps up all the plot threads that the story (and particularly episode 1) starts in a nicely satisfactory fashion, which is more difficult than it seems. The plot is complex, but it manages to be self explanatory, so you won't need to have to spend your nights scratching your head trying to figure it out. One problem with this story, however, is that the final episode's solutions can sometimes descend into technobabble. While it's not a major complaint, it's a shame that it's occasionally impossible to figure out what The Doctor and Nyssa are going on about. However, it's only one small complaint that doesn't detract from the story.
The cast in this one are exceptional, especially the much-maligned John Pickard. Certainly his performances have been of a variable quality during his trilogies, but in this inaugural story, there's nothing wrong with his performance. He's pretty much is the main performer in episode 1 and he manages to do what some might struggle with: carry off sections of narrations convincly. And he manages to do so perfectly well. It's intresting to note that Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton are kept very much to sidelines, and that's no complaint - keeping them to the sidelines is actually a neat idea to give characters like Brewster and Robert McIntosh the limelight. Both Leslie Ash and Christian Coulson also make good performers, really managing to give the story aural variation and a touch of real class. However, one large complaint I do have is that we never really get a sense of Thomas becoming the new companion. Instead, they drop a red herring with Christian Coulson's character, who has more scenes with Peter than Pickard's does. It's a bit of pity that he snuffs it at the end, as it would have been intresting to revisit his character, considering what happens at the end. However, Brewster's relationship with The Doctor remains at the end of the story rather indistinct, so we won't really know what sort of relationship the pair will have.
In all honesty though, this is one of those audios that is really, really good. The plot is intresting, that characters are well conceived, the direction is really strong and the sound design creates that distinct atmosphere. Apart from the couple of negatives I previously mentioned (and the sometimes inconsistent music), this is a really strong outing for The fifth Doctor/Nyssa/Brewster team.
TARDIS Rating - 8/10
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