Released: May 2013
Range: The Fourth Doctor Adventures
Range Number: 2.05
Starring Tom Baker, Mary Tamm, John Leeson, Alice Krige, John Albasiny, Charlie Norfolk & Gwilym Lee
Written by Jonathan Morris
Directed by Ken Bentley
On their mission to explore the Mariana Trench at the very bottom of the ocean, the deepest and most inhospitable place on Earth, the crew of the deep sea vehicle Erebus make an unusual and startling discovery.
A battered blue police box.
As the Doctor, Romana and K-9 join them on their journey, the submariners soon discover that the TARDIS is not the only unusual find lurking on the sea floor.
Super-intelligent squid, long-lost submarines and their miraculous occupants are only the start of their troubles. The Goblins are coming. And they won't let anyone out alive.
After the wimsical charm of The Auntie Matter, Jonathan Morris goes for an extreme contrast with Phantoms Of The Deep. Phantoms takes it's cue from the creeping horror of the early Tom Baker era, and, while it isn't as strong as Auntie Matter was, it's still a nice, solid story that may not push the boundaries of Doctor Who, but it's very well produced and very well received by this listener. A bit of tea-time horror fits the Tom Baker era like a glove, so this story fits in perfectly.
The setting of this story does boggle the mind, especially considering that, with Doctor Who having been in existance for fifty years, a story has never been set in the Mariana Trench before. It's quite a shock to think about this, but it's nice to see this rectified in this story. And Morris really takes the fact that we have no real idea about what these landscapes look like to his advantage. He manages to really nail the 'feel' of that sort of landscape, but leaves you to fill in the gaps. It's not too specific, and that really works to this story's advantage. The idea that anything could come out to grab our heroes at any time is facinating and really well played off, giving this story a few moments of genuine tension. That's not to say that the rest of the story isn't tense, but it isn't quite of the same league as those few moments. The use of nature as an intelligent aggressor is also interesting, because, by removing the alien threat that would be atypically be involved with these stories, it subverts the threat, making it more primitive and threatening. However, one problem which Morris doesn't seem able to get around is the fact that, by using the landscape as an aggressor, it turns the aliens (or in this case the alien spaceship) into simply a MacGuffin, something to advance the plot, little more. The story does leave the audience with quite a few questions about the nature of the alien craft, which don't seem to have been answered, and prehaps this is where Phantoms does start to become a little stuck. It does, like The Stones Of Blood, feature a dramatic shift in genre half way through, as all the Gothic trappings that were keystones of episode one makes way for some more 'out there' sci-fi in episode two. However, by losing the Gothic feel, the second episode does verge towards just being a classically traditional tale about sea monsters and telepathic powers. However, I feel Morris manages to hold this at bay through the use of the Goblins, keeping the creepy element of the story going. This therefore doesn't really detract from the story, but just means that the story changes gears half way through, a change that prehaps didn't benefit the story prehaps as much as Morris may have hoped when writing.
The characters in this story are what we would call 'stock characters', in the sense that the type of people that inhabit this tale are typical of stories of this same ilk. However, in this case, I don't feel this detracts too greatly, because the audience is more engaged in the mystery of what is going on. The characters keep the story going, and don't take us out of the action. Sawyer is most definitely the pick of the bunch, a character with a distinctly grey moral conscience, which is revealed in the closing minutes of the play. Yes, it is bunged in, proberbly as an afterthought, but it feels in keeping with this period of Who, and it's a nice little bit of character detail that really benefits the character. And while Alice Krige isn't prehaps the actor that I would have chosen to take on the part, she is rather good as her. She's not Big Finish's most outstanding guest star, but she gives an convincing performance that never pulls you out of the story. She's ably supported by John Albasiny, Charlie Norfolk and Gwilym Lee, who's characters may not be as deeply written, but are still interesting. However, the standouts here are clearly Tom Baker, John Leeson and Mary Tamm. All three just sound like their having tremendous fun, something which does come across in the writing. It's clear, as well, that tat this point in the series, the Doctor and Romana are really getting rather used to each other's company, and it's just a shame that this was to have been their only series together, because the relationship between the two is pushed into an interesting place. Tom and Mary are on fire, with the repartee between the characters at an electric point here. It's not arguing, but it's clearly the sort of begrudging admiration that only two people forced to spend time together would have with each other. Their ably supported by John Leeson, who finally manages to get something significant to do. While it's not really original for K-9 to be possessed, it's nice to see it here, because it gives him something to do, and the way it's handled isn't over the top or over dramatic. This has been clearly held in check by Ken Bentley, who manages to get some wonderful performances, helping hugely to increase the atmosphere of this story. His work is enhanced further by Jamie Robertson's brilliant music and sound design. Once again, Jamie creates a perfect world, flawless in virtually every way, and give this story a moody, dark score to go with it. Roberston has been, over the past few years, cementing himself as one of Big Finish best composers, and this evidence is no more evident than it is here.
Phantoms Of The Deep may not be the most orginal story. It isn't innovative, nor is it outstanding. However, Phantoms is a lovely, relaxingly traditional Doctor Who that will keep you listening entertained for an hour, but will never tax you too heavily, nor loose you at any point. It's not the best of the second season of Fourth Doctor Adventures, but it is a story that is well worth your time and investment if your a fan of the Doctor, Romana and K-9.
Rating - 7/10
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