The Dark Husband

"I think this whole planet is a graveyard."

Writer: David Quantick
Format: Audio
Released: March 2008
Series: Main Range 106

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace, Hex

Synopsis

"This whole wedding is like making a nuclear bomb with half the instructions missing!"

A week-long respite from a prolonged and bloody war, the Festival of the Twin Moons of Tuin makes Glastonbury look like a church fete... or so the brochure says. The Doctor and Ace are looking for rest and recreation. Hex is looking for the beer tent. But eternal enemies the ginger-haired Ri and the coot-bald Ir are plotting to turn their Festival truce to their own advantage. Only the Dark Husband might stop the celebrations turning to horror... but who is the Dark Husband? And what terror awaits him on his wedding night?

If anyone knows any just cause or impediment... speak now. The lives of billions depend on it.

Verdict

The Dark Husband was a bit of an average audio adventure sadly. It brought an end to what was quite an impressive run of stories for my personal listening which was a shame and whilst I’m saying it wasn’t great, that’s not to say it was horrific in the slightest. There were some very good elements and that’s reflected in what is still a pretty decent rating but it just wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I must admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Sylvester McCoy on audio as the Seventh Doctor as his quality can vary with a lot of inconsistency and that sentiment is something I very much felt here. He didn’t do badly and I think a lot of it has to do with the personality of the seventh incarnation, but he just doesn’t always work for me like every other Doctor does. I wasn’t a fan of yet another deception act by the Doctor towards his companions. Would he really need to plant brochures to get them to go to Tuin? Why couldn’t he just set the coordinates and be off with it. I didn’t like that. I thought the way the Festival was built up was terrific but what we got wasn’t actually what we’d been sold. We did soon get something similar but I kind of liked the idea of Ace getting her spa and Ace his pint. Instead we arrived on a bleak planet of graveyards. Their arrival was eventually met by Ori  who was a somewhat interesting character but I don’t know why we were made to think she was actually a he. It made a lot of sense later in the story with the wedding but for the reveal to come so early made little sense to me. I thought Irit though was a superb character and I really loved the way he was played. That voice was just marvellous! He was such a welcomed contrast to Ori. I thought the history of the 10,000 year war between the Ri and the Ir was pretty interesting and I was fascinated that despite their differences, of which there were actually few, they worshipped the same god. Tuin turning out to be the Church was decent and I liked that the time of the Festival was the only chance of peace being achieved. The way the Doctor stalled for time when sentenced to execution was brilliant though and probably my favourite moment of the whole audio. The revelation that Tuin itself was the mysterious voice we had been hearing sporadically through the audio was unexpected but I wasn’t overly thrilled to be honest. I didn’t think he made too great of a villain and I thought the final part dragged slightly. The sacrifice of Ori and Irit was commendable though and injected considerable emotion into the script. The relationship between Ace and Hex was quite intriguing and it’s clear that the latter has considerable feelings for the former. I am intrigued to see if that gets developed in future. Ace thinking of the Doctor when she was told to think of something she loved to fight off the hold of Tuin was lovely too. The concept of the Dark Husband and the Shining Wife was intriguing but I just felt like the whole ritual was being made up as it went along which wasn’t great. As a whole, this story had some good elements but it just didn’t quite delivery as well as I would have liked. 

Rating: 6/10