Castle of Fear

"I'm here to vanquish the demons."

Writer: Alan Barnes

Format: Audio

Released: October 2009

Series: Monthly Adventures 127

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Nyssa

Synopsis

1199: Returning from the Crusade, Hubert, the new Earl of Mummerset, comes to take possession of Stockbridge Castle, his ancestral home. The only trouble is, in his absence, demons took possession of his Castle...

1899: The Stockbridge Mummers' play takes a wholly unexpected turn, when the dragon slays St George.

These events are not unconnected, the Doctor and Nyssa discover. There's an alien presence squatting in Stockbridge Castle, and it's their job to expose it. If Turkish knights, killer boars and a gang of rogue paladins don't stop them first...

Verdict

Castle of Fear was a decent audio adventure to continue my admittedly sporadic run through the Monthly Adventures from Big Finish! I have to admit that I thought the first two parts were particularly slow and whilst they thankfully picked up after the excellent cliffhanger of part two, I don't think it can be forgotten that it was a task to get there! I actually really liked the focus of the Stockbridge Castle and the town itself which is obviously synonymous with Doctor Who Magazine's comic strip stories, so I was surprised that the Doctor didn't really mention it or there be any reference to that. The pairing of the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa works well and I thought both had a really good outing here. The use of the play at the start of part one was good and quite fun when the Doctor was trying to pass off the likeness of his being a character along with the blue crate that was impossibly bigger within than outside. It was obvious though where the adventure was heading from there and whilst it was pretty enjoyable to get there, it didn't seem to matter with the predictability. That's potentially a little harsh but I have to be honest. Thankfully, everything was largely saved at the end of part two when the mystery behind the demons of the castle were revealed to be the Rutan Host! I really didn't see that coming so when the Doctor named them it was a fantastic moment and the lift the audio required for a very good second half. I thought the setting of 1199 and the links that had with The Time Warrior made for a terrific moment and the Doctor trying to understand that each party was on the hunt for the other was wonderful. That Third Doctor serial is one of my all time favourites so I adored the continuity here and insinuations of the Sontarans and Rutan being on each other's tail. Great fun. The caste playing host to a deadly scheme from the Rutan to take on the Sontarans at their own game of cloning. The Rutan are synonymous with shapeshifting so there efforts to try and find some longevity of escaping their jellyfish form was brilliant. I really loved that plot device. They wanted to clone those they had shapeshifted into whilst in human form to build an army for them to control which was fantastic. I thought the originality there was magnificent. Whilst I'm usually a big proponent of historical stories, I was not much of a fan of the guest characters here. I think it was the village setting that did it for me as the characters all just sounded annoying! Their roles were good but I think sound is so overbearing in an audio so I definitely think this particular story would have worked better on TV. Hubert, or as he would be revealed George, was a fun character and his not actually being the heir to the castle and title was great. I loved the scene where he and the Doctor had to prove they weren't actually a Rutan. Maud the Withered had a good role and her defiance in thinking the castle was full of demons was good, but I just wasn't a big fan of hers. Nyssa being taken over seemed a little predictable and didn't last too long but I thought she still had a solid story as a whole and her role in defeating the Rutan was very well done. She saved the Doctor by giving the Rutan exactly what they wanted and I liked how he reacted badly to that, only for her to challenge him by saying he would have done exactly the same thing. Because he definitely would have! Nyssa knew what she was doing though and provided the enemy with unlimited power that provided fatal as it overpowered them into defeat. The cliffhanger ending as we continue the trilogy theme was superb with the explosion imminent and the Doctor and Nyssa trapped on the ship through the portal, mid-sentence! How they'll escape this one I don't know, but it's definitely got me anticipating the next story! Overall, a slow start but definitely a decent listen as a whole.

Rating: 7/10