The Stuff of Nightmares: If I Should Die Before I Wake

"Stories don't really end, you just stop telling them."

Writer: John Dorney (From a story by Jacqueline Rayner)

Format: Audio

Released: July 2022

Series: Classic Doctors, New Monsters 3.04

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Charley

Synopsis

The Eighth Doctor and Charley are lost – in a labyrinth of monsters. And somewhere, lurking, are the Dream Crabs...

From the Sphinx to Gorgons, Cerberus and Pegasus, the Greek myths are alive and threatening the TARDIS duo with death at every turn. How long until their Fates unravel, and the truth is revealed?

Verdict

If I Should Die Before I Wake was an excellent story to conclude The Stuff of Nightmares third volume of Classic Doctors, New Monsters! This was probably my favourite story of the entire set and was a brilliant use of utilising both eras and probably the best use of the Dream Crabs in the three stories in which they have featured in Doctor Who. It's no surprise that I enjoyed this adventure as Jacqueline Rayner and John Dorney are two of my absolute favourite writers, so having the latter write a story from the latter is a dream combination. I was a little sceptical when this boxset was announced regarding the Dream Crabs getting two episodes, but I thought both worked well and were actually very different. With the Eighth Doctor appearing in Together in Eclectic Dreams, I was expecting this one to tie in with that but that was far from the case. In hindsight, I'm glad this approach happened and it was wonderful to get a new outing for the Eighth Doctor and Charley. Their relationship picked up like it had never been away and the idea of the pair writing and acting out a story was a fantastic approach. That worked so well and I was glad that the Dream Crabs weren't referenced until at least a third of the way through. This was so much fun, especially before the threat of the Kantrofarri was fully revealed. The Doctor and Charley almost challenging each other with the fiction they were writing out and acting before themselves was brilliant and a little reminiscent of The Mind Robber. Charley didn't take things too seriously, much to the Doctor's chagrin, and the way she didn't allow for the Doctor to get any kind of flow in telling the story was hilarious. This was Charley at her best and she was always able to rely on her trusty string to get her out of so many sticky situations! That gag ran throughout the episode and was just wonderful. I am a big fan of Charley and I do hope she continues to crop up in boxsets like this. Her story has been told, but little inserts like this are a delight and I'm absolutely all for it. Something that was really impressive with this story was that it was just the Doctor and Charley, and I don't think I actually realised that until it was over. India Fisher provided a fun performance with the three different ages of Charley in disguise and the twist of it actually being the Doctor who was asleep was fantastic. The stories aiming to end with Charley dying in an effort to bring her true self back to life through instinct was a little dark and manipulative of Charley's trust in the Doctor. She had taken initiative though to find her way into the Doctor's dream which was great and I admired her efforts to drop hints about the truth. It was a fascinating play out over the 55 minutes and when analysing deeper this was a pretty psychological adventure, something I thought was a brilliant use of the Kantrofarri. The ending was a little simple for the Dream Crabs but that was a good thing in my opinion as things can get very complicated with dreams within dreams and all that. The Doctor realised it was him asleep and was able to wake up with some help of the sonic, and the way the pair concluded their own story was a superb way to bring the story full circle. Overall, an excellent audio!

Rating: 9/10