Nightshade

"Soon the people of this village are going to know fear."

Writer: Mark Gatiss (Adapted by Kyle C Szikora)

Format: Audio

Released: April 2016

Series: Novel Adaptations 09

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace

Synopsis 

Professor Nightshade – tea-time terror for all the family, and the most loved show in Britain. But Professor Nightshade's days are long over, and Edmund Trevithick is now just an unemployed actor in a retirement home, fondly remembering his past.

It's the same through the entire village of Crook Marsham – people are falling prey to their memories. At first harmlessly, and then, the bodies begin to turn up. 

The Doctor and Ace arrive on the scene – but, with the Doctor planning his retirement, it may be time for Professor Nightshade to solve one last case. 

Verdict 

Nightshade was a very good audio adaptation of the New Adventures novel of the same name! I think the idea of the Novel Adaptation series is really strong and it’s a fun slant on the same thing happening with Target books and television serials. It provides a different perspective and specifically with this method it gives us a nice change and provides a voice to characters we’ve only encountered in prose. I thought the casting of Edmund Trevithick was actually excellent and he was exactly what I would have expected of the former Professor Nightshade. I would say I enjoyed the audio a little more than the book which was perhaps slightly surprising, but my headspace when reading the book was perhaps not ideal! It was only five months ago that I read the novel that this story was an adaptation of, but it was in the reading room of Doha airport after my beloved Wales lost to Iran in the World Cup. I finished it on the train home from Manchester airport after a seven hour red eye flight, so getting a chance to reevaluate the story in a different format was much welcomed. It’s a little different to portray the relationship between the Doctor and Ace here being as much in conflict here as it was without referencing the events and toil taken from the Timewyrm and Cat’s Cradle books, but the idea of the Doctor wanting to settle down and retire is quite a shock! Ace doesn’t take it very well when she realises he’s serious but the question of retiring and not getting involved was a fantastic theme throughout. Ace obviously builds an incredibly strong relationship with Robin here and it’s to such an extent that she really does consider leaving the TARDIS when she has the option. In an audio form at just under two hours, that perhaps doesn’t feel as fleshed out as it did in the novel, but I thought he was very good and certainly well suited to Ace. He was able to comfort her which was nice and probably what she needed. Sylvester McCoy gives an assured performance as the Seventh Doctor here and I really liked how he captured that he wanted to retire and settle down. Just hearing him talk of Gallifrey in a way of longing was quite a shock but it was lovely to hear him missing Susan. It’s quite surprising to think he wouldn’t have mentioned her to Ace given her longevity as a companion, and I would have expected her to react a little more shocked to find the Doctor once had a family! The cameo appearance of Carole Ann Ford as Susan was a really nice touch and showed the beauty of the audio format. It really added a lot and was a fine use of the Sentience to show the Doctor what he was missing most. The links to the Nightshade television show were good and Edmund being quite bitter now as an old man was amusing, but he was cherishing the attention a repeat of the show was getting and was yearning for a new series! He wouldn’t get it of course, but he got more than he bargained for with the monsters his character defeated returning in a very real form! The Sentience certainly worked well as an enemy and I really enjoyed how it was presented in the audio form. There were no restrictions and that certainly helped. It sounded good in numerous different forms. Dr Hawthorne was a good character in the story and I liked how the Doctor’s name mistook him in the profession especially with the phone coverage being out. Jill was good too and the way her death was felt was particularly powerful. I thought the build to the conclusion was well handled and the defeat of the Sentience in being sent to the black hole was not what I cared about. I was fully invested in Ace’s story with Robin and if she would be staying with him. The ambiguous ending was slightly disappointing but I do understand given the contradictions associated with Ace’s ultimate departure from the Doctor across numerous formats and stories. As far as New Adventures chronology goes, I know she returns despite not reading beyond this story and it didn’t feel right that she would leave here. She knew her place was in the TARDIS and I thought that was really lovely. Overall, a strong adaptation to serve as a very good story! 

Rating: 8/10