In the Night: Pursuit of the Nightjar

"Never meet your heroes."

Writer: Tim Foley

Format: Audio

Released: September 2023

Series: Fifth Doctor Adventures 6.01

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan

Synopsis

The story of the Nightjar has been told for many years. A spaceship helmed by the legendary Captain Goben on a vital mission of mercy, delivering medical supplies to a distant colony in the middle of devastating war, an act of bravery that triggers the end of the conflict. 

At her heels throughout the journey, her pursuer, the spaceship Nemesis, helmed by the dogged Captain Eslo, never quite able to catch her target. The Doctor has always wanted to witness these historic events. And now, alongside Nyssa and Tegan, he's got his chance.

But history might just have other ideas.

Verdict

Pursuit of the Nightjar was an outstanding start to the In the Night latest series of Fifth Doctor Adventures! Whilst this range is considerably different to others being released by Big Finish in there not really being any kind of overlapping story arc, following in a similar style to the Ninth Doctor Adventures with a singular theme instead, this one started in sensational fashion! The story from start to finish was gripping and full of emotion. I really loved the idea of the Nightjar story being one that the Doctor heard very early on in his travels after leaving Gallifrey and he even had a replica model of the ship that Susan bought him at the bazaar on one of their first few trips. The Doctor was a collector back then which was a nice way to describe the First Doctor and the impact the story had him was lovely to explore. The Nightjar was everything the Doctor wanted the TARDIS to encompass and stand for which was delightful. The mission of the Nightjar being to get much needed medical supplies to Ottama amidst a devastating and far reaching war. Goben was something of a famed figure and hero for the Doctor after hearing of the story and the excitement he had when realising where and when they were was palpable. The Doctor was almost giddy and I thought Peter Davison played it so well. He was both excited and a little childlike which was the perfect combination when one meets their hero. Goben was quite the character and the idea of him being alone for just under three years and piloting the ship was incredible. The boredom would be unfathomable and the mental impact would be quite severe, so it’s lucky that he had constant communication with his pursuer from the other side in the war. Captain Elso was a fine character and the relationship she had with Goben was full of chemistry. They’d never met each other but they were quite clearly smitten. It was a good dynamic and actually having them laugh about her attempts to kill him was quite something! The cliffhanger to part one with Goben surprisingly dying was superb and I loved that history seemed to be changing. That wasn’t how it was meant to happen and we all know the Doctor’s thoughts on history being altered. He was deeply effected by the loss and couldn’t understand what had happened. I was surprised it happened so early but the story that followed still very much hooked me as the TARDIS was separated from the our lead trio. It was really emotional stuff and the efforts to get on board the Nemesis were really good and rather clever! Elso knew it was a trap but she did it anyway. Her connection to Goben was clear and she wanted to honour his legacy, but the Doctor didn’t give her much of a choice! His speech to her on how she needed to take Goben’s place in delivering the medical supplies and ultimately contributing to the bringing about of peace was sublime stuff. It was a fine moment and arguably a defining one for the Fifth Doctor. I was a massive fan. Tegan was able to shine in this story as her relationship with Alfie who was humorously named was very strong. She seemed a goner at the end of part three when she was drifting in space, but Alfie was on hand to save her. I thought the hot air comment from the Doctor was also incredible. That really did have me laughing out loud. Nyssa comparing the mysterious ghostly figures to the Watcher was good and them actually being time travellers was a surprise. They were fans and they’d contributed to the death of Goben the hero! That was shocking. Overall though, a magnificent audio!

Rating: 10/10