Murder in the Dark

"It's our job to make that dead body talk."

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner

Format: Short Story

Released: September 2017

Printed in: Tales of Terror 01

Featuring: First Doctor, Steven, Dodo

Synopsis

The First Doctor and his companions Steven and Dodo end up being engrossed at a halloween party, playing games like apple bopping and musical statues. But once murder in the dark is the game of choice, they soon realise they are playing more than just mere party games...

Verdict

Murder in the Dark was a decent start to the Tales of Terror collection of horror-themed short stories! Now, I'm a big fan of the horror genre when it comes to watching movies, and Doctor Who has definitely had some great stories that could be considered something along the lines of horror such as The Unquiet Dead or even Blink, but devoting a whole collection to terror adventures for the first twelve Doctors is a great idea! I was intrigued by how things started here with the First Doctor and I liked that the less common trio of him, Steven and Dodo were present. There really aren't enough Dodo stories so it was really good to get some more of her and she was the focus for much of the first half of the adventure. The way this story played on the famous part of The Chase where all the supposed evil occurrences were just part of an attraction was pretty good, but maybe a little too resemblant. I think comparisons would be less drawn if it featured a different incarnation of the Doctor than the first. For much of the story, we were playing typically halloween party games with the likes of apple bobbing and musical statues. I thought that worked well and with the events being so unfamiliar to Dodo, and especially Steven, it was really fun for them to interact with these elements and be clearly quite terrified! It seems a little silly now, but that was good to play around with. Dodo initially being frightened of what she thought was a Monoid was good and something I would have liked to come back to. The reference of The Ark was good though and it was nice to follow that up with references to the trio's recent outings in The Celestial Toymaker and The Gunfighters. It's always nice for them to reflect on recent adventures and experiences, and for this trio there wouldn't be too many more! Dodo initially thinking that the party guests were controlled by the music whilst playing musical statues was very funny and even though he didn't appear for a huge amount of time, the calmness of the First Doctor amidst all the weird ongoings was magnificent. The game of murder in the dark, a great title for this story by the way, was interesting as the Doctor was dubbed the detective with both Steven and Dodo the murderers. The idea of him having to choose between his companions was good and I thought more could have been made of that before each companion confessed to the murder neither had committed! The Doctor winning the game by revealing the true killer as the Celestial Toymaker was most unexpected, especially so soon after the events of their initial meeting! I would have preferred that story didn't get referenced earlier on, and whilst his revelation came far too late with only another two pages to follow, it was a fantastic moment that admittedly put a smile on my face. I really didn't see it coming. Some more explanation as to how he survived would have been good, but the ending with another TARDIS arriving in the Toyroom suggesting the battle was far from over was chilling. It was a perfect end for a story in a collection like this one. Overall, this was a fun little tale that probably was a tad repetitive on blurring the lines between reality, but it was terrific to have the First Doctor encounter the Celestial Toymaker once again! 

Rating: 7/10