The Haunting of Malkin Place

"What's the point of a ghost story?"

Writer: Phil Mulryne

Format: Audio

Released: May 2017

Series: FDA 6.05

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana II

Synopsis

Whilst on the way to visit the town where Henry James lived, a chance encounter with a spiritualist on a train sends the Doctor and Romana on the trail of a ghost. It's the most convincing case of haunting he's ever heard of, he tells them. And so, on their arrival, does it appear to be.

Things go bump in the night at Malkin Place. The voice of a crying child. Birds bursting into flight. Strange movements in a seance.

The Doctor is determined there must be a rational explanation. But is science always the answer to everything?

Verdict

The Haunting of Malkin Place was a good Fourth Doctor Adventure! I picked this up following the mini sale after the broadcast of The Halloween Apocalypse and it definitely continued that spooky theme in a good way. It was far from unique and had an atmosphere that has been experienced before in the several ghostly tales within the Doctor Who universe, but the pairing of the Fourth Doctor and Romana II definitely provided some added fun. Their initial bickering over the plausibility of ghosts was delightful and a perfect way to capture their relationship on audio. I loved how the Doctor was trying to convince Romana that ghosts could be real and that there might be more than science to them, but when meeting the locals of 1922 he was very much back in the good books of science! That was so much fun. Having the Doctor and Romana based on Baker Street was a fun element and I loved how things came full circle with the banging about in the attic actually being a future version of the Doctor who was forced to wait around for five years. That was tremendous. I thought as a whole this was a decent story but it certainly started a little slowly for my liking once we exited the presence of the Doctor and Romana. The guest cast took a little whole to get going and things didn't really pick up until the cliffhanger which I thought was excellent. It had the feel of a horror movie for a good few minutes as temporal business picked up and the idea of spirits interfering and making contact was fun. The voices being those of children always seems to spark more fear which is fun and it was cool to learn that the voices were played by Nicholas Briggs' child! I thought the resolution of the cliffhanger was pretty poor as it was actually great to have the Doctor missing and something from the physical realm being taken by the spiritual was a terrific concept. I was fully expect Romana tracking the residual to be left disappointed, but we soon found the Doctor in a ditch which was a shame. The image of him sinking in mud up to his chest was amusing though! The ghostly occurrences being the result of a vortex vacuum was a good concept and fun to explore, and I liked how the Doctor and Romana had knowledge of the phenomena and it fit their rationale for explanation. The idea of ghosts from the future trying to suck Maurice back to 1917 was good and something I didn't expect, but it worked out well. Beatrice was a good character and her attempts to break the circle provided some good excitement. Talbot was another decent character as the head of the household and I enjoyed his introduction to the Doctor and Romana when they arrived. His spiritual tendencies were met with dismay which I liked. Mrs Mountford was an intriguingly creepy character and her fate at the end of the audio with her sticking around was nicely done. Overall, a decent listen!

Rating: 7/10