The Living Darkness

"The aliens don't want to hurt us."

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner

Format: Audio

Released: January 2025

Series: First Doctor Adventures 4.01

Featuring: First Doctor, Steven, Dodo

Synopsis

Steven Taylor thought he'd left a life of adventure behind when he said goodbye to the Doctor and forged his future as the leader of a world. But decades later, when a broken and grieving Steven awakes aboard a mysterious spacecraft, terror is close at hand.

What is the purpose of the ship's voyage and why has it collected a random group from different points in time and space? What sinister presence lurks within the darkness that smothers its corridors? And can Steven really trust the new arrival claiming to be the Doctor...?

Verdict

The Living Darkness was an excellent story to serve as the fourth series of the new First Doctor Adventures! Whilst I would rather this range took the approach of multiple episodes in a boxset rather than longer ones, I can't complain with the quality on display here. This was almost like an extended double farewell for both Steven and Dodo which was really rather beautiful. Steven serves as the main character for much of the story and Peter Purves really does hold the listener with his performance. Even now in his elderly years and in character as being over a century he is just tremendous. I think he's brilliant and his character is packed with history. Steven's departure in The Savages is always something that feels slightly odd with him becoming a king as I am not sure that was ever the right kind of fit for him, but the continuity and explanation here was fitting. I thought it was tremendous that the Elders renamed their planet as Tardissium because that instantly sounds like something Steven should be the head of and even hearing how it had now become a free republic was a nice touch. Freedom! Steven had obviously moved on with his life but I was not expecting such strong and powerful continuity from The War to End All Wars. That was really unexpected but actually crucial to the story as Steven was still reeling from the death of his daughter Dodo. Whilst the cliffhanger ending to part five was very obvious as the time scoop worked on bringing Dodo back, it was always going to be the companion he travelled with. What I wasn't expecting though was for this to be mid-The War Machines and give a proper explanation for why Dodo just left abruptly. I think that's fun to address and it works well! The Doctor here knows where she really has gone to head the conservation but I thought it was pretty humorous for him to mention not being happy if she just hopped up and left because that's exactly what happened. I think it's right that Dodo gets a proper companion goodbye and this serves very nicely. The overall story though was really good and I love the idea behind Compuvac. The story's proximity to The Daleks' Master Plan was unexpected but so welcomed with numerous instances of alluding to the Space Security Service. The computer actually focusing on Brett and Sara as the final candidates selected was intriguing stuff, although with the current rate of technology I'm not convinced we'll have to wait until the 4000s to get an artificial intelligence with instinct. It's a very fun concept though and one I'm in favour of exploring. Steven's reunion with the Doctor here was marvellous and it was great that the latter wasn't at first convinced he was the real article. After being imprisoned and treated like pets, they both wanted a way out and were proactive in finding the means. Qyz was a really nice character and I liked how he came out of his shell more as the story developed. The Doctor giving him moments to showcase his brilliance was wonderful. Mish was a purposely unlikeable character but the bitch that was Umbriel took the mantle of most disliked. The Doctor calling her Muriel on multiple occasions was delightful because of how much she took offence. The pace of the story was really strong and I listened to the first five parts back to back with ease. I only had to leave the last because of the school run! It was just fantastic stuff. Powerful emotionally and a really strong story to boot in working out what Compuvac was programmed to do. Its purpose was sound in finding the best, but the logic it used to find that was what needed altering. I thought that was good and the use of Hadria soon altered. Overall, a superb story! Give me more frequent stories because I am very invested in the wider arc at large with manipulations in play.

Rating: 9/10