Solo: The Ravencliff Witch

"I've always been a barker."

Writer: David Llewellyn

Format: Audio

Released: March 2022

Series: Fourth Doctor Adventures 11.02

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Margaret 

Synopsis

The TARDIS lands in Ravencliff, a small town on the English coast that stands in the shade of a newly built power station. And that just happens to be haunted.

Every now and then a spectral figure is glimpsed on the beach – the Ravencliff witch. And every time she appears, it's the prelude to disaster.

The Doctor has to solve the mystery of her appearances if he wants to prevent a catastrophe. But he won't have to do it alone – as he has the help of Margaret Hopwood, a renowned sculptor destined to play a big part in his life.

Verdict

The Ravencliff Witch was a great story to conclude the Solo first half of the eleventh series of Fourth Doctor Adventures! This was very different from the Blood of the Time Lords opener and whilst there wasn’t really any kind of continuity or continuation, it was a fun follow up with the Fourth Doctor still travelling solo in the gap before The Face of Evil. I think the role of Margaret Hopwood was really good and this was a solid introduction for her. Listening when I am three years after release, I’m well aware that she rejoins the Fourth Doctor on his travels in the future but she doesn’t actually stay aboard the TARDIS here which was a little surprising. I wouldn’t say she screams companion material and I do hope she doesn’t fall into a shadow of Evelyn Smythe as a companion in that same fashion. As a standalone character here she was strong and the relationship she built with the Doctor here was impressive. But I’m not sure she was the star of the show! I thought the Doctor talking to himself was brilliant and when travelling alone that’s essentially necessary for the audio format, but the way it was incorporated was just wonderful. The suggestion of it being the only way he can have an intelligent conversation was very amusing. I’m not sure any other incarnation than the fourth could pull that off either! The arrival into Ravencliff was good and having a setting around a new power station is intriguing. There was always going to be something more going on there and the revelation regarding the novium was really good. Celia Banks made for a very strong character and her story over the course of the adventure was actually excellent. The Doctor knew earlier than the listener and Banks herself but her destiny to actually be the titular Ravencliff witch was superb. The whole thing of her being scattered through time as the Doctor pieced together the eon key worked very well for me and it had some fun Clara in The Name of the Doctor vibes. Gordon Miles as the head of the power station was a stubborn character and that was exactly what he should have been. I was a big fan and even until the end he refused to believe that the witch myth had become real. I thought the history behind that was terrific and I liked how Margaret was on hand for help with the legend. Her passion for sculpting was unique and I really liked that she scavenged what she could from the beach to make her artwork. The legend going back to the early tenth century was fantastic and I liked the moment that she revealed she thought she had the key required for solving all of the problems with the gap beneath the sea that provided the novium. That actually being time silver and from the Cardovians was a fascinating look into Time Lord history as it was actually the Doctor’s own people that had caused their ship to crash and the supply to seep through. That worked well for me! I don’t think the cliffhangers were anything much to shout home about which was a shame, but the story still comfortably gets its rating from me. Overall, a fun introduction for Margaret after a brief glimpse in Companion Piece which incredibly was released three years before this (but recorded at a similar time). Not much is left to indicate she will return, but I’m looking forward to it! A strong story and a great listen. 

Rating: 8/10