- Whispers of Terror (Doctor Who—Main Range #3)
- Written by: Justin Richards
- Directed by: Gary Russell
- Starring: Colin Baker (The Doctor); Nicola Bryant (Peri); Rebecca Jenkins (Amber Dent / Car Computer); Hylton Collins (Goff Fotherill / Computer Voice); Matthew Brenher (Visteen Krane); Harvey Summers (Radio Announcer); Peter Miles (Museum Curator Gantman); Mark Trotman (Miles Napton); Nick Scovell (Detective Berkeley); Steffan Boje (Hans Stengard); Lisa Bowerman (Beth Pernell); Justin Richards (Answerphone Message); Jacqueline Rayner (Audio Voices)
“It’s a sound creature. Aren’t you? I know what you are now. You’re a wave form modulation of a person, aren’t you? Of a person who managed, at the point of death, to use a frequency modulation input linked to an alpha link condenser to survive. You cheated death by channeling your brain waves, your thoughts, into another medium by becoming a sound wave.”~The Doctor, Whispers of Terror.
When a series has sustained itself long enough…It will begin to write stories about itself. It is the irresistible siren-call of franchise.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of Batman stories about Batman (the comic), Superman stories about Superman (the character), and Flash stories about The Flash (the continuity). Sherlock Holmes stories about the existence of Sherlock Holmes sometimes threaten to overwhelm regular pastiche. Nearly all modern treatments of the Arthurian legend are about the legends themselves, rather than their particulars—those that understand the legends (Taliessin Through Logres, Monty Python and the Holy Grail), those that don’t (The Once and Future King, Merlin), and those that hate them (“The Last Defender of Camelot”).
Doctor Who is no exception.
Indeed, Doctor Who has a particular fascination for telling stories about itself.
Nightshade. Lungbarrow. Zagreus. A Natural History of Fear. The Cybermen trilogy. Many of novels from the Virgin and BBC novel runs. A Death in the Family. “Love & Monsters.” “Turn Left.” “The Doctor’s Wife,” especially in earlier drafts. The Day of the Doctor. “Deep Breath.” “Heaven Sent” and “Hell Bent.” To a lesser extent, Remembrance of the Daleks.
Some are the best the franchise has to offer. Others are the abject stains on Doctor Who’s question mark waistcoat. None, notably, are just okay or good enough. To write about the series you’re writing is volatile. It will go well or it will go poorly. The safety net of “Well, I didn’t hate it” is gone.
You may have noticed Whispers of Terror isn’t on the list.
It is something altogether stranger.
Whispers of Terror is an uncertain, nearly fearful look at the change in medium. This isn’t a story about Doctor Who. This is a story about Doctor Who’s leap from television to audio. It is afraid of two things. First, that the change of medium or new writers will alter the dead show. Second, is a concern that Doctor Who will go unheard, and be neutered because the audience is gone.
The story is about a museum of audio where people die, apparently at the bidding of a creature made of sound.
As the sixth Doctor says, once he deduces the villain’s existence, “You cheated death by channeling your brain waves, your thoughts, into another medium by becoming a sound wave.” Much like Doctor Who itself, which now only survived in the world of sounds.
You would think that someone writing for Doctor Who would be comfortable with this fact, but the author’s unease is obvious. As the Doctor continues, “[the audio] could be hiding within any sound, however quiet. The low hum of the air conditioning, a distant hint of a conversation, a foot tapping out the rhythm of a popular song.” He’s worried that Doctor Who, severed from its physical context, will cease to have a real physical component. It seems like such an odd concern, nearly 20 years on. This has posed no problem for Doctor Who. Indeed, Doctor Who has gone on to have its all-time best episodes in audio.
Doctor Who itself, in guise of the monster, is a noble monster which wishes to be left alone~and only rouses itself to take revenge on those who alter its words. It’s meant to be a chilling reminder of Revelation 22:19 (or at least the same sentiment), but it is a toothless threat when you consider nearly all of Big Finish’s great triumphs alter the show (the sixth Doctor’s re-characterization, the sixth Doctor’s farewell adventure, the Ace/Mel dream team, most of the great seventh Doctor stories, Gallifrey, expanding upon the eighth Doctor, significant character development for Davros, post-show stories for retired companions…).
As for the second concern—it continues as subtext through a conversation between the villain and her aide, but is neatly summed up in this conversation between the Doctor and Peri.
“Is that it? A CD?
“A holographic imaging actually but yes it’s on here.”
“I assume it’s safe…”
“Yes yes yes. Of course it’s safe. Just so long as nobody plays the disk.”
Doctor Who is safe. But there’s no-one there to listen. Or, perhaps, it is safe because no-one is there to listen. If it’s the former, it’s a baseless concern. Big Finish found an audience, and an ever-growing audience. if it is the latter~the concerns were right, Big Finish’s continued existence has altered the show. Sometimes heavily altered the show. There is no going back.
But it is interesting to see the author’s concerns 20 years later. The story’s main drive is its anxiety about audio.
The characterization is screen-accurate. Sirens of Time’s lightyears jump ahead in Colin Baker’s Doctor is abandoned, in his second Big Finish appearance, for a strictly by-the-book sixth Doctor. It’s fine. If you’re one of the handful in love with his television incarnation, you won’t grind your teeth. Colin Baker, as ever, makes an uncharming characterization as charming as he can.
It’s fitting for this release that this Doctor is the television Doctor. Richards’ script is anxious about the medium. It clings to the established characterization. It’s the familiar island in a sea of new dangers. Thus, Colin Baker’s Doctor is trapped in his old characterization—as Baker struggles to get back to where he was two months prior.
Fitting it may be, but optimum it is not.
Nicola Bryant returns to Peri without a lost step, and turns in an excellent performance—despite how little the script really asks of her.
The scriptwriter apparently thinks Americans eat fries with relish? Someone must’ve pulled a prank on poor Justin Richards.
Should you listen to Whispers of Terror?
It’s well-paced, well-written, and well-designed with a creative monster, spot-on characterization, and a fairly unique plot. Everything is solid. The anxiety about the new medium is fascinating.
The real question is how much you enjoy the televised sixth Doctor. If you love him, this audio was made for you. If you’re less enthused, it may be worth skipping until his total character make-over begins in earnest with The Marian Conspiracy (#6).
The political aspect of the story, however, is far less successful. Not only is it simplistic, it’s a bit silly and very under-developed. The story could do with just “evil politician” not “evil right-wing politician who wants to eradicate democracy”—all of it delivered with subtlety of a anvil in a few lines of dialogue. It’s especially grating a few episodes away from the complex, human approach to politicians the writer very much disagrees with coming up in The Fearmonger (#5).
Politics is such a small part of the story—but handled so poorly that I’ve already written more words critiquing it than the author ever wrote about it.
You can purchase Whispers of Terror for $2.99 from BigFinish.com.
James Bojaciuk
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