The Tertiary Console Room: Review - Doctor Who

'Museum of Aural Antiquities, eh? Sounds interesting...'

Whispers Of Terror is the first solo outing for the Sixth Doctor and Peri, and is written by prolific Who author Justin Richards. The Doctor and Peri arrive at the Museum of Aural Antiquities where all sorts of audio recordings have been stored. The museum curator Gantman, is obsessed with the recordings of the greatest actor of all time Visteen Krane which are due to be given their first public airings. But someone or something is changing these recordings in a subtle way with the odd phrase or emphasis changed. Plus people are dying in the museum too, and it seems that the Doctor must try and solve what is going on.

With Whispers Of Terror, Richards has created an audio drama that is actually focused on the audio part of the drama, and he chooses a story that will primarily involve the use of audio to create much of the atmosphere. By setting it in a Museum whose contents are audio recordings the importance of the audio format to the story is realised from the beginning.

The main element of the plot is the fact that a recently deceased great actor named Visteen Krane's, who was about to run for the Presidency, speeches are about to be broadcast. These recordings will endorse his associate Beth Pernell, who would have been his Vice President and is now seemingly going to become elected because of the endorsement from Krane's speeches. But there is a creature which seems to be made purely of sound lurking within the Museum which seems to have murderous intentions.

Colin Baker puts in a tremendous performance as the Doctor. On television he was constrained badly by poor scripts plus an inability on the part of the producers to decide just what the character of the Sixth Doctor was like. Here Baker gets to play the Doctor in a way that he obvious likes, and you could hear the relish in his voice as he gets to grips with Richards' script. Onscreen Baker and his companion Peri were often arguing with each other and the television writers used this too much and it hampered their relationship. There is still some of the arguing between the pair on show here but it doesn't dominate their scenes together as it did on television and you can see that the Doctor and Peri actually like each other. Baker is allowed to relax into his role well and this works as it succeeds in combining the bombastic nature of his Doctor, but this is not his main characteristic any longer, his inquisitive side takes over and makes him far more likeable and consistent.

Nicola Bryant's performance as Peri is good too. Her American accent isn't as strong as it once was, but it does sound more natural and less forced than it was on television. Her performance is good and the development of her relationship with the Doctor works well. The fact that Big Finish have chosen not to develop this further with more Sixth Doctor and Peri stories is a big disappointment.

The guest cast here is first rate too. With the museum curator Gantman played by Who veteran Peter Miles, whose previous Doctor Who stories include The Silurians, Genesis Of The Daleks and The Paradise Of Death, and Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield actress Lisa Bowerman there are some tremendous performances. Miles' character knows the recordings contained within his museum perfectly and when they begin to change, the fact that he can't comprehend this is conveyed well. Lisa Bowerman plays Krane's would be Vice President Beth Pernell with gusto, and she makes a convincing character who you truly believe would go to any lengths to obtain what she wants.

The production on Whispers Of Terror is quite fantastic. Richards' script has at its heart a creature of sound that would be incredibly difficult to have portrayed on television. On audio it is created through a variety of ways which really does convey a sense of terror in the way it builds up. Nicholas Briggs' music here is also worthy of note. He really does manage to capture the feel of the incidental music of the Colin Baker television stories and this adds to the feel that you are listening to how the Sixth Doctor should have been on television.

Overall, Whispers Of Terror is an excellent production. The script is superbly written with some excellent dialogue and a uniformly good cast. Colin Baker excels as the Doctor here and benefits tremendously from having a script that knows what the Sixth Doctor should be like. After an unconvincing start in The Sirens Of Time, and a big improvement in Phantasmagoria, Whispers Of Terror was the first of Big Finish's audio dramas to really impress me, and although they have produced better stories since, it remains their first must hear story.