One of my absolute
favorite stories involves a monster in a lake with the local nobility being
part of a larger conspiracy to take over the world with shapeshifting aliens
with the Doctor’s companions being there to stop it with UNIT taking an
interest. That story is of course Terror of the Zygons and shares many
plot similarities with The Spectre of
Lanyon Moor. Nicholas Pegg takes the
plot outline for the first episode out of Terror
of the Zygons, but that’s really where the similarity ends. The plot of the story sees the Doctor, with a
cold, take Evelyn to a Cornwall archeological site where phantoms have been
appearing to the crew scaring them out of their heads. They’ve called in Brigadier
Lethebridge-Stewart, retired, to unofficially investigate the proceedings. The story that follows involves an abandoned
alien who only wants to find a way to get back home while two noblemen are
experimenting to get the power of the alien.
The story is nothing too special
in terms of plot, but the imagery it conjures up is very realistic as you can
feel the emotions of the characters.
This is also apparent with the deaths in this story as they are depicted
gruesomely with death screams and revolting in horror at the mess of bodies
left behind. The acting is top notch as
well with the first real meeting of the Sixth Doctor and the Brigadier. The Brigadier of course recognizes the Doctor
immediately from his fashion sense and Nicholas Courtney’s performance with
Colin Baker is the real highlight of the story.
The Brigadier knows the Doctor knows better, but would never describe
him as arrogant as arrogance indicates ignorance. While the two of them have met up in the novels,
it can be inferred for continuity’s sake that they have been meeting out of
order hence why the Brigadier recognizes the Doctor. Even with a cold Colin Baker is giving it his
all in the performance and is loving the chance to work with Nicholas Courtney. Maggie Stables’ Evelyn Smythe is given a lot
to do in this story. If this was Terror of the Zygons she would be in the
role of Sarah Jane Smith, investigating the mysterious goings on and going out
on her own to solve the problems. Yes
she does get captured and is very near to being tortured, but with her usual
sass and crafty mind she is able to get out of the situation. The supporting cast of the story is also very
interesting. Yes the alien voices, done
by master voice actor Toby Longworth, are a bit too over the top but it adds to
the story especially considering he plays three different parts. The other villain of the piece is the
housekeeper Mrs. Moynihan played by Susan Jameson. She’s basically a modern day feminist wanting
power and has some of the stories best lines.
She sneaks her way past UNIT soldiers by walking her dogs and doesn’t
care if she has to get her hands dirty to get what she wants.
The story was written and
directed by Nicholas Pegg who it seems was trying to recreate the atmosphere of
the Philip Hinchcliffe era of the show.
He succeeds masterfully as the atmosphere is thick with fog and gothic
horrors as everything starts to go wrong.
It feels a lot like The Hound of
the Baskervilles as the story takes place on a quiet moor. Pegg’s directing flair is definitely unique
from Gary Russell and Nicholas Briggs as Pegg is much subtler in what he tries
to accomplish with the story. Unlike the
other Big Finish story the music is used sparingly and only comes in to accent
a point. The sound design and music by
Alistair Lock is done subtly which helps add to the atmosphere. Honestly the word that comes to mind when
thinking of the story is subtle as it lets the atmosphere creep into you as you
get wrapped up in the mystery of the monster.
The story however does
have quite a few flaws. First off the
first episode is a quick remake of Terror
of the Zygons which doesn’t really grab your attention as you just want to
put on that story instead. The doubling
up of cast members also makes it a bit more difficult to distinguish different
characters from each other. Pegg also
wrote in too many characters so some of them just drop off and reappear at
other points. There are also some twists
that would only work on audio that are executed poorly.
To summarize, The Spectre of Lanyon Moor is a real
treat of an audio that finally gives fans an interaction between the Sixth
Doctor and the Brigadier. The
performances are great and the direction and music make for a unique
experience. It does borrow plot points
from better stories and doesn’t do much more to stick out from the crowd than
novelty. 72/100
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