The Chimes of Midnight stars Paul McGann as the Doctor with India Fisher as
Charley. It was written by Robert
Shearman, directed by Barnaby Edwards and released in February 2002 on CD and
in October 2016 on a 500 pressing Limited Edition Vinyl by Big Finish
Productions.
The idea of the effects
of a paradox was never really explored through the entirety of Classic Doctor
Who. We did get stories about the
effects of changing history in The Aztecs
and The Time Meddler, but never
showing just how fragile the Web of Time actually is. Father’s
Day from the New Series goes far into what can happen if fixed points are
messed with, but The Chimes of Midnight did
the idea first.
The story involves the
Doctor and Charley landing in an Edwardian House on the night before Christmas
where all through the house, not a creature was stirring. It is too quiet as time seems to be frozen
still, almost as if the Doctor and Charley has jumped a time track a la The Space Museum. When everything gets going the find the dead
body of the house’s scullery maid and they get themselves confused for two
detectives from Scotland Yard. This was
as the clock struck 10:00. The house’s
cook is killed next as the clock strikes 11:00 and the Doctor and Charley
realize just how deep the rabbit hole goes as the two hours start repeating
themselves in different ways and with different victims until we hit the
twist. This is a plot that I just adore
for just being so creative. The story
acts as a Christmas Special, but it also acts as a horror story with people
being killed in gruesomely comedic ways.
The twist of the story is also brilliantly set up and executed which has
grave implications for the Doctor and Charley.
This is your last chance to look away before I go straight into spoiling
the twist so if you haven’t yet go and get this story and give it a listen
before continuing.
The twist of this story
involves the scullery maid Edith Thompson who worked for the Pollard family as
cook where only the young Charley was the only person who was nice to her. The announcement came to the Pollard estate
that Charley had been killed on the R101 airship which in turn led to Edith
becoming depressed and slitting her wrists.
Charley, even though she was supposed to be killed on the R101 according
to the Web of Time, was saved by the Doctor and in an attempt to fix itself the
Web of Time took control of Edith’s spirit and created the house which started
to gain a mind of its own. This is all
because the Doctor wanted to save someone’s life. The story becomes a character drama with the
Doctor having to find a way out of the paradox before they become trapped there
forever.
Louise Rolfe’s
performance as Edith Thompson steals the show as when she’s alive she is happy
but by Part Four while she is explaining to Charley what happened to her. She has broken down into depression and is
almost insane in that she wants to be allowed to rest or be allowed to
live. India Fisher’s Charley Pollard
also goes through hell as Edith and the house wants to make her go crazy and
kill herself to resolve everything. She
is forced under hypnosis of the house for portions of the story even becoming a
child. She doesn’t like plum pudding and
once chipped her tooth on a three-penny bit which the inhabitants of the house
know of and try to get her back to a childlike state. Paul McGann as the Doctor is at his best here
as he has to be the one to figure out the mystery of the story. He knows something isn’t right from the start
and he knows that everyone in the house is too one note to be normal. The villain of the piece is the house, Edward
Grove, which is a booming voice that represents a god of these two hours which
are on a complete loop forever. The
voice just sends chills down your spine.
The supporting cast of
the story is all pretty standard as they are supposed to be one note
characters. There is Frederick the
chauffer played by Robert Curbishley who reveals part of the mystery as he
doesn’t know what type of car he drives, a Chrysler which hasn’t been invented
yet or a Bentley. He has an affair with
the Lady’s Maid Mary, played by Juliet Warner, which reflects Edith’s
affair. The head of the servants are
Mrs. Badderly the cook and Mr. Shaughnassy the butler, played by Sue Wallace
and Lennox Greaves respectively. They
are both the prime example of stiff upper lip British servants, who only act on
their master’s orders from upstairs.
Mrs. Badderly is famous for her plum puddings and is extremely pleasant
which are yet another clue as to how everything fits, yet she is just downright
rude to those beneath her. The same can
be said for Shaughnassy who is a kiss up to his masters as he wants to have his
own personal gain, but is almost verbally abusive to Edith.
The direction and music
of this story have to get special notice.
Barnaby Edwards directs this story as a very tight nit space as it does
take place mainly in the servant’s area of a home. It takes a particular skill for something
like this to actually work and Edwards is great at not only doing it, but doing
it well. The music was done by Russell
Stone which is full of actual chimes as the clock plays a very important role
in the story. Everything sounds like
some sort of chime in a Christmas music style, but with an underlying
atmosphere of something darker.
To summarize, The Chimes of Midnight is in one word
perfect. Serving as a continuation to
Charley’s story arc which you don’t really need to have listened to the other
parts to understand and I just love every minute of the story. The acting is great as everything feels
undeniably British from the supporting cast and the main cast act as the
emotional centerpiece for the story. The
direction and music of this story both compliment the script and show just how
dark the story is. There really is no
excuse for you to not have heard this story and it is deserving of its Limited
Edition repress. 100/100
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