Doctor Who – The Fifth Doctor Adventures: In the Night

#4.01. Pursuit of the Nightjar ~ 10/10

◆ An Introduction

A couple days ago, I started a discussion about this range on Twitter, and one story has been consistently hyped up as the best thing since sliced bread! Tim Foley has been on something of a roll recently – following his excellent Cyberman outing for the Eighth Doctor and Audacity – so my expectations were high going into this one.

Time to see what all the fuss is about, as we tackle ‘Pursuit of the Nightjar’!

◆ Publisher’s Summary

The story of the Nightjar has been told for many years. A spaceship helmed by the legendary Captain Goben on a vital mission of mercy, delivering medical supplies to a distant colony in the middle of devastating war, an act of bravery that triggers the end of the conflict.

At her heels throughout the journey, her pursuer, the spaceship Nemesis, helmed by the dogged Captain Eslo, never quite able to catch her target. The Doctor has always wanted to witness these historic events. And now, alongside Nyssa and Tegan, he's got his chance.

But history might just have other ideas.

◆ The Fifth Doctor

Have we ever witnessed this incarnation squealing like a fan-boy before? His reaction to being aboard the Nightjar is one of pure glee: he heard about its legendary voyage during one of his first trips after leaving home, and he’s dreamed of witnessing this historic event ever since. Hearing him speak of Captain Goben with such reverence, while recounting his tale to his companions, is genuinely one of the most adorable images I can think of. Tim Foley might be onto another winner with this script, because he’s gifted the Fifth Doctor some stunning material!

‘Pursuit of the Nightjar’ has been a real show of force for Davison. You can hear the excitement and awe he channels into his performance: he could genuinely convince you that Goben was one of HIS personal heroes!

He never has bad thoughts, not with Tegan around. The Doctor recounts the tale of the Nightjar with breathless enthusiasm: he has always wanted to sneak a peak at these events. This was actually the first story he ever heard after leaving Gallifrey; maybe the third or fourth place they visited, a bazaar in the Garazone system. There was a teller who had a crowd enraptured with the Pursuit of the Nightjar! As he stood there, he realised just how many stories there were in the galaxy; tales of hope and triumph, though the ending of this tale would be bittersweet. The Doctor knows the Nightjar’s systems like the back of his hand. He’s not sure there is anything they can do this time, mind you, he’s not sure of anything anymore; the story of the Nightjar, it definitely didn’t go like this. He doesn’t mean to sound so defeated. This ship, it really meant a lot to him once. The Doctor was quite the collector back then, the console room used to be full of all sorts of things; chairs, clocks, antiques, far too much stuff. That day he heard the story of the Nightjar, Susan bought him a model of it, in the bazaar. A fine piece of work: the kind of thing that sits on an admiral’s desk, it still lives in the library. This model became something of a mission statement: it was everything he needed the TARDIS to be; an old ship repurposed from scrap against all odds, seeing the universe, doing some good! Maybe the Doctor instinctively knew never to visit the Nightjar, because if you build something up, it’ll all come crashing down eventually.

◆ Nyssa

One member of the main cast was always going to be pushed to the background, and Nyssa drew the short straw. That being said, she still received some excellent bits of character development: part three sees her discussing her parents back on Traken, and how they both got lost within their work. She can understand the grief Captain Goben’s family will feel once they realise he is long gone.

Sarah Sutton delivered an excellent performance for ‘Pursuit of the Nightjar’.

Astral engineering isn’t exactly her strong point. Nyssa has sat with death before: on Traken, they had what’s known as the Long Night, where they stayed with the departed till dawn.

◆ Tegan Jovanka

Our favourite mouth on legs gave a nickname to one of the Nightjar’s levitating vidicons, and a wonderful friendship was born! Tegan and Alfie make for an interesting team… which made it all the more upsetting when the latter was seemingly disposed of: genuinely would’ve been amazing to have him join the TARDIS as a new companion, in the same vein as K9. She also deserves kudos for bringing the Doctor back to his senses when he believed that all was lost. Quite the accomplishment for such an irrational cynic!

‘Pursuit of the Nightjar’ is one of the best outings I’ve heard all year, which makes me all the happier that Janet Fielding delivered her a-game; will definitely be getting this one signed when I meet her at EM Con!

You know when you try something a couple of times, like seafood or jazz, and then you know for sure that you don’t like it? Well Tegan doesn’t like spaceships, especially if she’s wearing a space-pack: she just can’t breathe in those things. Spaceships, space-packs; maybes she just doesn’t like things with space in the name. Her expectations are always managed around the Doctor. She knew a pilot once who called the trolley a “mobile refreshment unit”; she should introduce the Doctor to them! Tegan reckons there are boys and girls across the galaxy who have toys of their own: little blue boxes. And those little blue boxes, those rackety old things, they’re nothing without a hero of their own! Who cares what future history says? She just wants the Doctor to think of something brilliant, right now, for the present. Tegan ends up floating through space on her own… but finds herself reunited with Alfie, and I genuinely burst into tears at that point!

◆ Never Meet Your Heroes

That saying always comes into my head when I’m going to conventions, but luckily all the performers I’ve encountered have been genuinely wonderful. This adventure sees the Doctor meeting one of his heroes: Captain Goben, who piloted the legendary Nightjar through some of the most hostile places in the cosmos, in hopes of delivering medicine and aid packages to a planet displaced by war. The Doctor knows the tale of the Nightjar like the back of his hand, so he’s understandably shaken when the good captain drops down dead… leaving him to stop the spaceship falling apart!

What follows is an emotional roller-coaster for the Doctor: he genuinely thinks he can deliver the aid packages himself and keep the legend intact, but that’s more than a little difficult when Captain Eslo is pursuing in her own spaceship: the equally legendary Nemesis! There comes a moment, pretty late in the game, where the Doctor is totally defeated; all he wanted was to keep the legend intact, but now the Nightjar has been wrecked beyond repair. This incarnation has always been such an optimist, so you really know the wheels have fallen off if even he’s been broken!

◆ Sound Design

The Nightjar is travelling through one of the most beautifully hostile regions in the cosmos – dodging astral knots, like pockets of quicksand in space – and its long voyage is nearly over. Unfortunately, things are about to go pear-shaped for Captain Goben… as he drops down dead, and his spaceship starts falling apart! Howard Carter has earned a reputation for creating some stunning cinematic soundscapes, so he was absolutely the right choice for this story.

Crackling subspace transmissions between Eslo and Goben, as hunter and hunted get to know each other. A levitating vidicon – which resembles a giant metal bird – flutters past the Doctor and his friends, bleeping away. A synthesised horn echoes throughout the Nightjar, signalling an incoming communication from the Nemesis. Systems all over the Nightjar begin to fry; sparking electronics right across the ship, as the anomalies cause chaos. As the hull of the Nightjar starts disintegrating, creaking metal can be heard in the background. Tegan holds on to Alfie for dear life, as the two fly through space like a human comet!

◆ Music

If you ever needed proof that you could create a cinematic score using primarily synthesisers, then here it is! Throughout the runtime, I kept thinking of how much the music reminded me of the Metroid games.

◆ Conclusion

“This isn’t future history: this isn’t how it happened!”

The Doctor is given the opportunity to meet one of his heroes: Captain Goben, who piloted the legendary Nightjar through some of the most hostile places in the cosmos, in hopes of delivering medicine and aid packages to a planet displaced by war. The Doctor knows the tale of the Nightjar like the back of his hand, so he’s understandably shaken when the good captain drops down dead… leaving him to stop the spaceship falling apart!

‘Pursuit of the Nightjar’ embodies that old proverb about never meeting your heroes, by showing the worst case scenario. The Doctor’s initial reaction to being aboard the Nightjar is one of pure glee: he heard about its legendary voyage during one of his first trips after leaving home, and he’s dreamed of witnessing this historic event ever since. Tim Foley then proceeds to shatter the Doctor’s spirit throughout the adventure; there was even a moment where the Time Lord considered throwing in the towel. The material is simply jaw-dropping!

Thank you to everyone on Twitter who recommended this adventure to me, because it’s easily the greatest thing I’ve heard all year. And one last message to Mr. Foley: can we please have another adventure with the big bleeping metal bird? Alfie became one of my favourite characters over the space of two hours.