The Darkness of Glass, by Justin Richards, involves the Doctor and Leela in the company of some magic lantern afficionadoes on an isolated island. The windows of the house hold a terrible secret – a shadow demon trapped for a century that is about to be released.

The 4th Doctor audios tend to be short and sweet. For whatever reason, Big Finish decided to structure these all as 2 part adventures (with a few being 4 part but spread over a couple of CD releases). As a result, they can sometimes seem a little rushed and inconsequential. There are a few standouts such as The Wrath of the Iceni, but The Darkness of Glass is not one of those. It is a very traditional, ‘gothic’, spooky runaround that seems over before its even begun.

The parallels with Horror of Fang Rock are immediately apparent (and even ‘lamp-shaded’ in the script). A group of well-to-do Edwardians stuck on an isolated island being attacked by an entity which is eventually defeated through the use of light. There’s even an hysterical woman for Leela to despair at. Unfortunately, this works against the story in that it all feels way too familiar (particularly as it isn’t that long since I actually watched Horror of Fang Rock). Coupled with this problem, is the main conceit of the story – magic lanterns. These were, as is acknowledged in both script and in the interview extras, a fad of Victorian times. Therefore, not only do we have a story too reminiscent of Horror of Fang Rock, it doesn’t capitalise on its period setting by pulling it back into the Victorian era. In a way, it seems pointless to specifically set the story in 1907 if the story is going to firmly root itself in the previous century.

The cast perform the story well, however, and of particularly note is Sinead Keenan as Mary Summersby who becomes a temporary companion to the Doctor whilst Leela is off doing fighty things. The male members of the cast suffer from all sounding a bit too similar and I must admit to being a bit lost as to who was who and what their relationships were. This was also partly due to the hectic pace of the first episode which introduced all these characters in quick succession with little time for the listener to absorb who was who properly. The script is, though, littered with some good gags (there’s a great one about a lawyer) and nice character moments. Leela, in particular, is written well with plenty for Louise Jameson to do.

Justin Richards, as those of you who have followed by book thread will know, is not an author I have a particular fondness for. I find his novels to be unabsorbing. The interview extras draw attention to the fact that Justin Richards ‘can write a story’. I felt this was a way of saying his stories are fairly traditional which, on the face of it is not necessarily a bad thing. Traditional, in Doctor Who terms, can be a lot of fun. After all, the ‘traditional’ stories are what make up the fabric of the show. We don’t want or need every story to be a Heaven Sent or a Doctor Who and the Pirates or a Scherzo or a Campaign. But Richards’ writing, I feel, often leans too far the wrong way, giving stories which are, for want of a better word, dull.

The Darkness of Glass isn’t dull and it is certainly one of Richards’ better attempts but I think the script has been lifted by good performances, good direction and some effective, atmospheric sound design. Were this a novel or short story, I don’t think it would be anywhere near as engaging or memorable.

That said, I don’t feel the story fully capitalises on the magic lantern element. In a way, it’s just glass and mirrors which are the means to an end in this story with the magic lantern element merely being window dressing. That’s a shame as it’s a concept which could have been used more imaginatively. However, it is also a very visual thing which means that, on audio, it doesn’t quite work. I remember as a child seeing a magic lantern show at some museum or other and it was fascinating. It’s a pity this can’t really be replicated on audio.

Historically, the story limits itself to a bit of explanation of magic lanternism but is more concerned with a gothic, spooky atmosphere more rooted, as I’ve said, in the Victorian era than in the turn of the century.

If you want something traditional and atmospheric, you can’t go too wrong with this story but it’s not the best example of the 4th Doctor and Leela on audio that I’ve heard so far.