The Monthly Adventures #055 - “The Twilight Kingdom" by Will Shindler

In these reviews, I have talked about stories that deserve everything that is said about them. I have talked about stories that have received far too much praise and stories I liked despite the undeniable faults present in them. And I have also talked about stories like The Twilight Kingdom, where I simply do not understand the utter bane with which they are discussed. See some reviews about this audio and you’d think it was the dullest thing conceived by man, but then you listen to it and realise it’s just a Doctor Who story. It’s nothing out of the box, sure, but is it the absolute travesty people treat it as? I think not.

Taken in by a band of feared revolutionaries hiding in a remote cave system, the Doctor, Charley and C’rizz find themselves at odds with each other as tensions rise and a great horror is uncovered beneath the surface.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

I’ll be honest, I really don’t see the near universal hate for this one. It is currently sitting comfortably at a 2.67/5 on TARDIS Guide and I truly believe that it shouldn’t be even close to this low a rating. It is fine. It is categorically, unequivocally, fine. Sure, it’s not reinventing the wheel but is it really a creatively bankrupt and agonisingly slow slog as so many people would define it? It is a very Doctor Who-ey story, in a way: a bunch of soldiers, a mystery, some mind control shenanigans, relations falling apart, some spooky things going bump in the night, I fail to see why this differs from the usual stream of passable scripts. And even then, I think there are a number of things to admire about The Twilight Kingdom. For one, it’s got some cracking imagery. The horrific things that go on in this audio: thousands of clones of a crazed general emerging from the ground, to a lake of blood that turns to acid to a man’s face absorbed into the wall of a cave, there are tons of fantastic ideas here. One major complaint I see thrown around is that the setting is “just a cave” but it’s another complaint I don’t get. What’s wrong with a cave? The most unnatural place on Earth besides the ocean are the dark, murky and narrow turns of a cave and I think it’s given rise to some great pieces of fiction (see here, The Descent). Throw in the fact that this cave is in reality the bowels of a giant, telepathic creature and I think you have something that doubles as a fun setting and great antagonist. Perhaps, however, I can find fault in some other aspects of the story, how about the characters? Do we have a particularly dull side cast? No, actually, I think we have an easily likeable and fun set of characters that all have good performances backing them up, especially friendly scientist Janto, whose ending self-sacrifice feels well earned. As for the story, whilst I feel it can certainly drag at points, I don’t think more than the average episode of Doctor Who. It’s basically the final part of Apocalypse Now turned into a two hour audio play, just with more living caves; an army general has gone insane and is leading a terrorist cell from the depths of an alien cavern. It's a pretty fun plot all things considered and I think it is executed fine, I honestly don’t understand the accusations of unoriginality lobbied at this script.

However, I’d be a fool to not mention that this audio isn’t exactly a masterpiece and is, in the end, host to a wealth of issues. One main thing I think Shindler failed at was his attempt to develop the relationship between Eight and his companions. The last three stories have made things tense between them, from the traumatising ordeal in Scherzo to the less than apt meeting in The Creed of the Kromon, they’re not exactly on the best of terms and so it is any wonder they get into a fight? Problem is, this isn’t dealt with well. Charley eventually loses patience with the Doctor but it just comes out of nowhere, with little build up making it feel sudden and unnatural. Not only that, but it’s then written off as Charley under the influence of the cave’s powers and in one scene she’s over it, which I think is an unfortunate mishandling of a neat idea. This happens a lot, Doctor Who seems allergic to having actual tension between its leads for more than a fleeting second. At this point, I desperately want to see a set of a few episodes or more when the Doctor and the companion utterly despise each other and see what stories we can get out of that. However, any arguments between our main cast are often resolved quickly in favour of the story, leading to half baked arguments and convenient sentimentality. The Twilight Kingdom in particular, however, manages to hit a favourite little pet peeve of mine whilst also whilst carrying out a pet peeve of mine: the mind control. Basically, the group of revolutionaries are being forced to stay because the Cave Creature is controlling them, and that’s also the cause of the rising tensions in our central group; this annoys me, because it always feels like such a half measure when a story has to do this. Any powerful antagonist who has to use mind control to get people to follow it is immediately made less threatening, because rather than being a great manipulator, it’s just a set up to a “you’re still in there!” moment. Would it not be more interesting, tense and devastating to see our characters actually get driven apart? And finally, I have to say that I don’t entirely not get why people dislike The Twilight Kingdom. It is generic, it is undeniably generic. This is about as stripped down as you can get for a Doctor Who story and whilst it does some fun things, it’s not one that’s going to be remembered.

Is The Twilight Kingdom bad? No, not really. It’s not experimental like a Divergence story should be (and it doesn’t make use of the no time concept again, though it acknowledges that passage of time is still very much a thing in this universe) but it’s a fun time that I don’t think dragged as much as people say. It is not the greatest story you’ll ever listen to but it is one I think deserves just a little more love.

7/10

Pros:

+ Some really great, horrific imagery

+ The setting is actually quite good (it is fine, why is it universally despised)

+ Likeable and believable side cast

+ An entirely serviceable script

Cons:

- Tries and fails to develop the companions

- Falls prey to the “it was all mind control!” trope

- In the end, incredibly generic