The Ninth Doctor #10

'Respond to All Calls: Fright Motif' (2021) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 1.

A bit of a swing-and-a-miss here, and hardly really a swing at all to be honest. Just a very tired style of Doctor Who story for me at this point I think, with the very vague monster that kind of only exists as a big concept, nothing all that tangible. The side characters here really aren't very interesting either, and the poor American accent is highly distracting to me. Nine fits in well with a post-war Paris setting, but doesn't really get the chance to stretch his legs all too well with that as it's barely explored.

Ya’ like jazz?

• Paris, France, 1946. Artie Berger isn’t doing so well. He’s lost his musical gift, and a creature from another world is hunting him. Luckily, his moody manager, his musical partner and a strange Northern bloke are going to help him.

Fright Motif acts as the pseudo-historical story for this set. A story type that is apparently very hit and miss with this range. I will say however, Fright Motif is one of the better ones. Fright Motif excels in small character moments. Artie himself is a character you can’t help but like. And Zazie and Maurice are character’s I genuinely wanted to hear more from. Maurice is a particular highlight, especially in the latter half. Tim Foley’s bread-and-butter is drama, and Fright Motif is ultimately a story about how we deal with losing people. In that respect, this is a story perfect for the Ninth Doctor in particular. Which is weird because according to the behind-the-scenes interviews, this was originally written for the Seventh Doctor, Chris and Roz for the Seventh Doctor New Adventures box set. I do respect the story for acknowledging how grief never really goes away and it is something we just have to live with, but not ignore. Equally, the bittersweet message about how losing someone has the rather nasty habit of sometimes improving your craft.

If you glazed past that part because you’re still focused on “what do you mean this was meant to be for the Seventh Doctor New Adventures: Volume One box set” well that’s the story’s major snag. The pacing and point-to-point progression feels very stop and go. Which is good for the characters in the latter half, less so at the start. Especially in Notre Dame, the story feels like its searching for the plot itself and going in circles. It’s hard to say where and how the VNA trio would’ve slotted into this story and if it would’ve worked better, or where specifically the pacing could be tightened. All I do know is that this is an audio that’s very easy to drift in and out of. It pulls me back in near the middle and end, namely the blanket fort bit, but it doesn’t stop parts of the story feeling a bit aimless.

Fright Motif is ultimately the weakest story of the set, but really shouldn’t be written off. Tim Foley still shines when writing layered characters, the post-war Paris setting is very vivid and I do really admire the emotional core of the story. You can also tell that Tim Foley has a musical ear himself with his descriptions of music itself. I think I have a thing for Doctor Who stories about music. The Year of Intelligent Tigers, The Devil’s Chord and yes, even Fright Motif…

Decent. Can see why they stuck it in the middle of the set as the script is missing that X factor. Though I like them telling stories about sound and music. Not sure I 100% “got” the threat or motivation of the monster.

Great performances from the cast, particularly Eccleston. I like that they’re going a bit heavier with the emotions here. The 9th Doctor is sad but not letting it weigh him down - he is choosing to stay optimistic and forward looking.

Not to repeat myself every review, but my god is Christopher Eccleston charming. He really plays well with the cast here. I really like the portrayal of depression here, especially in the performance from Damian Lynch.

A.

17.09.2021

Something's there, but it's ruined by a completely incohesive story that doesn't know what or when it's trying to do. 2/5