The Monthly Adventures #002 - "Phantasmagoria" by Mark Gatiss

The Fifth Doctor is the one pre-Whitaker Doctor I never gelled with. It’s not that he’s too human, or irritable, or catty, I just found him to be ultimately very dull and fall short of the other Doctors before and after him. This isn’t bashing the incarnation, I still find a lot of his stories fun and I don’t even dislike him all that much - Davison is a stellar performer - it’s just that compared to his predecessors and successors, he doesn’t quite reach the heights they did. However, since it’s Big Finish that ultimately turned me around to loving the Sixth Doctor, I expect them to at least get close to the same with Five, beginning with an eerie mystery set in Stuart England: Phantasmagoria.

Landing in 18th Century London, the Doctor and Turlough become embroiled in the occult research of a local physician and the machinations of the mysterious Sir Valentine and the victims of his card table at the local gambling club.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Gatiss is not a writer I would label as a favourite. On one hand, he did write Nightshade, which stands as one of my favourite Doctor Who stories period, but he also wrote a litany of bland and overall unimpressive stories for TV, all of which fail to wow me. His audio output seems to be somewhere in between - Phantasmagoria is certainly not a bad audio or a poor introduction to the regular formula of The Monthly Adventures, but it’s definitely not a story one would remember after listening to it. It’s an absolute joyride - fun and lighthearted without feeling shallow or childish - but past that, it isn’t much. Davison and Strickson are both great and they carry their respective subplots, easily slipping back into their characters. David Ryall’s performance as the infinitely eerie Nikolas Valentine is another great strength of this audio and his inherent otherworldliness helps the horror elements of the audio break through. As for plot, it’s nothing standout, a simple mystery that is slowly revealed to be alien in origin but I will highlight the part three twist of two characters - Hannah, the kindly maid, and Lovemore, the dashing highwayman - being the same alien in two disguises hunting for Valentine was a genuinely fun reveal that breathed some new life into the story for the final part.

However, as with most of Gatiss’ works, Phantasmagoria is really nothing unique. It boasts a bunch of great ideas - an alien masquerading as nobleman gambler, the Doctor performing a seance, Valentine’s living spaceship - but it never focuses on any of them for too long and we only ever see glimpses of more interesting stories passing us by in favour of the narrative’s next fixation. Another flaw of Gatiss’ script is that he cast himself and his mate - David Walliams - as two characters that are just ridiculous: overacted caricatures that turn the episode into a pantomime and frankly, they have next to no reason for being so over the top. Eventually, the story wraps up in a pretty lacklustre way with Valentine being tricked easily and most characters escaping completely unharmed, nothing to write home about.

Overall, Phantasmagoria was a fun if narratively lacking story that never spent enough time on all its conflicting ideas. It’s a Gatiss script if I’ve ever seen one, inoffensive but far from bad, certainly a worthy opener to the Main Range formula going forwards.

7/10

Pros:

+ Tremendous fun that really keeps up a great pace

+ Valentine was a terrifically creepy villain with a great performance behind him

+ The reveal of Hannah/Lovemore’s identity was a fun part three twist

+ Strickson and Davison both nail their performances on the first go

Cons:

- Full of great ideas that are minimally explored

- Gatiss and Walliams play overacted and unfortunately prominent characters.

- The ending falls mostly flat

Doctor Who – The Monthly Adventures

#002. Phantasmagoria ~ 5/10

◆ An Introduction

Two companions from the Davison era had actually turned down the chance to join these audio adventures, and it would take many years for them to change their minds.

This meant BigFinish had to get creative in the early days, by controversially lengthening the amount of time Peri spent alongside this incarnation, and bringing a failed Egyptian Pharaoh aboard the TARDIS. I personally adore the Erimem tales… aside from THAT one, which I will unfortunately have to review one day!

Perhaps the most interesting thing they did to ensure variety in the Davison era stories was focusing on the period prior to ‘Planet of Fire’, when the only companion present was everyone’s favourite master of self-preservation: Turlough.

This unique TARDIS team would actually receive some excellent scripts, such as the jaw-droppingly good ‘Singularity’, or the politically charged ‘The Blazing Hour’.

This is NOT one of their good scripts.

◆ Publisher’s Summary

The TARDIS takes the Doctor and Turlough to the London of 1702 where a mysterious highwayman roams the streets, a local occultist has made contact with the dead and gentlemen of fashion are disappearing, only to find themselves in a chamber whose walls weep blood…

The time-travellers become enmeshed in the hideous plan of Sir Nikolas Valentine, a gambler at the mysterious Diabola Club who always seems to have a winning hand…

◆ The Fifth Doctor

Gatiss has been around the block more than a few times with this franchise, so you’d expect his characterisation to be on point, if nothing else. There is something truly endearing about the Doctor trying to teach his companion the rules of cricket… even when Turlough finds the game completely silly!

‘Phantasmagoria’ is far from being one of my favourite adventures, but you cannot deny that Peter Davison delivered a confident performance. He clearly had good chemistry with Steven Wickham too, making the friendship between the Doctor and Holywell seem quite believable.

Accused of being thieves in Holywell’s house, the Doctor quickly turns on the charm when he expresses an interest in his collection of exquisite artefacts. The Doctor actually manages to trick Valentine using his copy of the Wisden’s Almanack… because it just so happens to contain one of those deadly playing cards: the psychopathic killer of Daodalus touched it with his bare hands, signing his own death warrant!

◆ Vislor Turlough

This morally dubious misfit has long been one of my favourite companions, so it saddens me that he spent most of this outing teamed up with two of the most aggravating characters! Look on the bright side: the next adventure featuring this TARDIS team – ‘Loups-Garoux’ – gives Turlough more than his fair share of the action.

Mark Strickson is an excellent actor, as anyone that’s seen my reviews of the “Older Nyssa” arc will know. Unfortunately, his performance in ‘Phantasmagoria’ was incredibly wooden.

Turlough thinks the whole game of cricket is silly; he can’t think why the Doctor is so keen on it. He liked learning history at Brendon.

◆ Human Spark Plugs

A psychopathic murderer from the planet Daodalus managed to escape execution, but his biomechanical spacecraft was damaged whilst doing so, and he was forced to land on Earth in 1672.

Adopting the guise of Sir Nikolas Valentine – scholar, landowner and astrologer – this serial killer spent the next thirty years abducting humans of high intelligence, and draining them of their life energies to aid his ship in repairing itself. By using homing beacons disguised as playing cards, he could scan each human, drawing the collective unconsciousness of his previous victims to the next target, which would teleport them back to his craft.

Unbeknownst to Valentine, another member of his species was looking to avenge the death of her parents, and she had finally tracked him down. Hannah began working as the maid for a local antiquarian, but finding Earth of 1702 to be extremely sexist, she adopted a second identity as highwayman Major Billy Lovemore, allowing her to go places a woman could not.

The concept of draining actual human souls and treating them like spare parts for a battered old Volvo is genuinely horrifying, and Gatiss could’ve went so much further with it. Can you imagine what this adventure would’ve been like if it leaned into the body horror of draining these people? A biomechanical craft with vampiric tendencies, and all the brutality of a Cyber-conversion unit! Anyway, Valentine becomes so incredibly cocky that the collective unconsciousness of his previous victims band together… and begin tearing him to shreds.

◆ Sound Design

Historical soundscapes are usually much more polished than futuristic ones, as a rule, during these early adventures. Alistair Lock has been one of the most prolific contributors to BigFinish over the past twenty-something years – working with them from the very beginning, before they’d even been granted the Doctor Who licence – and he did a pretty good job with ‘Phantasmagoria’. My biggest complaint is that we didn’t hear more of London during the Stuart Restoration.

Horses trotting through the night while town criers shout at passing folk. Punters of the Diabola Club can be heard entertaining themselves with gambling and debauchery. A crackling fire burns in Holywell’s house, an antique clock ticking in the background. An advanced intelligence, with a synthesised voice, observes our protagonists from afar. A horse and cart rushes past Turlough, knocking him down in the process. A thunderstorm breaks above Cheapside, and rain begins pouring from the heavens. Tortured souls wail in agony as they are slaved to Valentine’s biomechanical spacecraft. Church bells chime at the dawning of a new day. Valentine fires his energy weapon, melting Jasper’s gun! The biomechanical spacecraft explodes with some force.

◆ Music

The soundtrack for ‘Phantasmagoria’ is full of string instruments playing energetic melodies. The score also does a good job at amping up the drama, such as the scene where Flowers confronts Valentine about his friend’s disappearance. Overall, some solid work from Alistair Lock.

◆ Conclusion

“Amongst the dozens he has slaughtered were my mother and father! I swore I would avenge them, and now my chance has finally arrived.”

A serial killer from the planet Daodalus has been trapped on Earth for thirty years, abducting humans of high intelligence and draining them of their life energies to repair his biomechanical ship. He does this by using homing beacons disguised as playing cards…

A couple of you on the TARDIS Guide forum tried convincing me this was an excellent early Davison adventure, but that’s certainly not how I remembered it. Having completed my review, I can confirm that ‘Phantasmagoria’ is still insufferably boring.

This is easily one of the most interesting TARDIS teams, so it saddens me that Turlough was lumbered with two of the most aggravating side characters! It also doesn’t help that Strickson’s performance was as stiff as a board. Quite frankly, Davison was carrying this entire production.

From the man who brought us ‘Nightshade’, here’s an adventure through Restoration London that could easily have been half the runtime. I cannot understand the appeal of this one… and it contains that creep David Walliams, so that’s instantly a mark against it. Christ, this adventure is seriously held together with duct-tape!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

"Phantasmagoria: A Spirited Mystery in 18th-Century Style"

With Phantasmagoria, Mark Gatiss crafts an engaging mystery that hooks the listener from the start. The eerie concept of a "spirit" making people vanish, leaving only a playing card behind, sets an intriguing tone that invites curiosity.

The story's pacing works well in the first three parts, particularly as the Doctor delves deeper into the mystery and encounters Nicholas Valentine, a suitably sinister villain. However, the final part feels less satisfying, with a conclusion that is somewhat muddled and lacks the punch of the earlier episodes.

The 18th-century setting is vividly realised and fits perfectly with the tone of the story and this incarnation of the Doctor. The inclusion of the card-playing gentlemen and their interactions with Turlough enriches the atmosphere, grounding the narrative firmly in its period.

Peter Davison and Mark Strickson seamlessly reprise their roles, with Turlough coming across as more likeable here than in his television appearances. The guest cast adds to the charm, with standout performances from Steven Wickham, Mark Gatiss, and Nicholas Briggs.

While the narrative has its strengths, the production does suffer from some uneven sound mixing, a recurring issue in Big Finish's earlier releases. At times, sound effects overpower the dialogue, which can detract from the experience.

📝Verdict: 6/10

Despite its minor flaws, Phantasmagoria is an enjoyable blend of historical mystery and supernatural intrigue, offering a compelling early entry in Big Finish's audio adventures.

This being just a fairly standard story, nothing standout, nothing offensive. You kind of get the impression that they were mostly just playing it safe for this release, being so early in Big Finish's lifespan, which makes sense. That all said, some things do seem to come out of nowhere or just feel a little disconnected.

Gatiss hamming it up is always a bit of fun though, definitely my favourite part of the experience.

Despite some good elements I don’t think the range had quite found its feet at this point. On the two times I’ve listened to this Mark Gatiss’ name has been the main draw but I’ve found my mind drifting as I make my way through it. Must better comes after!!