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"Project: Twilight – A Dark, Eerie Thriller with Rich Performances"

Project: Twilight weaves an eerie and sinister tale right from the start, immersing the audience in its unsettling world as the Doctor and Evelyn Smythe stumble into a web of mystery and danger. The story begins with tantalizing glimpses of horrifying acts and sinister characters, creating an unsettling atmosphere that tightens as the narrative progresses.

The grim setting, laced with dead bodies, blood, and macabre details, immediately sets the tone. The sound design and evocative music amplify the tension, perfectly complementing the stellar performances. Colin Baker’s portrayal of the Sixth Doctor is as commanding as ever, while Maggie Stables shines as Evelyn, whose moral grounding and sharp wit create a compelling contrast to the dark events around them.

The story’s atmosphere remains deeply uneasy throughout, with sinister undertones that keep the listener on edge. Nimrod, voiced chillingly by Stephen Chance, emerges as a standout villain. His cold, calculating nature and haunting voice linger long after his scenes, while Rob Dixon’s Reggie is equally detestable, played with a menacing edge that makes his every action discomforting.

Project: Twilight takes a fresh spin on the vampire mythos, delivering a Doctor Who twist that feels both inventive and unsettling. The introduction of the Forge and its enigmatic lore adds depth to the narrative, laying the groundwork for future stories while keeping the current plot engaging.

The cliffhanger at the end of Part 2 is a standout moment, with Nimrod’s chilling reveal sending shivers down the spine. The Doctor’s shock at encountering vampires—despised by Time Lords—is a highlight, as is his fraught dynamic with Evelyn, who challenges him on ethical and moral grounds.

As the story progresses, the darkness deepens, with Part 3 delivering an unexpected and grim twist that forces the Doctor to confront the consequences of his actions. Some of the imagery is strikingly grotesque—so much so that it would likely never make it to television—adding a visceral edge to the narrative.

However, the plot becomes somewhat convoluted in Part 4, where the intricate threads of the story threaten to overwhelm the pacing. The conclusion, while serviceable, feels abrupt and slightly unsatisfying, leaving a few loose ends dangling.

📝Verdict: 8/10

Project: Twilight is a haunting and atmospheric story elevated by its performances, music, and sound design. Despite a slightly rushed ending, it introduces compelling lore and memorable villains, making it a standout entry in the Sixth Doctor’s audio adventures.

I guess I was just left weirdly indifferent to Project: Twilight, even with the surprising amount of violence.  As the start of something I know will be followed up on later and does have its fans, I certainly expected more.  It's a weird choice for Evelyn to be in a story like this and I am baffled they didn't focus on her in more historical stories.  I do like how we get into a lot of world building through this story.  I can definitely appreciate aspects of Project: Twilight through that.  There's moments I really like where Evelyn is reflecting on her travels with the Doctor but there is a certain tone and sense to the story that a person wouldn't really enjoy the experience either if this was the sort of thing they were stuck experiencing.  I suppose I'd rather Big Finish experiment with darker ideas than just do the same bland thing over and over again so even though I didn't really enjoy this story much, I can't begrudge it's stranger choices.

I can tell you it is one of those stories I want to like. I can hear the quality and effort clearly put into the production. I can appreciate it is different and Evelyn is still a joy, even here, so I am predisposed to want to like all of her stories.

But I found it long and a little self-indulgent. It reminds me a little of how the Virgin New Adventures realized they didn't have to worry about censorship but then veered hard into dark content.

I have no issue with that, specifically, but it feels like it didn't have much purpose here other than to hype up the vampires. Which I think the world building around The Forge actually did better than the violence. The graphic stuff just kind of made me depressed here.

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Bloodtide

Wow, that was awful. This story is like if you melted down all the worst parts of season 22 and concentrated it into one painfully terrible adventure. It's so edgy and gratuitously violent for no real reason. I didn't need to hear a man explode and then all the blood and organs splatter on the walls and floor. And I definitely didn't need to hear it a SECOND time. I hate how badly characterised the Doctor is here, he's so stupid. He trusts the mysterious people running the shady casino who don't flinch when a man explodes in front of them for literally no reason and then gets shocked when they turn out to be evil. He puts Evelyn in needless danger and even gets tricked into making a super-virus for the vampires. This story likes to pull a lot of things out of nowhere, like the aforementioned super-virus or when a character gets attacked and then says "did I forget to mention my armour?" as a lazy way of explaining why nothing happened to him.

While I really like Maggie Stables so far as Evelyn, she was downright insufferable in this story. No fault of her performance, but rather the writing. Like the Doctor, she made a lot of out-of-character decisions like leaving Cassie with someone who was clearly going to torture her. That whole sequence was ridiculous because the Doctor told Evelyn to stay with Cassie only for Evelyn to believe a lie that the Doctor "needed her to fetch something". It was a pointless decision made just so the writers could shove in some torture scenes. This story manages to make the 2 hour long snoozefest that is The Apocalypse Element seem like a short trip, and this is half an hour shorter. It's a shame because I genuinely enjoyed the atmosphere at the start and the soundtrack was phenomenal.

Overall, this is an exceedingly dull and needlessly gory story. I understand that this is the start of a very important and expansive arc in the Main Range so if the rest of those stories are anything like this I'm going to have a hard time.

Next Story: The Maltese Penguin

15.06.2022

Is ThE dOcToR pReJuDiCeD? i GuEsS hE wAs. He WaS aLsO rIgHt.

I hate this type of stories. They lead up to one conclusion but end up with the opposite, with neither of them working, resulting in net zero information. It's like you've listened to the void, except the void has a few sequels coming up post-credits. Also f**k them for renouncing some aspects of vampire mythology. "Oh, we're not afraid of crucifixes or garlic, stupid. It's not books, how could you thinks that * spits in the face*". Sure, it's not like you're in Doctor Who story. Fuck that. They should own it. 1/5

MR 023: Project: Twilight

Uh... not sure how I feel about this one. Doctor Who's edgy emo phase I guess. Even edgier than Shalka.

During WW1, the British Empire somehow figured out how to create vampires. Of the State of Decay variety. Those vampires are now in the middle of London in 2001 trying to spread the vampire virus to all of humanity. For... some reason. The lead vampire says it's to "save humanity," but I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean. Immortality I guess? They're hunted by a man named Nimrod, the scientist responsible for creating them in the first place during WW1. He became a vampire himself to stay alive and is now a vampire hunter. The Doctor is tricked in the stupidest way possible into helping them create their virus and then helps Nimrod stop them.

What I have to assume is the most important part here is that they turn a woman named Cassie into a vampire who works at their front casino. Since she's rescued and dropped off in scandinavia to hang out. Presumably to be a recurring character.

Yeah, I'm not a big fan. It's just edgy for the sake of it. Very 80s Doctor Who. Blood and guts and gratuitous violence just cause. And just like State of Decay (where vampires first originate) everyone is trying WAAAYYY too hard to act edgy. They're saying edgy one liners and trying to act all jaded and sarcastic as they saw off limbs or watch people explode or inject people with the vampire virus. Like I said, it's giving very emo. Very Hot Topic circa 2005.

That's really all there is to it. Oh and the Doctor is an idiot for falling for the vampire ruse. Dumb. I'm surprised that this audio got sequels at all. 2001 really was a different time huh?