The Monthly Adventures #76 - "Singularity" by James Swallow

Big Finish is a lot of things, but it’s very rarely cinematic. This is an audio only range, obviously, and some distinct limitations tend to arise because of that; one thing I notice is that a lot of the stories very rarely feel polished and what I picture in my head tends to be a lot of shot reverse shot conversations due to the complete reliance on dialogue. Very rarely do I get something that feels cinematic, where I can imagine the set pieces and the camera shots and the action. Singularity isn’t a story I would call special, but it does give me an opportunity to talk about direction in Big Finish because an especially good presentation can really elevate a story.

Arriving in Russia in the mid 21st century, the Doctor and Turlough become caught up in a conspiracy surrounding the shadowy Somnus Institute, and discover that somebody has been waiting for them for a very long time.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

The first thing that jumps out to me about Singularity is just how massive it feels. Gary Russell was the one directing this, which confuses me a little because he also directed Winter for the Adept and how those two things were put together by the same guy, I don’t know. Russell, being the Monthly Adventures’ producer for a long while, directed a ton of episodes but none are quite like this. Singularity is a subpar story with a very pretty face, very much a style over substance type of affair. Swallow is a flawed writer but one thing he excels in is scale, this a big, season-finale type script that set up high stakes and delivered upon them, which isn’t something I can fault it for.

However, as we all know, it’s not about the size, it’s about how you use it. The actual story we get here is thin to say the least, a pretty thoroughfare alien invasion plot with some body swapping shenanigans. One thing I really liked however was the actual nature of the villains, it’s really something I haven’t seen before: our antagonists turn out to be far evolved humans from the end of the universe, who are trying to swap their minds into past humans to save themselves from utter destruction. Really cool idea, and it makes for a great Part Four reveal but the problem is that the rest of the story is just back and forth running between plot points and the occasional cliché.

Really holding back this script is the characters. If the direction was above average for a Main Range story, the casting is the opposite. What the hell was going on here? The Russian accents are fine, I suppose, but the delivery is completely wooden and broke my immersion every time somebody spoke. Probably doesn’t help that Swallow’s dialogue is iffy at best and mostly consists of melodramatic exposition. Besides, we’re stuck with a somewhat shallow group of side characters anyway, the most development they get is yet another web of time debate, because we haven’t had enough of those already. It was entirely unnecessary too, take it out and the story wouldn’t change a bit, it’s a cliché for cliché’s sake.

However, there is one member of our cast who I can confidently say I loved: Turlough. Turlough might just be the most wasted companion the show’s ever had - a slightly unhinged, morally grey and childish foil to the Doctor who slowly grows and deepens over the course of his tenure in the TARDIS, or so he would be if he wasn’t in the JNT era. Every appearance I’ve seen of him so far, he’s just kind of there and all that super interesting complexity they could be playing with just turns into bickering. Here though, Mark Strickson for one puts on a brilliant performance but even past that, Turlough has such an interesting arc across this story, still the cold and smug alien but slowly warming to the sidecast. If this interpretation of the character is consistent across other stories, I might just see Turlough rise in my ranking of companions.

Another thing I think this story did well was setting; if you know me, you know I love me some international Who and Russia in the height of Winter was a fantastic set piece that the excellent direction helped elevate. Ember wasn’t as brilliant but more because it felt so bizarrely small and unexplored, though that’s more the script’s fault than anything. Fun fact though, apparently it’s been retconned that the planet from A Christmas Carol is the same one as from this, which I think is a fun detail.

Now, in a story whose greatest weakness is plot, the conclusion’s bound to cause some contention and yeah, it was by far my least favourite part of this audio. Too much happens at once and the sheer number of plot threads introduced in this story all muddle together into one. Swallow had a great idea going with the whole future humans thing but somewhat botched it by introducing a bunch of other, unrelated concepts. For instance, the titular “singularity” is a plan to combine all of Earth into one consciousness because, uhhh, not really sure. The entire finale where everything’s explained is just a lot of overlapping technobabble and the cinematic aspect actually begins to lose me because it leads to some moments where I can’t really tell what’s happening. Too many ideas go on all at once and a lot go nowhere, the final ten minutes are such a barrage of noise that I was completely lost and I’m still not actually sure how anything wrapped up.

Singularity has all the bells and whistles that make for a great story but none of the meat; it’s a completely skippable affair with some nice polish to it. If you are a huge Turlough fan, it’s probably worth it but other than that, you can get this kind of scale and excitement from better stories. I wouldn’t mind seeing if James Swallow tried again because there’s some real talent here, but this is just too long and plodding for me to really praise it.

5/10

Pros:

+ Expertly directed and cinematic

+ Turlough gets some fantastic character development

+ Great villain’s plan I haven't’ seen before

+ Russia is well realised

Cons:

- Weak cast whose line deliveries slow the story down

- Conclusion feels like a lot of technobabble

- Plodding story that meanders to an end

- Has too many ideas for them all to be realised

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

Previous Story: Loups-Garoux

This is a weird one, I don't have any strong opinions about it, which makes it hard to write a review. The Russian setting is a fun one and it was utilised quite well. The accents are authentic, but the voices could be a bit grating at times (specifically Lena Korolev). There's some really cool concepts here, most notably the last remnants of humanity sending their minds back into the past to escape the heat death of the universe.

I don't think it was intentional that this planet ends up being the one featured in A Christmas Carol but that's an interesting tidbit regardless. Peter Davison and Mark Strickson are a great combo, they always put their all into every story and it shows. This story isn't anything above average for them, but it shows how high their average is.

I do feel a bit bad for Mark Strickson given how little content he appears in, it took him 5 years after this to feature in another story. All in all, it's not a remarkable story. It doesn't expand anything in particular and doesn't develop this companon dynamic. But would I say I wasted my time with it? No.

Next Story: The Memory Bank

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

“SINGULARITY – TIMEY-WIMEY TECH-BABBLE AND A COLD WAR THAT NEVER HEATS UP”

James Swallow’s first contribution to the Big Finish Doctor Who Main Range, Singularity, is a bold swing into heavy sci-fi territory—but unfortunately, it never quite connects. Featuring the Fifth Doctor and Turlough in a near-future Moscow, the story wants to deliver a heady mix of time-bending conspiracy, dark future prophecy, and philosophical techno-horror. Instead, it ends up tangled in its own ambitious ideas, weighed down by exposition, meandering characters, and a narrative that never quite finds its footing.

COLD WAR, COLDER STORYTELLING

Set in a snow-covered Moscow of the not-too-distant future, Singularity is at least aiming for a distinct flavour. Unfortunately, outside of constant name-drops of landmarks and references to the chill in the air, the setting fails to make much of an impression. The Russian atmosphere never fully comes to life; it could just as easily be any generic sci-fi metropolis, and the thick accents among the supporting cast only further distract rather than immerse. The audio format can make unfamiliar settings rich and textured with the right sound design—but here, it feels flat and geographically anonymous.

THE DOCTOR AND TURLOUGH IN TURMOIL

Peter Davison gives a typically committed performance as the Fifth Doctor, but even he seems a little lost amid the techno-jargon and heavy exposition. There are hints of the morally concerned, melancholic Doctor—especially when he reflects on humanity’s grim future—but these moments are fleeting. Mark Strickson’s Turlough is largely underused, mostly tagging along and providing questions for exposition dumps, though he does get a few moments of independent agency.

Their main ally, Lena Korolev, and her companion Alexi fail to leave much of an impression. Despite a personal tragedy that forms the emotional core of the plot, they’re so burdened by dry exposition and grim stoicism that it's hard to connect with their journey. The story wants us to care about their loss, their choices, and their resistance—but they never come alive enough to anchor the narrative.

SOMNUS FOUNDATION: BIG IDEAS, SMALL IMPACT

At the heart of the story is the Somnus Foundation, a shady organisation promising godlike evolution for humanity via a trans-temporal hive mind called the Singularity. It’s a promising concept, with shades of The Bells of Saint John, The Next Doctor, and even The Invasion of Time—but Swallow never quite makes it land. The Foundation’s leaders are suitably sinister in tone, but are relegated to a lot of grandstanding and cryptic declarations until the final act. They know the Doctor, know of the Time Lords, and manipulate events from the shadows—but they lack the presence or menace to make them truly memorable.

The most effective idea in the script comes in Part Four: the revelation that the villains are the last remnants of a future human race abandoned by the Time Lords, trying to rewrite history by invading their own past. That’s a great science fiction twist on the invasion trope, and it gives the villains’ actions some emotional weight and a genuine grudge. Their desperation adds depth, and the connection to the TARDIS—being hijacked and tortured to link with the Time Vortex—is an evocative and unsettling concept.

SOUND AND FURY, SIGNIFYING… WHAT, EXACTLY?

Much of Singularity is marred by an overwhelming soundscape that tries to simulate collapsing timelines and unstable realities but mostly results in a disorienting mess. Audio drama thrives on clarity, even when the plot is complex, but this production too often resorts to noise and shouting instead of tension and stakes. The climactic confrontation in Part Four—packed with cries, crashes, warbles, and whines—feels like chaos without consequence.

There are also far too many stretches of dialogue that feel like extended infodumps. Even when the ideas being delivered are interesting, the delivery feels like a chore rather than a revelation. Temporal rifts, paradoxes, mind-links, future wars—it all blurs together without ever generating a meaningful emotional response.

NOT QUITE A SINGULAR SENSATION

To its credit, Singularity does try to tap into the grim, speculative tone of late Davison-era serials like Frontios or Resurrection of the Daleks. There’s a cold, clinical view of the future, a universe where idealism has curdled into techno-fascism, and a Doctor increasingly burdened by moral consequence. But unlike those stories, Singularity forgets to build characters we care about or a world that feels real. The thematic material is there—but the human connection is lacking.

📝VERDICT: 41/100

SINGULARITY wants to be a hard-hitting, emotionally complex sci-fi thriller—but instead becomes a confused, overstuffed, and emotionally distant story. While it contains a few compelling ideas (especially the Part Four twist involving the future of humanity and the tortured TARDIS), it ultimately falters under the weight of its own exposition and noise. Davison and Strickson do their best, but with forgettable supporting characters, murky antagonists, and an underwhelming sense of place, this chilly tale never really heats up. A misfire, albeit an ambitious one.

MR 076: Singularity

I definitely did check out of this one pretty damn quick, but there are bits of it that are interesting. It's a shame about Turlough getting continuously shafted by the main range, though. His stories haven't been great so far.

They land in Russia where they come across a mysterious religious cult, the Somnus Foundation, colloquially called the Sleepers. The Sleepers were originally a research institute that studied sleep disorders, but now they're a full on cult, pulling people in by promising them that humanity will become the "Singularity," embracing their godhood and becoming as one.

It takes a painful amount of time to get there, but we do eventually arrive at what's happening. The Somnus are a species from the far future, specifically the end of the universe, who have figured out a way to displace the minds of people in this time and send their minds back to their bodies in the far future. They're going to try to force all of their minds into humanity and create one giant hive mind. Not quite sure why they want to create a hive mind, but sure.

The big twist here is that they are actually humanity at the end of the universe doing this to survive. Yes, that's right, this is the same idea as the series 3 finale, but way more overly complicated and less interesting. Humanity displacing its own ancestors for survival at the very end.

There is an angle here that the series 3 finale didn't really go for that I find interesting. Humanity has been saved by the Doctor time and time again. Over and over, humanity was propped up by the Doctor's time travel. Humans wouldn't exist without the Doctor constantly interfering in their history. So the humans at the end of the universe know all the Doctors, every incarnation, because he's constantly in human history everywhere. Indeed, they even have a line about how they don't really fear this one because the Fifth Doctor is his more passive persona. They know that he might not like what they're doing and absolutely do blame him for letting humanity die at the end of the universe. By preventing them from displacing their ancestor's minds, the Doctor is the cause of humanity's ultimate destruction, despite also being the cause of humanity's existence at all in the first place.

The series 3 finale doesn't really talk about this angle, but is otherwise a lot more interesting. It's not as complicated, there isn't as much technobabble, and it's easier to just zoom in on the characters at play. Singularity also doesn't use the Master. I also have no idea how the future humans were defeated either, I think my eyes might have glazed over during that part. There's even a whole part where the future humans have to use the TARDIS for some reason and I don't actually know why or how or anything because technobabble. As opposed to the series 3 finale where it's very straightforward why the Master is using the TARDIS.

Ultimately there are parts of this thing that were decent, but it could have benefited from a few more rewrites to make it more interesting and less dull. This is often a problem with the two hour format. Sometimes you can use it to your benefit to expand out the world and make it more interesting, but other times it just feels like padding for the sake of reaching the time limit.