I’m not prone to following fan consensus.  I have issues with received fan wisdom about which are good, worthy stories and which are mud upon our shoes to be derided and mocked.  It’s the old Genesis of the Daleks vs Delta and the Bannermen divide.

But every now and again I do agree with the majority and The Chimes of Midnight is one where I simply cannot disagree with the general opinion.  The Chimes of Midnight is one of Big Finish’s most celebrated releases – it topped their best 200 poll; it’s one of only two releases (the other being Spare Parts) to get a special, limited edition re-release; and it’s written by the peerless Rob Shearman.

In the past, I have talked about how wonderful this story was and how it felt like its own distinct entity, in terms of Big Finish releases.  It wasn’t trying to ape a past era of the show (as with ‘It’s teatime 1977 all over again’) or trying to fit in with the dynamic of the modern series (as the 8th Doctor adventures started to veer towards with the introduction of Lucie Miller and 50 minute stories).  It was this run of 8th Doctor adventures that felt like a proper, new era.  This was long before the series was revived and it was a huge deal that Big Finish had managed to convince Paul McGann to return to the role.  Whilst the first season of 8th Doctor audios may have been a little shakey, the second season is much more confident and builds a defined tone for the 8th Doctor audios.  There was an dark atmosphere threaded through the stories and, long before the modern series ‘shipped’ the 10th Doctor and Rose, the 8th Doctor and Charley ventured into relationship areas the series had been reluctant to touch on before.

The Chimes of Midnight is, accurately, compared to Sapphire and Steel.  This is a story about time and objects becoming sentient through mysterious powers which are never quite explained – magic, if you like.  This is Doctor Who as ‘fantasy’ rather than hard science fiction.  This is also character drama.  The central tragedy of Edith Thompson, the scullery maid, manages to impact on the listener, particularly when her true history and association with Charley is revealed in the climax to the play.  But this is also the dark comedy that Rob Shearman seems rather fond of.  Characters are murdered in bizarre, sometimes comical, ways and the characters slip from silly to sinister on the flip of a coin.

The Doctor and Charley are thrown into this bizarre world (brilliantly evoked through sound design and music) and Paul McGann and India Fisher are simply superb.  Their interplay is effortless and it’s one of the best Doctor/companion pairings in the series long history.  The guest cast are wonderful too, particularly Lennox Greaves and Sue Wallace as Mr Shaughnessy, the butler and Mrs Baddeley, the cook.

One of Rob Shearman’s trademarks in his writing is the use of repetition.  It’s a device threaded through The Holy Terror and his BBV audio Punchline.  In The Chimes of Midnight it is used to great effect.  The characters repeat lines, actions and whole scenes but with the occasional changes which add layers to the mystery, or give clues to the solution, or twist things in darker and more sinister ways – but often with a comedic edge (such as the Chrysler/Bentley confusion or their insistence that the deaths are a result of suicide – even when one of them involves the chauffeur, Frederick, being run down in the kitchen by his own car).

The upstairs/downstairs world of the aristocracy and their servants isn’t something which has appeared a huge amount in Doctor Who which is surprising considering how many stories are set in the 19th Century and the Victorian era.  Ghost Light touches upon it and there are characters from both sides of the divide in stories such as The Evil of the Daleks and The Talons of Weng-Chiang, but it isn’t something which has been the focus of a story such as it is in The Chimes of Midnight.

The idea of servants being of little importance to their Lords and Ladies is drummed home over and over again.  Edith is ‘nobody’ and when Edith is gone and Mary slips into her role as a scullery maid, she too is ‘no-one’.   The servants obey their masters without question – that is their role.  But even within the servants there is a hierarchy.  Mary, the ladies’ maid, looks down on Edith, the scullery maid.  In one part of the time loop she is having an affair with Frederick, the chauffeur but when she assumes Edith’s role after her death (literally becoming the scullery maid, with Edith being forgotten by the characters) Frederick reacts contemptuously at the idea of him having an affair with the scullery maid.

There are obvious echoes of the relationships as characterised in Upstairs Downstairs, the popular drama invented, in part, by Jean Marsh.  That too had a hierarchy of servants such as Mrs Bridges, the cook, and Rose the maid.  It isn’t difficult to see the parallels between that series and this story (even with the fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen a whole episode of the series).

There are also some historical details dropped into the script as the Doctor begins to work out that all is not right with the situation – when the first Chrysler appeared or when Agatha Christie published her first novel.  It all ties in beautifully with the fact that the time loop is a mish-mash of Edith’s real life and whilst this story is, ostensibly set in 1906, it’s actually more ‘early 20th century’ linking in closely with the chronological setting of 1930 of Storm Warning, the first story to feature Charley.

Sometimes it’s easy to write a negative review but difficult to write something positive.  Here, though, we have a story which is brimming with dialogue, performance, production, direction, atmosphere and a damn good plot, which is so easy to write about.  Everything in this story works.    Yes, it’s a bit Christmassy but – a bit like the Doctor Who TV Christmas specials of late, the Christmas aspect is minor and merely window-dressing for a spooky, darkly comedic tale of macabre murder, time paradoxes and a personal tragedy.

Sublime.

This is the first review I make, and it's the 6th audio I listen to. I was kind of losing interest in Big Finish. Really enjoyed Storm Warning, but the next 4 were just okay. Then I chose to listen to this on the bus, and yeah, I loved it. Time-loop stories are probably one of my favorite sci-fi trope, and I love me some Sherlock crime-solving stories too, so this is just perfect.

The first 3 parts and a half are thrilling, and easily one of the best Who has to offer. Then it kinda lost me a bit with the conversation between the Doctor and the house, but I absolutely loved that Edith not killing herself and choosing life is what solves everything. So yeah, 10/10, will be checking everything 8th Doctor and Charley related.

The Monthly Adventures #029 - "The Chimes of Midnight" by Robert Shearman

It's hard to introduce a story like The Chimes of Midnight. How do you discuss a story with such reverence and adoration, how do you accurately review what is commonly cited as a top contender for the greatest Doctor Who story ever, how do you convey the absolute magnificence of such a tightly written and complex piece of fiction? I've already written my review and I don't know. But, I'm more than up for giving it a shot. Listening to The Chimes of Midnight for the first time was the moment I think I went from being a fan of the audios to somebody who'll sink their entire bank account into them and would probably sell their soul for Robert Shearman to come back to Doctor Who. A story that I could never get bored of, that I would recommend to probably anyone, that is very likely my favourite Doctor Who story ever, it's needless to state how utterly perfect The Chimes of Midnight is.

Once again overshooting their destination of Singapore, the Doctor and Charley find themselves in the cellar of an Edwardian manor house, where a murder most foul has taken place, and everybody, including time itself, is a suspect.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

God, where do I start? Well I suppose with the utterly sublime script, which may just be one of my favourite things ever written. Robert Shearman is a genius through and through but I don’t think he’s ever written anything quite like this. From the opening scene to the very final moments, you are utterly enthralled. The dark, unnatural cellars of a manor house on Christmas Eve become the setting of an expertly constructed mystery where a cast of incredible complex and developed characters all act progressively stranger; it’s maddeningly confusing but not infuriating, you are overjoyed by not know what is happening or what is going on. Doctor Who can very often struggle with mysteries but this is definitely one of, if not, the best. Not to mention the atmosphere, which you could probably cut with a knife if you wanted to. Created by the incredible, ghostly sound design and discordant, music box score, this whole audio is a claustrophobic nightmare of surreal dreamlike episodes through which we see a terrifying vision of an intelligent paradox. And despite this tense and unnerving atmosphere, The Chimes of Midnight is also an excellent comedy outing, Robert Shearman is the king of black comedy and some of the lines in The Chimes of Midnight are genuinely laugh out loud funny, whilst still being absurd enough to not destroy the tone and tension. Leading our audio is the always dynamic duo of Eight and Charley, who are likely in their best outing here. The way they bounce off each other, especially in the magnificent part one, is glorious and it’s very clear when McGann is really jiving with a script; he easily becomes one of the Doctor’s best actors when he’s actually bothered with the story. And foil to our heroes is Edward Grove, the house itself which has become intelligent through the paradox of Charley’s death, and how it led to the suicide of the house’s scullery maid. Not only is this a morbid and utterly disturbing twist that nobody could see coming, it also gives way to the final part and third act, which is an incredibly tense extreme of talking somebody off a roof ledge, with Charley trying to convince Edith to not end her own life whilst the Doctor faces off against the sinister and masterfully acted Edward Grove. And I think that’s it, I think I’ve managed to quickly and concisely list off all the things I love about The Chimes of Midnight, that or it was an incoherent ramble that was indecipherable, I really can’t tell anymore.

As for cons, I just can’t do it. Maybe a line doesn’t land every now and again or a performance is overplayed, but it feels like a cardinal sin criticising a story that is as close to perfection as you can get in Doctor Who.

There is no story like Chimes, and I doubt there ever will be again. It is a scary, surreal and dreamlike tale of murder and plum pudding. But then again, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a bit of Mrs’ Baddeley’s plum pudding, is it?

10/10

Pros:

+ Enthralling, genius and expertly constructed script

+ Incredibly funny and allows Shearman’s black comedy to shine beautifully

+ Absolutely dripping in maddening atmosphere

+ A cast of distinct and memorable characters that stick with you well after the final part

+ McGann and Fisher are joyously bouncing off each other and their energy is infectious

+ Brilliant part one that expertly sets the tone

+ Great twist you truly don’t see coming

+ Edward Grove is an incredibly sinister and effective antagonist

+ Emotional and exciting climax

+ Top tier sound design that forms the audio’s distinct moodiness

+ Incredible, disorientating and unique score

Cons:

~ It feels wrong giving this audio any cons, so I’m not going to

I can see why this one often gets dubbed “the best”. Out of the first 50 freely available stories that a large number of people will have been exposed to, it is the most well paced, intriguing and scary story they did.

You can truly relate to Edith as they flesh out her character and you slowly begin to understand how this twisted story revolves around her. There are enough detailed and fascinating surprises that you could re-listen to this many times and it would still retain its punch.

Chimes of Midnight may very well be the most impressive and well-written Christmas-themed story of the entire franchise. Note that it is recommended you listen to at least Storm Warning before this one.

This is an extremely strong audio featuring the Eighth Doctor and Charley. It really deserves the near-universal praise it has received, though I am not going to pretend this audio is perfect, either. The weakness only shows up in the final act. Up until that point, Chimes of Midnight is perfect. It is a masterclass in writing but also in building up this feeling of tension, mystery, and suspense. You will get random dialogue that feels useless all about plum pudding, only for it to become incredibly relevant to the building sense of mystery. The set-up and pay-off in this story is remarkable. By the time we are counting down to midnight at the end of the second part, I was on the edge of my seat.

It helps that the entire cast is so good. This isn't one of those stories where the Doctor or his companions are carrying it (although both Eight and Charley are great here), every character and every actor does an amazing job, do excellent acting, and each give a hell of a weighty performance. Every character stands out and has a relevant role to play in the story, and they are all fantastic at bringing this haunted house story to life.

My only issue is that, yeah, things kind of fall apart near the end. It's not bad, not exactly, but once our villain is revealed and we get a sense of what this story is about, I found myself losing steam and excitement over Chimes of Midnight. It feels like all that carefully built up tension and suspense dissipates really quickly once our haunted house starts chatting with the Doctor.

Still, it is very impressive, and absolutely should be appreciated as one of the better, if not absolute best, Christmas Doctor Who story.