The Dark Planet

The Dark Planet, one of Big Finish’s final season of Lost Stories, takes us back to the very dawn of time. The Doctor surmises that the planet they arrive on is far, far back in the past when the universe was new and all sorts of unusual things developed and evolved. In a way, it ties in quite nicely with the Ancient Greek Gods depicted in The Life Bringer, a DWM comic strip which is also suggested to be set at a time long before humanity developed. Both the Olympians and the natives of this planet have phenomenal powers, way beyond anything seen in humans, even far into their future.

What impressed me about this story was how in keeping with the era it seemed. I could completely visualise the opening episodes with the TARDIS crew exploring this strange planet mainly due to it echoing similar scenes in stories such as The Web Planet and The Space Museum. As the story develops and we learn about the two distinct races it, again, echoed themes of stories such as Galaxy 4 and The Space Museum. Fortunately these similarities with other Hartnell era stories serve to make the story believable and of its time which, ultimately what the Lost Stories need to do, possibly moreso than the Companion Chronicles or the Main Range audios. I understand that Maureen O’Brien was convinced they had actually made this story for real in the 60s, so authentic is the script.

Admittedly, the plot is a little sparse but, in a way, it echoes the serials from Series 2 and 3 it is mimicking. There is a fair amount of toing and froing between the city of light and the dark shadow caves. I like how Vicki pairs up with a rebellious youngster from the light beings which has strong echoes of Susan and Ping-Cho’s relationship in Marco Polo, coupled with Vicki’s aiding and abetting of the young rebels in The Space Museum. The ‘good vs evil turned on its head’ theme is probably too like Galaxy 4 to seem particularly ‘new’ but it is given an added layer in that there is no definite ‘black and white’ to the two disparate groups of aliens – it is far more in shades of grey with us being allowed to understand the motivations of the light beings as well as the shadows.

William Russell and Maureen O’Brien do an excellent job, though, of maintaining the interest. I’ve never been convinced by Russell’s Hartnell but it serves its purpose. Likewise, O’Brien’s Barbara is fairly generic but, again, does what it needs to, to keep the story moving. They are ably supported by John Banks and Charlie Norfolk who give voice to various light and shadow beings.

Dating-wise it is made fairly explicit that this planet’s story is happening in the earliest days of the universe when various evolutionary oddities are commonplace, such as these light and shadow beings. There is also the suggestion that the descendants of these aliens become a future intriguing mystery that the Doctor has heard of and until now not known the origins of.

Arguably there isn’t enough story here to sustain six episodes (although the TV show of this era is often guilty of that) but I found this far more engaging that The Masters of Luxor. I would recommend it and it’s a good start to the final season of Lost Stories.

Oh damn this episode was not the best one to start the year on found it very hard to focus on I do find narration big finish audios harder to get into and think this one is not an exemption

I found the light and dark beings interesting thoughJust not interesting enough to hold a 6 part story

A very, very dull story. The party lands on a planet where light and darkness are at war. We spend some time with both, but neither wants to change their way, so it ends in tragedy.

That’s the whole story. It took me 2 sentences to explain.

It’s three hours long.

This story has an okay premise. Nothing outstanding. 2 fighting forces with the doctor in the middle is nothing new, even for the first doctor. Yet it has nothing to call its own. I guess the 2 forces are a bit more alien, since they’re non-humanoid concepts, but there is nothing that truly sets them apart in the end. They fight and bicker like any other species would.

In the meantime the doctor is there. Yelling about how they’re stupid and should try to communicate. They don’t listen. Repeat that 12 times to fill the time, and we’re done.

I think this story would be a lot stronger, if it used the medium it was in a bit more. The party is blinded quite a few times throughout, so they can’t see. We’re in audio land. That should be a match made in heaven. Describe feelings, thoughts, make it so intense that we almost feel blind with them. Stimulate the listener! Make them want to close their eyes. Then use that tension and experience to make the difference between the two species more pronounced. It would require some really good writing, but I think it can be done.

Something else they could do, is end the conflict earlier. Maybe even halfway through the story (It could do with the shortening). Create a period of reflection for the characters. What did they do wrong? What lessons do they take for this? I don’t think there’s a single party member in this tale that doesn’t make some sort of mistake. Maybe focus on that. It would add layers to a really flat tale. Make it similar to “The Edge of Destruction”, in a sense.

Or, as a last suggestion, remove the war and focus on the society. Show them as living some sort of symbiotic relationship. Maybe introduce the party as a threat, while they explore the different civilizations. That would bring the focus on expanding their societies and creature concepts. It would allow for more “Out there” sci-fi ideas. Anything would be better than the dull, unoriginal tale on display.

But, although the end product is very dull, there are shimmers of character. The whole cast is involved, even though they don’t have a specific voice actor for each, so that really helps. Vicki gets the most interesting stuff to work with. At the start, her and Ian set up an old camera and develop photo’s in a dark room. Vicki, being from the far future, finds this prehistoric. This shows one of the strengths of her character: The more we and the writers are removed from her 1964 appearance, the easier it is to writer her as a unique character. We know exactly why this method for photo’s is outdated. We can relate to Vicki in her knowledge of computers. We ourselves are now, in a sense, more like Vicki than we are like Ian. Even though at the time of the TV show, that might have been switched. Throw on Vicki’s standoffish nature, and there’s a character with a different perspective in the show. A modern character stuck in a 1960’s mentality. The potential is there!

Anyway, moving of from that Vicki tangent. She also gets the closest to understanding one of the creatures, since she befriends a creature of light. There’s some nice moments there. Nothing mindblowing but fun. Otherwise, there’s not much more to talk about.

And that’s the problem in a nutshell. Nothing to talk about. I give suggestions based on what’s given, since there’s the slimmest of potentials there, but I don’t have anything more substantial to say other than the 2 sentences at the start.

This story is like stale bread. Structurally, it is still fine. It does the trick, nothing outrageous. But it is tasteless, dull and uninspired. Anything else would be better. I mention ideas, because I never want a story to fail, but ideas from another do not make the actual product better. Although it’s not offensive, insulting or unfair, It’s also not fun, engaging or unique. An utter snoozefest.