Halloween is almost upon us, so what better time for David Ferguson to pick out some haunting Doctor Who horror stories for your listening disquiet?
It’s the spooky season, so I decided to pick some Halloween appropriate Doctor Who stories from Big Finish for you to listen to. I don’t think hiding behind the sofa works with audio, though.
In case my pick doesn’t peek your interest, I have provided a couple of alternatives with the same Doctor and companion(s).
I give you ghosts, weird cults, witches and Cybermen…
Doctor Who: The Spectre of Lanyon Moor (2000)
Written by Nicholas Pegg
Cast: A full cast including Colin Baker as The Doctor, Maggie Stables as Evelyn Smythe and Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
Plot: In a desolate Cornish landscape littered with relics of prehistoric man, the Doctor and Evelyn uncover a catalogue of mysteries.
What is the secret of the fog? Can the moor be haunted by a demonic host of imps? And what is Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart doing in Pengriffen?
Teaming up with his old friend, the Doctor realises that an ancient conflict is nearing its conclusion – and Lanyon Moor is set to be the final battleground.
The Sixth Doctor meets the Brigadier for the first time and I love that the Brig figures out who he is instantly this time. Nicholas Courtney performs as if he’d never left the role, and has great chemistry with Colin Baker’s Doctor. I’m a big fan of the Evelyn era and the majority of the stories featuring her are very good. She’s intelligent and can stand up this his nonsense.
The foggy moor setting is perfect Halloween material. It starts off as a bit of a spooky mystery then veers into the gruesome. Interesting use of local mythology too.
Veteran TV actor James Bolam appears as Sir Archibald and delivers a great performance.
Alternatives from this era: The Sandman (2002), Jubilee (2003)
The Stones of Venice (2001)
Written by Paul Magrs
Cast: A full cast including Paul McGann as The Doctor and India Fisher as Charlotte Pollard
Plot: The Doctor and Charley decide to take a well-deserved break from the monotony of being chased, shot at and generally suffering anti-social behaviour at the hands of others. And so they end up in Venice, well into Charley’s future, as the great city prepares to sink beneath the water for the last time…
Which would be a momentous, if rather dispiriting, event to witness in itself. However, the machinations of a love-sick aristocrat, a proud art historian and a rabid High Priest of a really quite dodgy cult combine to make Venice’s swansong a night to remember. And then there’s the rebellion by the web-footed amphibious underclass, the mystery of a disappearing corpse, and the truth behind a curse going back further than curses usually do. The Doctor and Charley are forced to wonder just what they have got themselves involved with this time…
There are a bunch of audios from the early Charley era that could go on this list, including another Brigadier story, Minuet in Hell (2001). They all have a gothic horror vibe. I was listening to a bunch with my partner and he thought this was the best as, firstly. he could visualise Venice in his head and secondly, it is an interesting mystery, with a satisfying conclusion. Weird cults are a horror genre all on their own.
Alternatives from this era: Sword of Orion (2001), Minuet in Hell (2001)
The Silver Turk (2011)
Written by Marc Platt
Cast: A full cast including Paul McGann as The Doctor, Julie Cox as Mary Shelley and Nicholas Briggs as the Cybermen.
Plot: Roll up! Roll up! To the great Viennese Exposition, where showman Stahlbaum will show you his most wonderful creation, the Silver Turk – a mechanical marvel that will not only play for you the fortepiano, the spinet and the flute, it will play you at the gaming table too!
But when the Doctor brings his new travelling companion Mary Shelley to nineteenth-century Vienna, he soon identifies the incredible Turk as one of his deadliest enemies – a part-machine Cyberman.
And that’s not even the worst of the horrors at large in the city…
I know. I know. I did the Eighth Doctor twice. But something about his Doctor lends itself to horror, particularly gothic. Plus, this one does something interesting with the Cybermen, historical fact (The Turk existed in the real world) and fits with his new companion. Mary joins him in “Mary’s Story” in Company of Friends (2009), but I think you can dive right in with this one. The horror continues in Witch from the Well (2011) and Army of Death (2011), which concludes Mary’s era. I think the Cybermen are the scariest recurring villainsand I wanted to include at least one classic villain.
Alternatives from this era: Witch from the Well (2011), Army of Death (2011)
The Mouthless Dead (2013)
Written by John Pritchard
Cast: Frazer Hines as The Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon, Anneke Wills as Polly and Elliot Chapman as Ben
Plot: The TARDIS arrives in 1920s England, the Doctor, Jamie, Ben and Polly finding themselves in a wintry dusk beside a railway line. The station nearby appears deserted, but there are figures watching from the shadows, all of them waiting for a dead man’s train…
This is from The Companion Chronicles: The Second Doctor Volume 01. This boxset once again covers all of the Second Doctor eras, and this story is the first one. I’ve recommended it before, but it really is a story that sticks with you, a ghost story that fits the vibe of the Second Doctor era. Again I mention the character development for Ben and Jamie as we hear them talk about their history as soldiers. Really adds to the Ben / Polly / Jamie era.
Alternatives from this era: The Forsaken (2015), The Outliers (2017)
The Planet of Witches (2020)
Written by Alan Barnes
Cast: A full cast including Tom Baker as The Doctor, Lalla Ward as Romana, Matthew Waterhouse as Adric and John Leeson as K9.
Plot: Whilst attempting a detailed scan of E-Space, K9 detects the trail of a large spacecraft. Seeking a lead for their escape, the Doctor sets out on its trail towards a misty yellow planet.
Arriving just in time to witness a crash-landing in the planet’s swamps, the Doctor and his crew discover a number of escaping prisoners fleeing from someone claiming to be a Witchfinder… whilst terrifying ‘familiars’ float around them.
For this is the planet of the witches… and the witches may just know the way home.
I wanted a horror story for the Fourth Doctor and this is one of the titles that stuck out. The TARDIS team chemistry is excellent here. Tom Baker is as charming as ever, and they do something interesting with K9.
Adric has grown on me. I agree with Matthew Waterhouse that Romana was a bit “vinegary” in this one, and a bit of a badass too, though. The story has humour and things aren’t actually what they seem. And what’s Halloween without witches?
Alternatives from this era: Purgatory 12 (2020), Chase the Night (2020)
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Audio, Digital Media, Doctor Who, Other Worlds
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