4 episodes. Approx. 116 minutes. Written by: Robert Shearman. Directed by: Barnaby Edwards. Produced by: Gary Russell, Jason Haigh-Ellery.
THE PLOT
It is Christmas Eve, and the TARDIS has materialized inside the larder of an Edwardian mansion circa 1906. When the Doctor and Charley move into the house proper to investigate, they find all the rooms empty. Charley writes her name in the dust on a table, only to watch the dust blow back over it. Some force has locked them outside of time.
Has locked the Doctor out, at least. Charley is let in, just for a moment, and has a conversation with scullery maid Edith Thompson (Louise Rolfe). As they talk, Charley's name appears on the dusty table - and Edith abruptly tells Charley that there will be a murder soon. Hers.
It is an apt prediction. As the chimes of a grandfather clock are heard striking the hour, a woman's screams fill the air. The Doctor and Charley find themselves standing over Edith's body. The rest of the household staff also appears, with the stern butler Shaughnessy (Lennox Greaves) recognizing the Doctor and Charley as detectives who will surely solve this case. An hour later, another murder occurs. But the hour has passed in only half the time it should have, and the staff appears bizarrely unconcerned by the deaths.
Time continues to speed up, and the dead return to life only to be murdered again. As the Doctor comes to see that they are trapped in a time loop, Charley is visited by Edith's ghost, who tells her to remember her - And also one more thing:
"Edward Grove is alive..."
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: When the TARDIS materializes in a place that's completely dark, with no readings to indicate where and when they are, he is initially delighted at the prospect of a mystery. But once he realizes that there is an intelligent force at work, he attempts escape. "There are some mysteries best left unsolved," he tells Charley, readily admitting that he's frightened. He observes that they're being left far too many clues about the murders, and that the murders themselves are little more than red herrings. Paul McGann is superb throughout - doubly so in the final episode, as he attempts to reason first with the villain of the piece and then with Charley herself, in a scene that's a major turning point in their particular Doctor/Companion dynamic.
The Doctor: When the TARDIS materializes in a place that's completely dark, with no readings to indicate where and when they are, he is initially delighted at the prospect of a mystery. But once he realizes that there is an intelligent force at work, he attempts escape. "There are some mysteries best left unsolved," he tells Charley, readily admitting that he's frightened. He observes that they're being left far too many clues about the murders, and that the murders themselves are little more than red herrings. Paul McGann is superb throughout - doubly so in the final episode, as he attempts to reason first with the villain of the piece and then with Charley herself, in a scene that's a major turning point in their particular Doctor/Companion dynamic.
Charley: Though this house is larger than the one in which she grew up, she is very much a part of this culture. She instantly recognizes the servants' rooms for what they are, guiding both Doctor and listener through this confined space in Episode One to set the geography for the rest of the story. As they look over the Christmas preparations, she casually complains that "cook used to make far too much (plum pudding)," and it is evident from her comments that she never really picked up on the names of her family's own servants. The cook was just "Cook," defined by her role in the household just as the servants in this story are defined entirely by their roles. The force at work recognizes her as "belonging," and works her into a role as well: As the daughter of the Master of the House, a role she gradually finds impossible to resist.
THOUGHTS
"How can I be dead and alive at the same time...?"
Doctor Who's best Christmas story was not any of the new series' Christmas specials. It was not made for television at all, and it wasn't even released at Christmas. Which, in a story focused on paradoxes, seems oddly perfect - Much like the rest of The Chimes of Midnight.
Writer Robert Shearman's first Big Finish audio was The Holy Terror, a tremendously well-received story that helped raise the bar of what the audience expected of the company. The Chimes of Midnight not only doesn't disappoint; it raises that bar even further. It is surreal but not nonsensical, funny but emotional. It also features the most multilayered characterizations yet for the likeable Eighth Doctor/Charley team.
Shearman builds on previously established character traits, and uses those to fuel the story. Charley's privileged background makes her a ready-made guide to the basic layout of the servant's hall. Her intrinsic compassion also fuels the narrative through her connection with the murdered Edith - a connection that starts as Edith reacts to Charley's kindness, a trait she has encountered far too little of. That connection grows over the story, and twists into something dark and sinister as the episodes progress.
The script doesn't forget to give the Doctor excellent material as well. It's a treat to hear Paul McGann's usually laid-back Doctor be genuinely afraid. He finds himself a step behind throughout: First genuinely trying to solve Edith's murder, then trying to prevent the next, before it occurs to him that the murders themselves are incidental. At one point he actually gives up, ready to abandon the servants to loop about eternally in their tiny circles. Only when the mysterious Edward Grove confronts him directly does he find an opportunity for victory - an opportunity that hinges on his own connection with Charley.
In a stunning speech, he lays out for Charley what she means to him, drawing a direct line between his solo existence and the loop in which they are all trapped: "Without you, I would just be a lonely old man, rattling around in the TARDIS with no one to talk to: My life going round and round without meaning, my life going around in circles." The speech, in its full length both emotional and poetic, is superbly delivered by McGann and is one that will go 'round and 'round within the listener's mind after the story is done. It marks the point at which his relationship with Charley ceases to be just a standard Doctor/Companion relationship. After this, they are almost equal leads for the next several stories and genuinely close friends.
The ending ties it all together with a lovely grace note, one that could have been cloying had it not been so very well earned by the time it occurs. In a more standard episode, the exact same scene with the exact same dialogue might have made me roll my eyes or groan. But coming at the end of a story that has built so well to it, the final fade out on a poor girl's humming of Hark, the Herald Angels Sing is remarkably effective.
With terrific performances (Lennox Greaves' Shaughnessy is a particular standout, and I wish I had space to give him the full praises due to him), and a wonderfully creepy yet authentic-seeming soundscape under the guiding hand of director Barnaby Edwards, The Chimes of Midnight is as close to perfect as a story can be. Well over a decade after the fact, it remains a strong contender for the title of best Big Finish audio, and is one of the best Doctor Who stories available in any form.
Overall Rating: 10/10.
Next Story: Seasons of Fear (not yet reviewed)
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