The Dark Planet

Doctor Who The Lost Stories 4.1

The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan are way back in the early times of the universe. On a strange planet with crystal structures and odd statues, and a fight between the light and the dark….

This has all the hallmarks of an early adventure. Much like the Senorites, it has that isolated, unknown element where the rules of Doctor Who had not yet been set. I do like those stories as everything was new and it really could go anywhere and do anything. 

With only four cast members and narration, it does come across as an extended Companion Chronicle. William Russell plays Ian and the Doctor with Maureen as Vicky and Barbara. It was much easier to tell the Doctor and Ian apart - a ‘My boy’ here and there made it obvious. However there was little difference between Maureen’s Vicky and Barbara. So, other than sometimes not realising which character was speaking, I didn’t feel like I’d enjoyed a Barbara adventure.

I listened to this mostly on a train coming back from a convention, and though the first couple of episodes kept me interested, my attention waned mid way. With this being a, 3 hour six parter, it dragged and it became more back ground noise.

Vicky soon meets alien made of light and the TARDIS crew enter the crystal city. The planets sun is dying and they need to regenerate it. What’s more outside is the Dark, but neither the light or the dark like each other. 

There are some nice ideas in this; the light city is too much for the Humans and leads to being blinded. The elders of the light plan to send a rocket to invigorate the sun etc. But its slow going and it perhaps would have made a better four part story.

There was an interesting reference that the Doctor makes about having knowledge of stellar engineering - knowing Remembrance of the Daleks its a nice nod to those events.

Not bad as such but I’m not recommending it.