Doctor Who: Winter for the Adept on Audio CD

• Year: 2000
• Rating: 5/10
• Cat. No: BFPDWCD6B-2
• Format: 2xCD
• Running Time: 100 minutes
• Price: £13.99

Director:
Gary Russell

Writer:

Andrew Cartmel

Cast:

The Doctor: Peter Davison
Nyssa: Sarah Sutton
Lt. Peter Sandoz: Peter Jurasik
Miss Tremayne: Sally Faulkner
Alison: Liz Sutherland
Peril: India Fisher
Mlle. Maupassant: Hannah Dickinson
Harding Wellman: Chris Webber

A wonderful title in search of a truly fascinating plot, this was the second outing for the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa but the Big Finish crew still couldn’t quite give them a memorable adventure. Peter Davison is back on form after his sometimes shaky performance in Land Of The Dead, while Sarah Sutton does her damndest with a laboured script, but thankfully Winter For The Adept was the last occasion on which this promising Who partnership would be dumped in a freezing cold location to endure merely a cliche-ridden spin on the haunted house scenario.

More than anything, Winter For The Adept takes too long to set the scene, and for the first three-quarters of its duration there are times when a satisfying outcome seems impossible. Part Four does up the ante in both drama and mildly intruiging science fiction respects, but it’s almost too little too late, especially since the twist is sadly botched by the kind of laughably hammy portrayals which so badly dogged Davison during his TV stint..

In fact, this could be seen as an audio equivalent of Time-Flight or Warriors Of The Deep; at least the format spares us the spectacle of the Spillagers in all their visual glory. Surprisingly for a story written by the show’s Andrew Cartmel, it just doesn’t feel like Doctor Who much of the time – until the sudden and bizarre switch in tone for the climax, at least.

The dialogue for supporting cast lacks depth and thus most of it is unconvincing (Hannah Dickinson‘s french tutor is straight out of the ‘Allo ‘Allo handbook), while overall the supporting characters are poorly developed. Without images to offer distraction from off-pitch performances (Peter Jurasik‘s terse but oddly effete Lieutenant in particular), the production cannot afford such crucial failings.

India Fisher – later cast as the Eighth Doctor’s companion – essentially offers a test-run of Charley Pollard as feisty Peril Bellamy, one of the “adept” trapped in a spooky Swiss boarding school for girls. Luckily, by the time of her debut as Charley, the writing for these Big Finish outings had matured and developed considerably.