The Dark Planet

Lost Stories #4.1

Released: 12 September 2013

Listened: 1/27/20

A lot of Big Finish stories from this era are shorter, as a result of their formats. This is not one of those. As a Lost Story, it follows the six-part format, and its pacing is definitely “of its era.” There are several reveals, which are paced out through the story, and the ending is still unexpected, but it does feel like it could have been trimmed down a bit. Still, it’s a fairly high concept, featuring creatures made entirely of light or darkness, and a giant crystal city, all of which would have been a challenge to render on television, even today, much less 1964. Ultimately, it’s a Cold War metaphor, and although it’s an obvious one on some levels, the ending is still in doubt, and didn’t go where I thought it was going to. The downside is that the TARDIS crew is mostly passive, getting swept along by events, or worse, being used as pawns. It’s a good kernel of an idea, but it didn’t keep my attention as well as I wanted it to.