Doctor Who: Come Die With Me

Writer: Jamie Anderson
Director: Ken Bentley
Script Editor: Alan Barnes
Cover Illustration: Joseph Bell
Music & Sound Design: Steve Foxon
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Sylvester McCoy & Sophie Aldred
Released December 2015

Come Die With Me marks the halfway point of the You Are The Doctor anthology and, so far, it looks to be one of the most disposable releases yet. Jamie Anderson's story of an old-fashioned mansion in the future seems to be desperately trying to create a Night Thoughts-style atmosphere, but ends up closer to The Silurian Candidate.

The setup initially seems to be a murder mystery game organised by the skin-crawling Edwin Norris that has stumped the greatest minds from all time and space. This naturally piques the Doctor's curiosity, while Ace is pulled below stairs with the housekeeper. They learn more about the situation in tandem and eventually the Doctor must save Ace and defeat Norris. It's not especially challenging stuff, which isn't a problem in itself, but this is so chaotic it's hard to get a handle on anything and hence hard to pay attention.

There is something in Anderson's story of a murder mystery in an old house with the Sylvester McCoy Doctor that evokes stories like Master and The Magic Mousetrap. Unfortunately, that is where comparisons to these two superior releases end. Control of knowledge seems to be the 'theme' of this anthology so far, unless you count Ace having a go at flying the TARDIS, which still wouldn't be the flimsiest arc Big Finish have attempted. In Come Die With Me's climactic scene, Norris ends up giving McCoy a run for his money in the gurning and histrionics stakes, revealing that he wants to trap the minds of anyone in creation more intelligent than him in his library so that he can be the cleverest being in history. On the strength of the 20 minutes preceding this, he's going to need a bigger library.

So much care goes into crafting these stories in post-production that it seems ungrateful to criticise. There must be nightmares on so many productions that the listeners never discover because of talented sound designers managing to save them. But still, the presentation of Come Die With Me leaves a lot to be desired. This can be laid at the door of director Ken Bentley; McCoy gives a shocking performance, vamping it up like a good 'un on what appears to be his first encounter with the script. Sophie Aldred as Ace isn't much better, sounding like she got out the wrong side of bed and going massively over the top on almost every line. The sound design completely misses every open goal with regards to building atmosphere, and instead goes gives the impression of stock tracks for an am dram matinee. The music is also far too lightweight and completes the impression that the production team see this as disposable fluff, and consequently that's what they have made.

It is entirely reasonable to skip Come Die With Me without missing anything in character, plot or production terms. When people are paying £15 for this release that is inexcusable. At least You Are The Doctor was trying something different; it speaks volumes that the actor playing Norris isn't even credited.