Doctor Who Review: ‘Embrace the Darkness’ (Eighth Doctor Audio)
By James Aggas
The Eighth Doctor and Charley arrive on a world with no light, in their second season’s fourth story, ‘Embrace the Darkness.’
Honestly, this is a very difficult story to talk about without giving too much away. With a title like ‘Embrace the Darkness,’ you might be expecting a straightforward horror. Now don’t get me wrong, there are a number of very, very creepy moments in this story. The cliffhanger to Part 1 is a particularly shocking moment.
But this is a story where not everything is as it seems, even the very genre of it. It’s as focused on exploring the world and its race as it is at creating an atmosphere. If there’s anything the story reminds me of, it’s Star Trek (specifically, The Next Generation).
I must admit, I am something of a horror fan, and I think Doctor Who is at its best when it does straightforward horror. But, while the direction that this story took surprised me, it wasn’t a disappointing one. If the story is about anything, it’s not about how dangerous the unknown is. Instead, it’s more focused on the fear of the unknown, and how much more dangerous that can be.
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Take the human characters, for example. Stuck on a far off planet in a solar system of total darkness, they suddenly find themselves attacked by an unknown force. Some panic. Some breakdown completely. And some simply become more aggressive. The fact remains that everyone is afraid, and this story is keen to explore the effect that fear has on everyone.
Overall, writer Nicholas Briggs has written a good group of human characters that feel real and three-dimensional. My favourite has to be Orllensa. She’s stubborn and downright annoying at times, but she also has hidden depths, and her reactions are very believable and understandable.
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