Doctor Who review: The Nightmare Fair offers a glimpse of what could have been
By James Aggas
Based on a planned but previously unmade TV story, The Nightmare Fair is a Doctor Who audio that offers a glimpse of what could have been.
In some ways, The Nightmare Fair is rather legendary to Doctor Who fans, especially those that grew up during the 80s. It was one of several stories that had been planned for Season 23 but, due to a huge format change, all of those storylines were completely scrapped.
However, those planned storylines have been adapted into other formats. First as novels published by Target Books in 1989 and 1990, and then as audio dramas by Big Finish Productions as part of their Lost Stories range. The Nightmare Fair was the first release in this range, which is rather fitting – it was meant to kick off Season 23 in a big way with the return of the Celestial Toymaker, who hadn’t appeared on-screen since his titular story back in 1966.
Like many Lost Stories, The Nightmare Fair represents a fascinating glimpse of a previous era. While Big Finish had already told many stories with previous Doctors and companions when this audio was released back in 2009, and those stories usually captured those eras very well, there’s also been something “modern” about them, too. Something that allowed these Doctors to be seen and explored in a fresh way.
Part of its era
The Lost Stories is different to that. In some ways, its sense of nostalgia is even purer. Listening to The Nightmare Fair, you can tell that it was a story that was meant to be filmed. As “visual” as Big Finish stories often are in how they paint a clear picture in your head, this feels different. The fact that Blackpool is central to the story, for example, clearly shows how much the production team wanted to show off the location, for example.
This is David Bailie’s first performance as the Toymaker, and it’s an extremely solid one. Michael Gough was great in the original story, but Bailie captures the strange mix of childish glee and pure malevolence of the character very well. You always feel confident that he’s far more powerful than the Doctor, making him a highly dangerous opponent.
Original writer Graham Williams also puts an interesting modern update on the character. (Well, modern for the mid-80s, anyway.) There’s a large focus on video games in this story, with the Doctor taking part in a particularly deadly one against the Toymaker towards the end.
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Highlighting the strengths of audio
It’s a strange experience, listening to The Nightmare Fair. It captures that particular era so well because it was a part of that era – it was written and planned for that time. It’s an enjoyable look at “what could have been”, perhaps the best we could possibly get.
Yet at the same time, it highlights why I enjoy Big Finish’s original stories so much. Not only are they written with the audio medium in mind. But, at their best, they’ve often had a stronger, more emotional core to their stories that The Nightmare Fair lacks because of when it had originally been conceived.
This story is definitely recommended for fans of the Sixth Doctor’s era on television, and even for fans curious over “what might have been”. It’s also great to hear the return of the Celestial Toymaker, too. Just keep in mind – and this is a testament to how strong and consistent Big Finish’s output usually is – that it’s not the best reflection of their work.
If you haven’t listened to The Nightmare Fair yet, make sure you check out Part 1 for free from Big Finish’s website. If you enjoyed that episode, the rest of the story and other Lost Stories from the first two seasons of the range are currently on sale until Aug 17.
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Have you listened to or even read The Nightmare Fair? What are your thoughts on it? Do you wish it had been made for television? Let us know in the comments below.