It’s time for another dose of the Seventh Doctor travelling with Harry Sullivan and Naomi Cross, a duo that we’re still waiting on the start of their adventures, but there you go. I think that’s next year’s Fourth Doctor stories, so not long left… Anyway, “Operation Dusk” feels like one of those stories where someone put two and two together and realised how perfectly they fit, in this case the Vashta Nerada and the Blitz, a time where Britain had to put out their lights and plunge themselves into the dark. Does it work? Let’s find out!
The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy), Naomi (Eleanor Crooks) and Harry (Christopher Naylor) are summoned to World War II, specifically Blitz era London, by Winston Churchill due to an MI5 agent turning up dead via a body that was completely stripped of all its flesh. Harry is amazed at how clean the bones are but The Doctor knows full well what this means: the Vashta Nerada. What’s worse is that it soon becomes obvious that someone has the ability to tell them to attack specific targets on command, and soon it becomes a guessing game as to who’s responsible featuring plenty of twists and turns, and one great use of the concept where a local policeman shouts at The Doctor and co. to shut the lights off as some German planes were on the way but they know they’re surrounded by the Vashta Nerada.
MI5 agents Sebastian Hardcastle (Nicholas Rowe) and Nathaniel Woodcoat (Leon Parris) are soon on the trail of Marion Johnstone (Emily Raymond) and for once The Doctor actually agrees on their assessment, quickly deducing that she was an alien in disguise but it soon becomes apparent that its not that simple, and the device for controlling the Vashta Nerada, as well as the ability to tap into any phone in the country to deliver the kill order phrase, isn’t under her control any more…
It’s a fun mix of horror and espionage, though I will admit to not really connecting with the cast beyond enjoying Sylvester McCoy getting some good lines, with Naomi in particular blending into the background and not doing much. Hell it’s not been that long since I listened to it but I had to check some of the characters to make sure I wasn’t getting them confused as they just didn’t stick in my head beyond the basic story beats. There was a twist in the final part that I enjoyed but I’ll get to that in the spoiler section, which is a shame because I won’t be able to talk about it in the Continuity section, but beyond that nothing really stood out.
The Continuity:
I wonder how many people saw this cover featuring glowing gas mask guys during World War II and assumed it featured a different New Series enemy?
Harry and Naomi began travelling with the Seventh Doctor in the previous boxset’s opening story “London Orbital”, though how they got to the 2010s has yet to be revealed (due to recording Fourth Doctor material so far in advance). The Vashta Nerada first appeared in the Tenth Doctor 2-parter “Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead”, but they’ve start to make so many Big Finish appearances that I’m not going to bother typing out all the times they’ve appeared now…
That’s it, apart from a certain thing I’ll talk about in the spoilers…
Overall Thoughts:
“Operation Dusk” has a fun concept at its heart and a good couple of twists but I will say that the cast didn’t really make an impression on me, and given this was an character-driven espionage story that’s a bit of an issue. It’s fine, I enjoyed the Part 3 twist, but I doubt I’ll be listening to it again… or maybe I will given it will probably be like it’s a new story given how little of it sank in!
As The Doctor tracks down the device that can control the Vashta Nerada he figures out who is truly behind it: The Forge, the “evil Torchwood” created by Big Finish long before Torchwood was even a thought in Russel T. Davies’ head. It’s so great to see Big Finish dip into their own continuity for the change! As The Doctor confront who he assumed is Nimrod, the usual head of the Forge, we find out its MI5 agent Hardcastle (or was it Woodcoat? … No, pretty sure Hardcastle…) who was in charge of the Forge all along. Marion makes an appearance and is shot for her troubles, but she manages to set the Vashta Nerada on Hardcastle before she dies. Due to the device being destroyed the Nerada harmlessly disperse into the shadows.
Just as a bit of extra Continuity, The Forge first appeared in the Sixth Doctor audio “Project: Twilight”, which is why this being called Operation Dusk should’ve tipped the reveal off, but its been so long it’s actually only now writing this review that I made that connection…
Hogan Reviews 