The End of the Line

I don’t think that Kettering Junction is just a railway interchange. I think its a dimensional interchange, and it’s breaking down.

The Sixth Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor and his latest companion Constance investigate a commuter train that has lost its way…

Review

The End of the Line kicks off a run of stories which span the Sixth Doctor Big Finish era and concludes with a point that lines up neatly with Time and the Rani. From a personal basis, this is also one of the first five Big Finish stories I heard.

That’s right, our train broke down. Our train’s always seems to be breaking down or taking us to the wrong place, doesn’t it, Doctor?

Constance Clark

Part of what works so well about this story for me is the simplicity of the initial setting. With the story being set on a train stuck in the fog, I think that it is something that the majority of listeners will be able to easily visualise. The sound design also works really well, especially when listened to on headphones, which adds to the disorientation of being lost in the fog. There is a certain crispness to the audio which generates the feeling of a cold winter’s morning. The story has simple images at it’s core, even as the scale of the story gets larger, like a train station gaining platforms, or the same train carriage that the group of train travellers have just left being covered in blood. Simon Barnard and Paul Morris play around with horror tropes and make a story that is effectively spooky and unsettling.

As the scope and scale of the story grows to be a threat that endangers the entire multiverse, Barnard and Morris find an interesting angle to take with it. We have a character in the shape of Hilary who falls under the influence of a dark version of herself, which leads her to finally snap, murdering Dave in the process, as a result of years of being held back at work on grounds of her gender and society’s general patronising views of her. The story also plays around with more traditional multiversal concepts, like other selves, as we have multiple Daves appear – and all meet equally sticky fates. Alice, on the other hand, realises the possibilities that a multiverse could offer her and that it does not matter what she does, as another Alice could face the consequences as her, driving him mad.

The majority of the guest cast are regular commuters on the train who know each other well – it’s certainly a regional train where people talk, rather than trains into London. There are some really good performances here, especially from Maggie Service and Ony Uhiara as Hilary and Alice respectively. Service is especially chilling when she confesses to killing Dave, and that she did, in fact, mean to do so and enjoyed it, whilst Uhiara is equally good when she has her breakdown. There are scenes that feel reminiscent of Midnight as the passengers begin to turn on each other. Anthony Howell is really rather good as the rather innocuous Tim Hope, who is actually a disguised Valeyard, whilst Hamish Clark provides some levity in the shape of Norman, actually normal animates grown by the Parallel Sect and responsible for the maintenance of the Reality Nexus. This is now under new management by the Master, who seeks to turn off the barriers, but did not think about the fact this would lead to barriers breaking down.

Your archenemy is…a trainspotter?

Constance Clark

The use of Keith Potter, played by Chris Finney, is a really good way of getting the Master into this story without recasting Anthony Ainley, which is a step that Big Finish have only taken relatively recently at the time of writing. The use of a remote avatar is a nice spin on the Master’s proclivity for disguises in the original series and there is a real sense of glee from the Master that the Doctor has fallen for it again, as well as mockery of the Doctor’s beloved human race by impersonating a train spotter.The Master is able to weasel his way into the human’s trust by taking on this role. As Norman and the other passengers turn on the Doctor and Constance, Norman notes that he can trust Keith, as he is a known quantity. Finney’s turn when he goes from being “Keith Potter, train spotter”, to the Master feels almost Eric Roberts’ Master level and whenever I listen to this story I almost picture him doing something very close to the ‘dressed for the occasion’ scene in the TV Movie. The inclusion of the Master in a box set which prominently features another major adversary of the Sixth Doctor in the shape of the Valeyard feels as though it is a masterstroke of misdirection. When he is confronted by the reinvigorated Valeyard and warned off the Doctor, the fear that the Master has of his fellow Time Lord really comes through effectively.

I don’t think stumbling around the sidings on a foggy December dawn was the wisest course of action.

That’s the pot calling the kettle black.

The Sixth Doctor and Constance Clark

With this being one of the first Big Finish stories I listened to, I wasn’t aware that Constance had not had her meeting with the Doctor at the time this was released. I think that means that it didn’t really bother me how much they seemed to have hit the ground running and it doesn’t bother me that this story doesn’t feature another a companion, like Peri for instance. Having watched the entire televised Sixth Doctor era, I quite like the fact that this box set is entirely set between The Ultimate Foe and Time and the Rani, as it allows for companions like Constance, Charley and Flip to feature, and doesn’t tread on the toes and risk the Doctor looking foolish for not knowing who the Valeyard is prior to Trial of a Time Lord. Whilst Constance does not have a lot to do here, I think that Miranda Raison is rather excellent here, not willing to put up with the Doctor’s nonsense, but the relationship between the two is full of warmth and mutual respect. The Doctor is completely prepared to sacrifice himself for Constance, to help the Master undo the damage he has caused, and that does do enough to convince you of that relationship completely.

This story kicks off a set of stories leading to the Sixth Doctor’s regeneration, which is definitely something that Colin Baker’s advocacy for the show deserves, and Big Finish is the correct venue to honour his Doctor and do his regeneration correctly. Baker is on fine form in this story, with his hatred of the bureaucracy that Norman represents and his Doctor’s attitudes towards the Master really carry through effectively.

Verdict: A creepy and atmospheric tale, The End of the Line does a really good job of starting to sow the seeds of this box set. 9/10

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Miranda Raison (Constance Clark), Anthony Howell (Tim Hope), Chris Finney (Keith Potter), Ony Uhiara (Alice Lloyd), Hamish Clark (Norman), Maggie Service (Hilary Ratchett) and Michael Jayston (The Valeyard).

Writer: Simon Barnard and Paul Morris

Director: Nicholas Briggs

Composer: Howard Carter

Original Release Date: 17 August 2015

Behind the Scenes

• This story features the first released appearance of Constance Clark due to the release of this boxset being pushed forward. Her first chronological appearance would come in Criss-Cross, released in September 2015.
• This story depicts the first appearance of the Anthony Ainley incarnation of the Master, albeit in a host body.

Cast Notes

• Miranda Raison played Tallulah in the Tenth Doctor stories Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks and has played one-off roles for Big Finish in addition to Constance.
• Anthony Howell has appeared in a number of Big Finish stories, including The Curse of Lady Macbeth (The Ninth Doctor Adventures), The First Sontarans (The Lost Stories) and The Lady of Mercia.
• Chris Finney played Raldarin and the Sandman in The Entropy Plague.
• Ony Uhiara has also appeared in The Seeds of War, Planet of Dust (Ravenous) and The Shroud (The Second Doctor Adventures).
• Hamish Clark was also in the Big Finish audio plays Scenes From Her Life (Doom Coalition) and The Well-Mannered War (The Novel Adaptations).
• Maggie Service played Elsie in Deep Breath. She has also appeared in the Big Finish stories Revenge of the Swarm, The Great Beyond (The Fifth Doctor Adventures) and The Curse of Lady Macbeth (The Ninth Doctor Adventures).

Best Quote

Keith?!? Keith’s your Master?

Not just mine, sir, he’s THE Master, the definitive article, so he says.

No, no, surely not!

Oh, my dear Doctor, you have been naive.

The Sixth Doctor, Norman and Keith Potter/The Master

Previous Sixth Doctor review: Mind of the Hodiac

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