The Dark Flame

The Web of Time can look after itself. It’s the spider I want.

The Seventh Doctor

Synopsis

A thousand years ago, the evil Cult of the Dark Flame infiltrated every star system in the galaxy. In the history books, the Cult is legendary, its despotic leader a terrible memory.

But for some, the Dark Flame still burns. For some, its horrifying power is the ultimate goal. All that is required is for the right people to be in the wrong place and time.

An archaeologist and his robot are on the poisonous world of Sorus Alpha, where they will uncover a hideous relic. The Doctor and Ace are on their way to the deep space research centre Orbos, where Professor Bernice Summerfield is soon to start the countdown to universal Armageddon.

Four acolytes of Evil. Three mad scientists. Two companions. One Doctor.

Review

The Dark Flame is the second side step by Big Finish into the continuity of the Virgin New Adventures book series. There is a lot to be said for this series of books, as they are a contributing factor in what managed to keep Doctor Who alive in the ‘wilderness years’ following the end of the original run of the show in 1989. They brought us stories written by contributors to that run, such as Terrance Dicks, Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel, those who would work at Big Finish in the early days, like Gary Russell, and those who would contribute to the revival, like Russell T Davies, Mark Gatiss and Paul Cornell.

Great, Plan B. I love Plan B. What is Plan B?

Bernice Summerfield

The Virgin New Adventures are doubtlessly important, however, I for one have never picked one up and their availability is extremely fleeting – if you can find a copy of Lungbarrow, for example, it can cost you a large sum of money. This is a big problem when it comes to reviewing The Dark Flame in 2025, as it felt pretty inaccessible to me. Perhaps when this story was released in 2003, the majority of Big Finish listeners were those who had been loyal readers of the New Adventures, and so this would have felt less jarring, but I can imagine that it may feel even more jarring over time. The story features a version of Ace that Big Finish have not really touched on much more, a hardened warrior version of her, which did also feel particularly jarring, and like it needed a little bit more explanation. Part One felt as though there was homework needed, for instance, to see whether or not was a character who had carried over through from the novels or not.

Otherwise, Trevor Baxendale does do a good enough job of writing a generic story about a mysterious cult which feels as though it would not feel out of place in the Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes’ run of the show. The cult worship a Dark Flame from an alternative universe, which has the power to destroy the whole universe if allowed to pass into our universe. Despite this, the story is a lot less bloodthirsty than the other side-step, The Shadow of the Scourge, which was not unwelcome, but a lot of the cliffhangers felt like they were very obvious, like the scientist Lomar being a member of the Cult of the Dark Flame, or Benny having briefly switched allegiances at the end of Part 3.

I think that there are some good guest performances here. I particularly liked Michael Praed’s performance as the villainous Slyde, which oozes sinister vibes with his gravelly voice. Slyde is immediately suspicious to the listener and it is a wonderfully over the top performance which leaves you in no doubt as to where his allegiances really lie, but that makes it all the better. I also thought that Steven Wickham particularly stands out as the android Joseph and Victor Farrison, as does Andrew Westfield as the Doctor’s friend, Remnex and Vilus Krull, the emissary for the Dark Flame.

This is possibly Sylvester McCoy’s best performance since The Fearmonger for my money and I really felt as though he was invested in this story. His Doctor is chaotic in this story, whilst retaining his scheming elements. Meanwhile, I did not find Sophie Aldred to be as good in this story and I think this is a problem with the New Adventures’ journey for her character. I just did not buy her as this hardened warrior for a lot of the story, which I don’t think is entirely down to Aldred’s portrayal of her. She does have a better relationship with Benny in this story, which is nice to see. Lisa Bowerman is solid as ever, however, the fact that Baxendale fills her dialogue with quips at every opportunity is painful in the first two parts.

Verdict: The Dark Flame is a story that features good performances and direction, but ultimately doesn’t feel cohesive. 4/10

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Lisa Bowerman (Bernice Summerfield), Steven Wickham (Joseph/Victor Farrison), Andrew Westfield (Remnex/Vilus Krull), Michael Praed (Slyde), Hannah Smith (Lomar) & Toby Longworth (Broke).

Writer: Trevor Baxendale

Director: Jason Haigh-Ellery

Music: Andy Hardwick (ERS)

Sound Design: Gareth Jenkins (ERS)

Release Date: 28th March 2003

Main Range Release Number: 42

Behind the Scenes

• This was the second Main Range story to be a side-step into the Virgin New Adventures and would be the final one to do so until Benny’s Story.

Cast Notes

• Steven Wickham previously played Dr Samuel Holywell in Phantasmagoria and Murranus in The Fires of Vulcan.
• Andrew Westfield also played Pilot in Davros.
• Michael Praed would on to play John Ladiver in the Big Finish adaptation of the stage play The Curse of the Daleks.
• Hannah Smith played Rose and the Vrill in Survival of the Fittest.
• Toby Longworth is a veteran Big Finish actor, appearing as characters such as Beep the Meep and Josiah Dogbolter.

Best Quote

Don’t try to bluff me, Time Lord. You’ve only lived for a thousand years – compared to me, you’re an infant.

Vilus Krull

Previous Seventh Doctor review: Bang-Bang-a-Boom!

For more Seventh Doctor reviews, click here.