153) GHOST LIGHT

A classical haunted house story where strange creatures lurk in the basement. The plot incorporated many ideas – science, religion, history and psychology in new invigorating ways that have not been seen before in the show. The serial opens up well, eerie, sinister and spine chilling aided by an incredible soundtrack by Mark Ayres and episode one is remarkable strong. As the story moves on there a few dead ends. Some of the characters are visual metaphors or filler – Ernest Matthews a man of God looks and walks like an evolved ape. The script has intelligence but is perhaps too smart for its own good, we have an alien who has been cataloguing Earth’s lifeforms from the beginning but loses control when everything evolves, the husks in the basements are previous bodies worn by Josiah Smith who also wants to control the British Empire -  by assassinating Queen Victoria – who suddenly can’t fulfil this because he isn’t invited to the Royal Palace, Ace feels insecure in Gabriel Chase, Nimrod is a Neanderthal rescued by Light, people argue about the evolution and the Bible, Gwendoline and Lady Pritchard turn out to be daughter and mother and they don’t realise it - confused yet? Sometimes the best scripts work when the plot is easy to follow. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred are on top form and the characters have never been closer, The Doctor truly cares for his insecure young friend who must revisit her past if she is to developed further. The cast is blessed with many big names at the time, but John Hallam is underused, and Light is a very darkly written character – anything interesting is left in the basement where he came from. A mixed bag which is neither good nor bad it’s just hard to get properly into. ***​