❉ There’ll not be many left unnerved by the Angels’ use here; this is a story made for audio, and it’s a delight to listen to.
Ever since it was first announced back in 2020, Wink has been a highly anticipated release. Written by Lisa McMullin, the synopsis of Colin Baker’s and David Tennant’s Doctors fighting Weeping Angels on a planet where no one can see proved irresistible for many, and now two years later, the audio itself is here.
Being the third in the popular Out of Time series, pairing David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor with an older incarnation, the range knows exactly what it’s doing by now and wastes no time in teasing the cover’s central draw. The Doctors meet immediately after the title music, and their interactions are pretty much what you’d expect from a multi-Doctor special.
McMullin characterises them perfectly, and it goes without saying that both actors put their all into the parts as always, and are clearly having a blast recording.
They’re accompanied in this by a pleasingly small guest cast, comprising just three actors of Big Finish regulars as the planet’s natives and their enemies. By keeping to such a tiny ensemble, the claustrophobic nature of the play is only enhanced, and all three stars shine very brightly in their roles here.
It’s also not long before the story gets round to the cover’s other main draw, the Weeping Angels. Again, they’re used to excellent effect, repeating popular tricks as seen on TV such as manipulation of the voice box and showing off very disturbing new abilities – the idea of Weeping Angels reproducing asexually is absolutely terrifying.
Tennant may have faced off against them on TV, but this is of course the Sixth Doctor’s first time meeting Steven Moffat’s terrors. Colin’s long expressed his admiration for the creations in various interviews, even pointing out the obvious way to defeat them being winking which presumably inspired the story’s title, and it’s a pleasure to hear him get his wish in this story.
There’ll not be many left unnerved by the Angels’ use here, and it’s especially pleasing to hear more from the baby Weeping Angels only glimpsed in 2012’s The Angels Take Manhattan, a creepy little idea much underused in the episode.
They’re accompanied throughout by a haunting soundtrack by Howard Carter, fully making the most of the religious connections implied by their name, and the incidental music has a distinctly ‘80s feel, evoking the Sixth Doctor episodes this could have been a part of. The music, plus a scene featuring a “soundscape gallery” (presumably also Carter’s work) just proves this is a story made for audio, and it’s a delight to listen to.
Overall, Wink is a very good hour of drama. It’s an extremely pleasurable way to spend an hour, with unique ideas and great performances bouncing off the walls and although it’s probably not the deepest Doctor Who’s ever been (which absolutely isn’t a bad thing at all), it’s perhaps everything you could ever want from a Doctor Who audio.
❉ Doctor Who – Out of Time 3: Wink is now available to own as a collector’s edition CD (for just £10.99) or a digital download (for just £8.99), exclusively from www.bigfinish.com.
❉ Ezekiel Thorp is currently tweeting a Doctor Who Adventures cover every day over on his Twitter @Praxeus_stan, with lots of Casualty facts and takes in the meantime.
