The
Doctor and Leela face off with space ghosts at an all-girl college!
After the
dreadful Suburban Hell last month, I am delighted to report that Cloisters of
Terror is one of the best Fourth Doctor Adventure titles we’ve had yet. The
perfect blend of supernatural phantasmagoria and hard science fiction.
Let’s start with
the most dramatic change since last month: The characters! Last month we had an
assortment of unlikable characters grating our nerves in the suburbs. This
month we have Scottish girls and nun educators with a little UNIT thrown in.
Don’t get too excited, it’s one of those Remember The New Guy hand waves, but
who cares? Emily Shaw is such a wonderful character who is quite unusually very Agent
Scully towards our Tom Baker Doctor. That’s not all. Claudia Grant and Jane Slavin play two students
who are somehow at the heart of this ghostly mystery and despite it feeling
like their accent slipping on certain lines, they did the roles justice. Though
they were really only there for the plot. Very stationary characters.
Leela is one of
my favorite companions. The partnership between her and the Doctor is one of
absolute symbiosis. He’s the brain, she’s the brawn. She’s useful. She has
skills that are needed in every story. They may always be the same skills, but
they serve the plot and it makes her valuable. Like Jamie before her and Ace
after her, companions who act as the Doctor’s bodyguard are fantastic to
watch/listen. Louise Jameson is as always on top form and just delightful as
the noble savage.
Last month had a
great concept, but poor villains. This month has a great concept and
interesting villains. The titular Sisters are unusual in that there is more to
them than meets the eye. It’s always nice when villains are portrayed as more
than just bitchy or grumpy man children who want to destroy everything. Even
the simplest effort to show them as sympathetic or tragic can go a long way to
making them fiercely exciting to listen to. This is what happens here and it is
expertly done.
The story
itself, as a whole, is pretty standard. It’s not overly complicated or anything.
It’s one of those titles where your first impression isn’t likely to be
dampened with a second or third or even a tenth listen. It’s consistent
storytelling.
Rating this
story: 7.5/10. No sexy nun lap dances I’m afraid.
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