Night's Black Agents

 


Night's Black Agents by Marty Ross

Despite not possessing the pure gold that is Colin Baker - I had never known how wrong it would feel to have a Sixth Doctor story without the man himself, his voice is so magnificent - Night's Black Agents is a definite step up from City of Spires in every aspect that I would care to list - a dignified production that is not overambitious in it's storytelling (it could only really be a companion chronicle) and ultimately probably irrelevant in terms to the Jamie and Six arc, but yet it doesn't feel superfluous, it feels like a natural extension, and one that fits quite well. Frazier is an excellent narrator, and although, as mentioned, his Colin Baker does not compel as well as his Troughton, he still can carry the story quite well. I'm not an enormous Jamie fan, as the stories that I've done with him, while good, have sort of had him doing generic Ian or Steven shit (probably, as said, due to my inexperience with the Troughton era beyond the cursory) but this story really does fit him quite well. Although it doesn't have a framing device - one of my favorite aspects of the companion chronicles - it does feel personal, and real, like these stories should feel. The best part of the story is the gothic atmosphere and mood it conveys - not only with the quite elegantly written prose, but with Hugh Ross's performance as Merodach - jesus christ was this guy cast so well. He's a vampiric and disgusting figure, like something out of Torchwood but with this deranged gothic energy to him. He's slimy, yet he's personable, and he is so damn good. A good performer can help to elevate an entire audio, and Merodach is just, well, immensely memorable. This is a really delectable horror piece in general. I don't think that I'm going to relisten to it any time soon, but I do think I will in hindsight, look upon it fondly. 8/10

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