10. Winter for the Adept

Fun and twisty with a meh ending. India Fisher's first foray into Doctor Who, you can see why she became such a beloved companion.

For years I thought this story was sadly underrated, but on reflection, I think I really just enjoy it rather more than it deserves. It has a nice atmosphere, established in part by the otherwise peculiar flashback-style narration. It's not clear why this story is being told in flashback, or to whom, but it makes nice work of establishing the setting and introducing the characters in Part One. From there, the story proceeds as a serious of somewhat tedious red herrings, and the Doctor systematically tests and discards one theory after another before finally revealing the truth, which turns out to be a bit of a damp squib. The cast doesn't help much. Only India Fisher manages to bring her character to life off the page, which is a shame as Peril is such an unlikable character. I've never seen “Babylon 5”, but Peter Jurasik's performance here certainly doesn't recommend it. Despite all of these flaws, for some reason this is a story that I'm always happy to return to.

This is yet another very ordinary Davidson story. It not bad as such, just not that good. Which is a bit of a shame because the 5th Doctor hasn’t really had a lot of love from the Big Finish adventures so far. Written by Doctor Who stalwart Andrew Cartmel (best known for his work on 7th Doctor TV episodes) it is a pseudo ghost story set in a remote and exclusive finishing school in Switzerland.
The story is at its best when it plays the poltergeist elements as a haunting rather than an alien invasion story. The last episode is clunky and falls short of the set up from the previous three. The general ambience is well done and the cast do a decent enough job with what they have.

The only really jarring characterisation is Sarah Sutton’s Nyssa. It’s not that she does a poor job, just that the script and direction has her play the part as a bit of a whiner. Yes, she has been the victim of a bit of a techno-error from the Doctor, but boy does she go on about it. For me Nyssa was always the most pro-Doctor of the crowded Tardis during the 5th Doctor time on board, so this portrayal is very much out of character.

We also get an array of plumy accents. Sally Faulkner does her best Miss Jean Brodie impersonation and of course India Fisher does her best Edwardian adventuress impersonation as an audition for Charlotte Pollard and TV’s Masterchef.

It all bumps along rather predictably and it’s telling that two of the cliff-hangers are the Doctor’s comments about a genuine haunting and a séance.

There is very little joy upon a second listening, where all the huge plot gaps become even clearer. At some point, surely the 5th Doctor will get a decent script. Alas, despite the pedigree of the writer this is not it. Very ordinary fare.

Winter for the Adept is a haunting tale of strange poltergeist activity at a girl's school. Both the music and the soundscape were very minimalist compared to more recent Big Finish releases but it really works to good affect here, creating a great sense of atmosphere.

Peter Davison has a very nice turn as the Doctor. The plot and the guest casts were good including India Fisher making her Doctor Who debut (though not as Charley). The main thing that hinders the story is Nyssa's characterization. While there were times when I appreciated her having a bit more life than some scripts gave her, she had a few practically Teganesque moments that were very jarring. Also, I'm really not sure what the point was of the opening and closing narration from one of the characters.

Still, despite these flaws, this is an enjoyably spooky release.