The Cloisters of Terror [AUDIO/2015.6.4]

★★★★☆

  A triumph of audio drama direction, sound design and writing, The Cloisters of Terror feels like it

 could comfortably fit between the more experimental first 50 monthly range releases from Big Finish. Nicholas Briggs shows just how good a grasp he has on creating an auarl atmosphere, and Jonathan Morris rises to that standard by delivering a story tailor-made for atmosphere and bone-chilling imagery. When I mentioned earlier that this wouldn't be out of place in the Big Finish roster during its early days, I mean it as the utmost compliment; back then, all they had were imagination and passion, and this feels like a continuation of that passion, that spark of the mind that many releases nowadays don't have.

  Not many of the Fourth Doctor Adventures are what I'd call truly scary, but Cloisters would be the one I'd single out if asked; the convent/college setting, the three women (like something straight out of Macbeth) haunting new girls to take away with them, the mystery surrounding the college going back almost a thousand years ago... a mixture of so many elements that I adore. Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are on top form here as well, with Jameson in particular excelling in portraying Leela's subtle indications of fear and her equally strong willpower to suppress them, and Rowena Cooper makes a welcome return as Liz Shaw's mother. With so much going right, I'm left with very little to nitpick and be bothered by. The Cloisters of Terror is a welcome, refreshing little horror tale that sticks to the mind for a long time after you finish it.