Ghost Light [TV/1989.10.4 ~ 10.18]

★★★★★

  Another all-timer for the classic series, its last masterpiece. Ghost Light is creepy, confident, sleek and smart. It's always been understandable why people find this one confusing (to the point where that's its dominating characteristic for many), since Marc Platt practically threw everything he had into this three-parter; nonetheless, it's my opinion that the serial comes out completely understadable, obfuscating practically nothing (everything's explained, pretty much) and yet still maintaining a baseline amount of obscurity that it retains its sense of mystery, its sense of otherness. Ghost Light feels like a Dr. Who serial made by aliens... aliens who haeve a basic idea of what the Victorian lifestyle was like but can't emulate more than that, so they instead create this batshit insane story of evolution, light and facing your fears. I'm holding my tongue on whether or not this is Platt's best work -- after all, it's at least a little bit bleak to call someone's debut work their best -- but it's certainly a damn incredible debut from a soon-to-be prolific Who writer.

  You can absolutely tell this was the final serial to be produced and filmed; everyone, from director Alan Wareing to leads Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, are as confident as they can be. They've (and especially with McCoy) perfected their performances, their grasp on their respective characters, and what we viewers are left with is a three-part showcase of the Seventh Doctor and Ace at their height. The Doctor's a cunning beast who plays multiple games at once, and Ace is a force of nature who isn't afraid to admit her fear of the past. With leads are strong as these, it's hard for an adventure not to be good... so imagine my delight on first viewing, all those years ago, when all these other characters were equally as fantastic. Josiah Smith, Control, Nimrod and Light -- all fantastic, eccentric characters that are horrifying in their own way, and empathetic in their own way. It's little wonder, with all of these strong characterisastions, vivid imagery and sleek production value (plus a truly incredible score by Mark Ayres, which I own on CD), that I'm always reminded of how this began its life as Lungbarrow... the early TV script version of it anyway. The funniest thing is that, within the haunted halls of Gabriel Chase and its sounds of the forest, underground spaceship command decks with abandoned, decaying husks, and mothers and daughters turned to stone... you can still feel the remnants of a story of family in Gallifrey. Does that make me like Ghost Light more? Maybe so, if it's even possible for me to love this serial more than I already do.

  I cannot begin to tell you how astounding Ghost Light is, how confident the production is, how memorable its characters are (I'd be hard pressed to find anyone who finds Light forgettable), how palpable and dense its themes of evolution and change are, and how wonderfully it portrays the Doctor and Ace. Alan Wareing shot two of the best classic series serials back to back... he definitely had the sauce, didn't he? A top 10 classic serial without a doubt.