Review: Project: Twilight

I made the mistake of listening to Project: Twilight at night, whilst lying in bed. I could get through one episode before going to sleep, I thought, and polish the other three off in the morning. The best-laid plans... By 3am, my iPod was working its way through Part Four, and I was totally absorbed in the story. And just a tad terrified, too.

Project: Twilight is the next in the series of adventures for the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn, and it's written by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright. The TARDIS has landed in London, on the banks of the Thames, where the Doctor is indulging his love of takeaway food. The time travellers stumble upon a trail of dead animals which seem to have been eaten, which leads them into a dark alleyway where a man has been attacked. They're then drawn into a shady underground world where a casino boss pays his associates in blood and hides strange experiments, and vampires stalk the streets...

Not since The Chimes of Midnight has a Big Finish story engrossed me this much, let alone been so scary. Scott and Wright have written a story that's nothing like any other Doctor Who adventure we've seen, and is a bloody good romp at the same time. It's pervaded by a mood of darkness and menace, and it twists and turns in the most unexpected ways. At the start, you'd be forgiven for interpreting it as a standard Eastenders-esque gangland story, but it soon darts off in horrifying new directions. One particular moment early on, where a character meets an unfortunate end, is probably the most gruesome thing you'll hear from Big Finish. Sinister sound design offsets the atmopshere nicely, giving us an almost-gothic backdrop for the story to unfold upon.

Evelyn, though, takes it all in her stride. There are moments when she's shocked and shaken by what she sees, but the Doctor's attempts to protect her are often met with defiance on her part. Thanks to a brilliant performance by Maggie Stables, it's clear by this stage that Evelyn is one of the Doctor's very best companions, and she's utilised very well here indeed, given the chance to show off an impressive range of emotions. Colin Baker is good too, but there's a niggling feeling throughout that this isn't the sort of environment or story that the Sixth Doctor works well in.

The guest cast are also quite impressive, with Holly de Jong as smoky-voiced vampire Amelia Doory being my personal favourite, giving a performance that's really quite elegant as well as being unnerving. Rob Dixon as Reggie Mead gives us a Phil Mitchell-style antagonist, somewhat reliant on cliches but executed very well on the whole, and Rosie Cavaliero is endearing as Cassie. Despite having a relatively small role, Stephen Chance is superb in his short scenes as the mysterious Nimrod, and he really deserves the chance to develop the character further. It's not always clear which characters are "good" and which are "bad", and the characters as written are open to interpretation, but the excellent performances of the guest cast are certainly very considered and contribute significantly to the story's success.

Project: Twilight is a gritty, surprising and violent adventure, but above all it's totally unmissable.