Ghost Light (1989) Review

''What is that thing, Doctor? It's horrible!!''
''Worse than the Daleks, Ace. It's the Day Of The Doctor novelisation.''

Ghost Light is like... graffiti. It's a thing that happened. It symbolises something depending on the creator's will. But you figure out why it's there.

WRITTEN BY

Marc Platt, who would later go on to become a prolific Big Finish writer(most notably the beloved Cybermen origin story Spare Parts) and the man behind the culmination of the Cartmel Masterplan, Lungbarrow.
Thank God those weren't cut short.

PLOT

ANALYSIS

I know for a fact that there's a number of fans, who are satisfied with Ghost Light in its present form. To them, it either made sense from the get-go or the lack of handholding made for a more layered experience.

But I'm not here to talk about a number of fans, I'm here to talk about all of them. After all, Doctor Who is a show meant for all ages, as the show's best producers(Verity Lambert, Barry Letts, Philip Hinchcliffe, Russell T. Davies...) well understood, and a story like this would never have been allowed on air during their tenure.

If it was a novel, I would have no qualms about the story as it's a great showcase of Platt's imagination, creativity and his ability to think outside the box. But as a TV serial made in this specific era, it is incredibly convoluted and poorly planned. The script is labyrinthine and declines to explain any of the events happening inside the Gabriel Chase house. It's left to the viewers to watch the show again and again and again to try and piece together the plotline. Good TV doesn't make you do homework.

And in case I am accused of simply ''not getting it'', I have read up a comprehensive synopsis of the story and I still think it's convoluted and just doesn't really translate well to the screen. Thus, it becomes a niche piece of work in what's already a niche television show(well, in the 1980s at least).

CHARACTERS

Sylvester McCoy oscillates between pretty good and terrible. There's a scene in Part 3(pictured above) that is a strong contender for the worst performance any actor portraying the Doctor has ever given. I mean, what is up with that gurning? Couldn't the director tell him to tone it down a bit?
Other than that, I'm beginning to notice the Seventh Doctor developing a sort of haughty, knowing demeanour that can only be the result of constantly being one step ahead of everyone else.

Sophie Aldred makes the most of the script, which is more focused on the companion than really any story prior to this. In concept, I like the idea of the show exploring a specific trauma, but the one suffered by Ace is a bit too peculiar to really work in my opinion: she blew up a house because she felt it was evil?
Anyway, I did very much enjoy the chemistry between Aldred and Sharon Duce's Control, who is even more feral and less ladylike than Ace herself(for reasons unknown), which provided the only real down-to-earth dynamic in the entire story.

Ian Hogg and John Hallam are both spectacular in their own ways as villains Josiah and Light, respectively, and manage to make sense of the characters even when the story doesn't. In fact, Hallam in particular is very memorable and gives a strange, ethereal, yet still threatening performance that was helped by the special effects, which made him seem more alien than most aliens we encounter on Doctor Who.

Carl Forgione must also be given props for helping to sell the advanced Neanderthal Nimrod, especially during the scenes where he recounts encountering Light back in his native time period.

I really liked Michael Cochrane's blustering, yet intelligent Redvers Fenn-Cooper, and the depiction of his mental breakdown(he'd forgotten who he was, and was literally searching for himself). And later on, he turns into the captain of the most mental spinoff ever(Big Finish better be working on it)!

NOTES

*Originally, this story was meant to be what eventually became Lungbarrow. If that had been the case, the Gabriel Chase house would've been the Doctor's family home on Gallifrey. I'd have far preferred that.

*What does "ratkin" mean?

*What's the thirty second penalty that Ace mentions as she exits the TARDIS? Is that part of her critique of the Doctor's driving skills? What other rules do they have? When did the TARDIS become a school?

*Apparently the Doctor is a part of the Royal Geographical Society, several times over. I would bet a pretty penny that all of those times were in his third incarnation.

*I love how in the middle of this insanity, Ace wants to stroll off for a random walk around Perivale as if it was the most casual day. Imagine Rose and Harriet Jones taking a break from the Slitheen invasion of 10 Downing Street to go shopping!

*Okay, cleverness aside, how does the Doctor know who Light is and what's going on in the Gabriel Chase house, because the very scant evidence certainly wouldn't provide him with immediate answers. I guess we can go with "he knows his aliens", but it just seems contrived to make him seem cleverer and I don't think that's particularly good writing.

BEST QUOTE

"The house will remember. Just the ghost of an evil memory lingering. A dark secret after the candle is out." - This line summarises the whole story for me. It's cool and creepy, but doesn't add up whatsoever.

CONCLUSION

Maybe I'll appreciate it more after watching it 10 more times, but guess what? I wasn't drawn into it enough to want to watch it 10 times.