‘VIGIL’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
A Trip to Hastings with the Sixth Doctor and Peri
This story called ‘Vigil’ is by Michael Collier, which happens to be one of many pseudonyms used by Stephen Cole, a regular ‘Doctor Who’ writer in books and audio. The story features the Sixth Doctor and Peri. I found this a rather fascinating audio short story.
For one thing, ‘Vigil’ was the only exclusive audio story to be included in the ‘Out of the Darkness’ audio anthology, now included in ‘Tales From The TARDIS: Volume One’. It wasn’t printed in any book anthologies like ‘Moon Graffiti’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’ were.
In the story, the Doctor and Peri visit Hastings in England, where a series of hideous deaths have taken place. The Doctor works out how the deaths can be linked to a little girl who’s in a coma whilst Peri is reuniting with two friends she used to know long ago. 🙂
The audio story is read by Nicola Byrant, who plays Peri in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series and the Big Finish audios. I enjoyed Nicola’s reading of the story. This was recorded before Nicola did the ‘Destiny of the Doctor’ audio story ‘Trouble in Paradise’, which I’ve also enjoyed.
‘Vigil’ is a story that has a ‘Reaping’ vibe to it. This is especially when Peri is reuniting with her old friend Martin, who’s engaged to Meryl. There’s a suggestion Peri and Martin used to like each other, especially when they’re socialising and they have bottles of wine at night.
The story does become grim and depressing when the Doctor uncovers the truth about Val Menard and his daughter Lizzie, who’s been in a coma and causing unintentional deaths. It’s shocking what happened when Meryl is murdered and how Martin is involved.
‘Vigil’ rating – 7.5/10
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Bradley's Basement 
Late 1990s Doctor Who borrowed far more from the murder-mystery genre than we tend to see these days. There was far more emphasis on the idea that some of the worst evils were committed by human beings, not alien monsters, because those evils were were ordinary.
I remember Vigil distinctly because of its decision to pull back on the story’s fantasy veneer at the last moment. Frighteningly enough, nothing Martin does is extraterrestrial or fantastical. He’s not compelled by outside forces, brainwashed or anything of the kind.
It’s, instead, a simple and all too human reaction. A familiar facet of British crime procedurals. Peri learns that Martin’s resentment of Meryl has been building to out-and-out hatred. One night, he snaps, and kills his wife, and it’s clear that would’ve happened whether the Doctor and Peri had been there or not.
That’s far more scary than any bug-eyed monster hiding in the walls.
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Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘Vigil’. This is a fascinating audio short story, especially with it featuring the murder of Meryl being caused by Martin. It brings in a gritty, grim and domestic element, particularly with it not being caused by anything fantastical or alien. It’s something that current ‘Doctor Who’ lacks at the moment and it’d be interesting if the latest TV series attempted something along those lines once in a while. Murder mysteries can be compelling as much as fantasy thrillers can be and they don’t need to include alien elements in them. It would be quite amusing to see the Doctor be surprised that a murder mystery wasn’t caused by aliens and that it was caused by a human all along. I enjoyed ‘The Merfolk Murders’ on audio, which didn’t need to have a sci-fi element in it as it’s a pure historical Agatha Christie-styled whodunnit story.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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Good point, Tim. I think that particular brand of darkness is a difficult thing for modern Doctor Who to balance. That’s maybe why we haven’t seen it in more recent years. Vigil was written when the series was still very much something produced for older fans who remembered the original run. Not a family programme, as such, but an adult one.
I don’t think we’ll see a return to it any time soon, unfortunately. It doesn’t fit the chipper, theme-park aesthetic of Disney. If it did, it would probably be more in the vein of Sister Boniface Mysteries than, say, something like Foyle’s War. More tongue-in-cheek.
The comparisons to The Reaping are pretty apropos, as The Reaping is one-of-a-kind but emblematic of the time it was produced, too. The grunge and grimdark of the 2000s where Big Finish borrowed from the “domesticity” of the 2006 revival series. A tone far more in keeping with something like Edge of Darkness, The Crow or Cracker. There is no story precisely like it, but it has a lot of things in it that you could find in other stories of the era.
Doctor Who can still do horror — and effectively — so that’s not the defining distinction… But I don’t think that the series really chills any more. We’re not likely to see the streaming series take on the tone of something like, say, Love, Death & Robots. Because, not only has Doctor Who changed in the 20 years hence, but so has its target demographic.
It’s no longer adults, it feels much less like families, and now more like children’s programming. Not a bad thing, by any means. There are some excellent and clever children’s shows out there… But the distance between Vigil and The Well is measured by things like Space Babies. The era that produced Space Babies is not likely to be the same one that produced Vigil.
On the one hand, I’m delighted the series is still trying new things (an episode about sign language is brilliant in concept and, again, long overdue).
On the other, I do miss Doctor Who‘s freedom to wander the greater darkness through and coming out of the Wilderness Years. Things like The Reaping, Falls the Shadow, Night Thoughts, The Harvest, Goth Opera, The Holy Terror, The Juggernauts, Terror Firma… The chilling, the bloody and the tragic.
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Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for sharing your extra thoughts. I think target demographics do tend to take priority nowadays in storytelling. Not just in ‘Doctor Who’, but also in other sci-fi and fantasy franchises like ‘Star Wars’ and the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’. It’s a shame, as it drains the excitement and spoils the enjoyment compared with what we used to see and enjoy in compelling storytelling and character development beforehand. I’m enjoying the current ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, but it does annoy and frustrate me that I have to come across arguments from people afterwards about the show’s quality and viewing figures, as it spoils the enjoyment of what I’ve seen and affects my opinions. The video reactions I’m currently doing are a blend of what I’ve enjoyed as well as gently mocking some of the stories’ weaker points, which is something I don’t find in many people’s opinions of ‘Doctor Who’ stories these days, as they’re often one-sided.
I veer more to checking out and enjoying the Big Finish audios and non-TV media like books, comics and short stories these days since they’re not severely affected by world opinions and you can make your own judgements without having so many outside influences affecting them. ‘Vigil’ has been an enjoyable ‘Doctor Who’ audio story for me because of the fact it tries to do something different and matches to the style of storytelling that I’ve enjoyed in Big Finish audios like ‘The Reaping’ and ‘Goth Opera’. I’m looking forward to doing more reviews on Big Finish audios and maybe a short story here and there when it comes to my blog’s 10th anniversary celebrations in September.
I enjoyed ‘The Well’ very much last Saturday, finding it an improvement over ‘The Robot Revolution’ and ‘Lux’ in Series 15 so far. I’m looking forward to checking out ‘Lucky Day’ next, especially with seeing Millie Gibson’s return as Ruby Sunday and finding out how Pete McTighe fares in the neo-RTD era compared to Chris Chibnall’s era.
Many thanks and Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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I’ve started to laugh at the mention of viewing figures, to be honest. The landscape of how we consume media is so changed that the number of butts in seats on premiere night isn’t really relevant any more. And, even if it was… We remember what “cult television” means, right? We know that it’s about stories that have enduring legacies, whether or not they had the viewership at the time to support it?
I think it’s a modern phenomenon to have so much saturation of opinion when it comes to a piece of media. It was a very different experience coming to something like Doctor Who, pre-internet, with literally no idea of popular fan consciousness.
Season 22 is still one of my favourites and I feel does a lot right (particularly in the realm of horror fiction). Seasons 1 and 2 are pretty formative for my idea of science-fiction in general (i.e. experimental tales that push boundaries whatever their period). The Thirteenth Doctor’s era is underrated and I think will garner the respect it’s earned with time. I think, for what it does right, there are also deeply problematic elements of the Moffat era that an incredibly vocal section of fandom categorically refuse to recognise, and so on.
Discourse is good. Discussion is good. It’s why I comment on Bradley’s Basement. But, I agree, it’s a slog sometimes to carve through the white noise to find the genuine kernel of interesting observations. Particularly when it comes from viewers who’ve fallen out of love with a series and… don’t… recognise… that. That’s a really challenging position because it’s not a discussion about the merits or drawbacks of what’s in front of them, it’s about the memory of what was.
Without the space to let a story breathe, to change and grow like a living thing, the story dies. I think we know that better than anyone as writers ourselves. And part of the joy of revisiting old material should be that it’s not really the same after so many years is because you, the reader/listener/viewer are not the same after so many years. It becomes about a different kind of discovery. A new look from a new you at something old and treasured.
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Hi Wolfie,
It’s amusing when the overnight viewing figures are recorded and they happen to be lower than expected, whereas in fact, people are likely to have seen an episode before the transmission time because of either BBC iPlayer or Disney+. I can’t claim to understand how viewing figures are recorded and that’s less of a thing for me to worry about when all that matters is that I see the episode when it becomes available. I’m glad I can watch ‘Doctor Who’ episodes any time of the day, thanks to BBC iPlayer sharing them earlier before the transmission time on BBC One. With Series 14, it was 00:00 on Saturdays and with Series 15, it’s 08:00. I think it’d be better for the episodes to be shown on the transmission times if a lot the viewing figures aren’t coming in as hoped, but at least I get to see the episode without the worry of missing it.
I’m intrigued now that ‘Wish World’/’The Reality War’ is getting a cinematic release. Whether I’ll see the two-part finale on the big screen is another matter, as I’m going to Milton Keynes that weekend and I wonder if I can find time to see it depending on what showing time(s) it has.
I do find when checking out stories in prose form as well as audio form, there’s more time to process information about what’s happening in a story and with characters compared to when seeing it on a TV screen. It was like that for me when checking out ‘Vigil’ and I’ve just enjoyed checking out ‘The King’s Demons’ Target novelization/audiobook, finding how in-depth it is a story compared to its TV counterpart (which I’m looking forward to doing my review on soon). I’m looking forward to checking out ‘The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures’ by Big Finish when they become available, as it’ll be fascinating how the Thirteenth Doctor era is interpreted in audio terms by Big Finish compared to when it was presented on TV.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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