Doctor who stories, by definition have to be tense, bazaar and fascinating and Ghost Light certainly hit the nail on the head. This episode is from the 26 season of Doctor who and aired as three equal parts in the October of 1989. The story is set in 1883 centres around the peculiar happenings at an old mansion house at Gabriel Chase in Perivale England, Ace’s hometown. When the Tardis arrives Ace reveals that she has been here before back in 1983 and had felt a strange presence in the house, it is this revelation that convinces the Doctor that he simply must know more.
Cue the introduction of the peculiar residents of Gabriel
Chase, a Neanderthal butler, a brainwashed house keeper, an insane explorer and
a spokesperson for the theory of evolution and the man of the house Josiah Samuel
Smith. With a full household of brainwashed staff things get pretty strange but
the strangest thing of all is the presence if a strange creature named ‘The
light’ which has been trapped in the basement of the house (which is actually a
stranded space ship)
The Light presents itself in the form of an angel and
reveals that thousands of years ago it came to earth as part of an expedition
to catalogue all life on the planet, he was overthrown by his staff and samples
who force him into an artificial sleep whilst they reap the rewards of their
freedom.
However in the absence of the
light Josiah Samuel Smith has evolved into man’s most dominant and advanced
form to date and has begun plotting to take control of the British empire. When
he awakens he decides to destroy his catalogue for good.
The Doctor cleverly foils the plans of both the Light and
Josiah Samuel Smith, imprisoning Josiah within the ship and allowing the now
evolved and no longer brainwashed residents of the home to go exploring with
the intent of cataloguing and exploring together.
This episode had some really creepy undertones in that ‘old
haunted museum’ kind of way. There were giant insect men known as ‘husks’ in the
basement, an incredibly angry housekeeper named Mrs Pritchard who carried a gun
and frequently attacked Ace, and the presence of the insane explorer who was
found sitting on the floor of a bedroom in a strait jacket screaming.
Amongst the dark themes hinted at there were a lot of references
to the idea of Judgement day and evolution throughout the episode as ‘The light’,
a creature which takes on the form of a golden angel, is so appalled by the
evolution of man that he decides to purge his catalogue of earthen things so
that he can erase the impureness of man.
This wasn’t our favourite episode, the story didn’t seem
to flow as well as we have come to expect from Doctor Who and the villains did
not seem quite so formidable or cunning however Sylvester McCoy worked well
with what he had and proved to be as witty as ever whilst Ace maintained her no
nonsense attitude as she tackled the household staff with ferocity. For this we
have given this episode 3 out of 5.
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