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Doctor Who: The Haunting Of Thomas Brewster by Jonathan Morris
01/06/2008 . Source: Sue Davies 
CD. pub: Big Finish ISBN: 978-1-84435-316-3. 120 minute CD. Price: £12.99 (UK)) voices: Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Leslie Ash, Christian Coulson, John Pickard, Barry McCarthy, Sid Mitchell and Trevor Cooper. Buy Doctor Who: The Haunting Of Thomas Brewster in the USA - or Buy Doctor Who: The Haunting Of Thomas Brewster in the UK  check out web site www.BigFinish.com
Life in Victorian London is hard for the orphaned Thomas Brewster. He has been abandoned. His mother drowned herself in the Thames when he was young and he ends up in the 'Spike', the Workhouse. You would think that would be hard enough but he is haunted by the ghost of his mother. As he gets older, the psychic link gets stronger and his mother gets more insistent. Then there is the mysterious blue box and the two visitors who seem anxious to meet him.
The Doctor (Peter Davison) and companion Nyssa find themselves at the centre of an inexplicable event and the convergent point is young Thomas Brewster. They try to track him down but there are always people to prevent them from getting to him.
An accident means Nyssa is catapulted out of the TARDIS and finds she is alone on a London street and meets Robert McIntosh. He takes her to the Doctor who has spent a year working in Victorian London waiting for her arrival. McIntosh, his new assistant, is unaware of the Doctor's extra-terrestrial origins and simply believes him to be a great scientist. But the Doctor has been trying to discover what has happened to the TARDIS and why there is a spate of thefts of scientific equipment while he's been waiting for Nyssa.
This is a jolly little tale with a strong influence of Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' and the dismal whiff of Victorian London. It's a little light on period detail but we are only meant to get the merest hint of the stink. There is a pleasing circularity to it but the villains don't really get scary enough, even though there is death of a main character, it isn't really dealt with merely swept along by the continuing action. I can understand time constraints but there is scarcely a reference to it which makes the story feel hollow at its centre.
Jonathan Morris, the writer, has done a few of these now and does get the spirit of Doctor Number 4 apart from my reservation above and Davison is, of course, such a an old hand this is second nature to him. He really does have the most gorgeous-honeyed Who voice that I'd follow him anywhere. Whoops! Lost my reviewer cool there. Seriously, Davison, manages to make any material completely believable and he avoids the overly smug that occasionally inflicts the latest TV incarnation. Yes, we know you're clever but you don't need to tell us how stupid we are, Doctor.
As usual, the extras cast and crew interviews are very good and make excellent background information.
Sue Davies
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