The Lovecraft Invasion written by Robert Valentine and directed by Scott Handcock

What’s it About: The Doctor, Constance and Flip join forces with 51st-century bounty hunter, Calypso Jonze, to hunt down the Somnifax: a weaponised mind-parasite capable of turning its host's nightmares into physical reality. Chasing it through the time vortex to Providence, Rhode Island in 1937, they arrive too late to stop it from latching onto a local author of weird fiction... Howard Phillips Lovecraft. With time running out before Lovecraft's monstrous pantheon breaks free and destroys the world, the Doctor must enter Lovecraft's mind to fight the psychic invader from within. Can he and Flip overcome the eldritch horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos? And will Constance and Calypso survive babysitting the infamously xenophobic Old Gentleman of Providence himself? 

Softer Six: It strikes me we have reached such a wealth of stories featuring the Doctor and the TARDIS that if the story is not about a new companion initially coming aboard then the shock of entering the TARDIS for the first time is reduced down to about 2.5 seconds to ensure the story runs smoothly. Unlike the time when the show took an entire story to justify the madness of the concept, nowadays the Doctor ushers in somebody like Calypso Jones through the doors and just expects them to grasp it. Can you imagine which planet the Omnifrax has its greedy little creative sucking tentacles targeted on? Because the Doctor exhibits no surprise. As much as it pains the Doctor to say it, he intends to return the Somnifax to the orbital lab to perish in the explosion it escaped from. Doing good and generally having adventures is how his time with Flip and Constance is summed up. They most certain don’t invoice, saving the universe is their own reward. His reaction to Lovecraft is instant and bitter; he admits freely that he is a historical figure that he never wanted to meet. When asked if he is carrying a weapon the Doctor admits he only has his wits about him. There’s a wonderful moment where the Doctor tries to pronounce one of Lovecraft’s mad names and finds himself trying several times. We’ve all been there, Doc. Described as a cunning and resourceful trickster. The Doctor, like many people, fell in love with a body of work and then found out something disturbing about the person who created it. It makes revisiting that work a troubling experience. Childish he may be, but he’s no fool.

Constant Companion: In what must be an in-joke about Peri, Constance declares ten seconds into the story that all the corridors look the same. It might have been more interesting to explore this story from Constance’s point of view because she was dragged from a time of patriotism and a hatred for Johnny foreigner attempting to invade. Constance has terrible trouble dealing with a friend who doesn’t identify with a gender but she makes stride to drop the ‘Miss’ throughout the story.

Flippin’ Heck: Flip refuses to sit this one out, despite the Doctor’s suggestion. The Doctor and Flip have a firm conversation about Lovecraft’s racism and given they both lean to the left wing they are in complete agreement about the abhorrence of his views. How the Doctor brings in Flip and her cousin Darren at the climax made me howl with laughter. Anybody who was ensure about Flip as the sixth Doctor’s companion must surely have been won over by now? Gosh, they work well as a pair.

Standout Performance: Would it be possible for the Doctor to team up with a Bounty Hunter in the future because Robyn Holdaway gives a terrific performance as Calypso Jones, and falls in with the TARDIS crew with remarkable efficiency. Her chemistry with Miranda Raison (with whom she spends most of the story) is palpable.

Controversial Dialogue: ‘If someone does choose to read his work then they do so with the knowledge that it was written by a racist...’ This is a potentially dangerous route for Big Finish to go down because one of the writers in their back catalogue has been the central figure in a transphobia scandal. It’s something that has been explored in the past couple of years. Can the artist be separated from the art? Can you enjoy the story without ever claiming to support the storyteller? Should Harry Potter be boycotted? Are you a racist if you stick on and enjoy The Talons of Weng-Chiang? I have heard these ideas bandied about, and I have my own opinions, which I don’t care to share here not through any fear of scandal but because I don’t think there are any easy answers or broad solutions to these kinds of questions. Am I going to continue to enjoy the William Hartnell stories knowing that he was a dreadful old racist at times. I’m afraid I am. Am I getting married to a man from another country? Yes, I am. It’s sticky waters, it’s inflammatory enough to destroy friendships and breed hate amongst people and I fear (as much as I have suggested that Big Finish should be more controversial these days because they have played it safe for so long) Big Finish is better off not engaging with it. Especially if it means their own back catalogue should be boycotted as a result of the line of thinking they are encouraging. Imagine if the New Series takes on Tesla and Churchill had been this on the nose and condemning? Would those stories be better for pointing out how monstrous they could be?

Great Ideas: The Doctor is on the hunt for the Somnifax, a creature that latches onto a host and turns their darkest thoughts into a realty and turn it on the rest of the population. We better hope that it doesn’t encounter anybody with a truly warped mind… As sentient bio weapons go it is rather impressive, but monstrous. The Somnifax can weaponise reality but it is also bound by rules. By turning himself into Cthulhu he makes himself susceptible to the banishment ritual.

Isn’t it Odd: HP Lovecraft is described as a racist and all-round xenophobe and his prejudices informed his work. It’s a stunningly blunt dismissal of a man who I’m certain wasn’t somebody I would ever choose to know because of his appalling beliefs but in the wake of the BLM riots of 2020 a new, less agreeable take on the man has been injected into the story. It’s a very difficult line to navigate because in the wake of the horror that took place this year and the outcry of anger that followed, Big Finish could hardly be seen to be harbouring and celebrating somebody who was infamous for his racist views. On the other hand to tip the story so far into preaching against his xenophobia means that this is clearly a reaction of the times rather than a necessary addition to the story. It is perhaps the one and only time that Doctor Who can be said to have taken a woke lead as its driving force. I have no issue with the Doctor calling out a racist…but it does fly in the face of previous Big Finish stories where the very same Doctor has worked alongside Davros (the ultimate racist) and applauded murderers (Burke and Hare) and rubbed shoulders with a Nazi in the previous story. This is one of the few times where the Doctor is a mouthpiece for the company that is producing the story and I can understand if people have an objection to that. It also gives this story a fascinating talking point beyond the story itself, even if that is an inflammatory one.

Standout Scene: There’s a far more composed scene where the Doctor and Flip (both detractors of Lovecraft and his work) have to engage with Randolph Carter (believed to be Lovecraft’s fictional alter ego) who is asking about his creator’s work. Rather than go for the jugular, the Doctor gently points out the world around them is his fiction and that perhaps not a work of a kind man expressing his provocative views. That he is the wish fulfilment of a disappointed man. It’s a nuanced scene, and one that I personally believe was from the original script. Baker is much gentler, and less blunt than he was in the early scenes discussing Lovecraft.

The horror of the final episode and Lovecraft being menaced by his own creations. The divide between his fiction and his racism is thin and being plagued by the thing that he fears the most feels like poetic justice. It’s a far more creative condemnatory approach to the man than the unsharpened dialogue in the first episode. The sound design for these scenes of mystic ceremony are extraordinary.

I appreciated the fact that the Doctor whisked away his three companions before making his final speech to Lovecraft. ‘You could so easily have been better than you are’ is a powerful line, delivered perfectly. I would have made that the entire speech. Colin Baker is magnificent here, and it is nice to see some real bite back in his Doctor. ‘His work will live on, warts and all.’

Result: In between reviewing the last Big Finish story and this one, the final main range adventure has been announced and we head, somewhat mutedly, towards the end of the bedrock of Big Finish storytelling. I suppose the question on my lips is whether The Lovecraft Invasion makes a compelling enough case for the future of this range and full-length classic series original stories or whether this entirely justifies the decision of the producers to shift the classic Doctors over to box sets (where I am sure the cost of producing their stories can be annuitized far more economically) or not? I realise this is quite an expectation to place on a single story, but here we are. The Doctor walks inside the mind of HP Lovecraft sounds like a terrific concept for an audio, and indeed having Scott Handcock at the helm this is an entertaining mind fuck of a story. Before then you have to get past the revisions to this story that ensures we know that Lovecraft was an appalling racist and that Big Finish in no way endorses his beliefs, and from the Doctor’s mouth no less. Everybody seems to have an opinion about this and I have done my best to avoid mine simply because to do so would suggest there is an answer to the whole ‘can you separate the art from the artist?’ debate, which, despite what some people might tell you, I don’t think there is. It’s an uncomfortable, provocative subject and for once perhaps Big Finish shouldn’t have played it safe. The story of the Somnifax itself is engagingly told, and it’s ripe for exciting set pieces and features the most enjoyable set of regulars the main range has to offer these days, along with a fantastic addition of Calypso Jones. I do wonder if the story could have been condensed into a single hour, because it essentially plays the same kind of set piece over and over, but it’s aurally striking, and full of nightmarish imagery that will sneak into my mind when I go sleep tonight. Whatever his politics, he had a disturbing and fertile imagination, and that shines through. You’ll learn a lot about Lovecraft and his work but also be told how to feel about him too. That battle of education and instruction takes place in a really fun, and controversial story. Take of that what you will. The revisions have lessened the impact of this story, but the work of talented people still shines through. It is well paced, well acted and put together by the most accomplished director Big Finish has. Does it justify the decision to end the main range as it stands? Yes and no, with the emphasis on the no: 7/10