Review by Daniel Mansfield

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The Quintessence, by writing duo Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle, feels different. Where other Third Doctor Adventures releases feel like they’re almost slavishly recreating 70s-style stories, this feels altogether modern, giving us a dark, emotionally-charged, Gothic masterpiece that takes the familiar characters of the Third Doctor and Jo Jones and pushes them further than we’ve ever seen (or heard).

Tim Treloar once again plays the Third Doctor, the role he inherited from the late, great Jon Pertwee, and, as he approaches his tenth year playing the part, he just gets better and better. Treloar gets to show all sides of his Doctor here, from the familiar combination of bombast and tenderness, to a surprising amount of fury, which really comes to the fore in this tale.

The star of the show, however, is Katy Manning as the older, wiser version of Jo, who serves as the emotional core of the story. Grieving the loss of her husband Cliff, this version of Jo carries a depth that contrasts beautifully with the more optimistic younger iteration of the character we’re used to. Manning’s performance captures the rawness of her loss and life experiences while still holding onto the effervescent spark of adventure that forms the core of the character no matter her age. This blend of heartache and resilience makes her character utterly compelling, and I hope the adventures of Jo Jones and the Third Doctor continue for a long time yet.

The guest cast for this tale is quite small, but that only means each of the characters can be focused on in greater detail. Felicity Cant impresses as Emmeline, a young girl who is not at all what she seems, while Chris Larkin is excellent as Arthur, Emmeline’s father, a determined fighter who is hell-bent on saving his family and righting the wrongs the Cybermen have inflicted upon him.

Focusing more on the body horror aspect of the Cybermen, this story is one of the best takes on the metal meanies I’ve yet heard from Big Finish, making them into a truly terrifying threat. Some of the imagery here is pretty horrific – this is Doctor Who at its darkest- but that’s exactly what you want from a Cyberman story. Since their genesis in 1966, the Cybermen have held up a mirror to humanity’s darkest sides, and that aspect is played to its hilt here, with Mooney and Pringle’s grisly depiction of Cybermen caught in the limbo between man and machine showing just how nasty the silver giants are.

The sound design and music are on point here too, perfectly amplifying the brooding atmosphere generated by Mooney and Pringle’s script. Nicholas Briggs‘s score feels 70s-esque, but also remarkably modern at times, especially with the haunting vocal motif that recurs throughout the story. Briggs also does an excellent job at creating the singsong monotony of the Cybermen’s voice, as well as the rain-lashed, windswept world of Nethara Reach.

Bold, dark and daring, The Quintessence is not just a standout in the Third Doctor Adventures range, but one of the strongest Big Finish releases of 2024. Mooney and Pringle clearly thrive on long-form stories such as this, and I hope we hear much, much more from them. A very rare five stars from me.

The Quintessence is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com