Doctor Who: The Land of the Dead

Big Finish: Monthly Range #4

by Stephen Cole

Landing in Alaska, the Doctor and Nyssa encounter a group of people in a most unusual house, cut off not only by the harsh climate but by their individual secrets and obsessions.

Millionaire Shaun Brett is utilising chunks of the local area to construct a shrine to his dead father. But when deadly creatures start roaming outside and a terrifying discovery is made inside the house, the Doctor realises that Brett has unleashed an unimaginably ancient force.

Written by Stephen Cole. Directed by Gary Russell.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Media Tie In, Historical Fiction, Time Travel

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

See also: Steve Cole.

Stephen Cole (born 1971) is an English author of children's books and science fiction. He was also in charge of BBC Worldwide's merchandising of the BBC Television series Doctor Who between 1997 and 1999: this was a role which found him deciding on which stories should be released on video, commissioning and editing a range of fiction and non-fiction titles, producing audiobooks and acting as executive producer on the Big Finish Productions range of Doctor Who audio dramas.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

What could have been a really great atmospheric Fifth Doctor story set in the chilly Alaska, ends up feeling a bit weak by the conclusion.
I put this down to pacing issues, with each episode being nearly 30 minutes in length.
I find that the best Big Finish’s that stick to the traditional Classic Series length to be much more affective.

But there was quite a lot that I did enjoy, firstly being set during Seasons 19 and 20 it allowed for The Doctor and Nyssa to have their own adventure together.
It really gave Sarah Sutton a chance to shine.
I really liked the incidental music too, it really gives a sense of the coolness of the location.

It’s just a shame that the story just plods along, it was still an enjoyable listen but certainly the weakest in the series so far.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story has some exciting stuff going on. There's a twisted millionaire and his employee, locked in a life-long symbiosis of distrust and hatred over the deaths of their fathers, with each man placing the blame for that long-ago catastrophe on the other's father. The millionaire, Brett, is building a vast memorial to his father, consisting of large enclosures that epitomise aspects of Alaska's natural environment, such as a sea room, a bone room, a stone room and so on, each one containing large chunks of the land itself, uprooted and transplanted - the sea room contains a huge stretch of seashore, arctic waters maintained at low temperatures and provided with artificial tides keyed to the phases of a holographic moon. Then there are the weird Permians, creatures of bone who are somehow resurrecting, feeding and evolving from the DNA of the creatures and people they ingest. Finally, there's a thread of Inuit beliefs that are both well-researched as these things go and deeply strange.

The actors are mostly in good form, with the chemistry between Davison's Doctor and the tetchy interior designer Monica Lewis especially effective - it's a bit surprising when we hear her flirting with the half-Inuit Tulung during the fade-out, rather than begging to be taken on board the TARDIS, as most women who meet the contemporary Doctors seem to do. But these stories have to fit within existing continuity, so no new companions for the Doctor.

Sadly, the script isn't always up to the mark. The second episode is weighed down with expository chatter and it feels as if the third and fourth episodes could have been telescoped into one knock-out 45-minute episode. The climax is suitably thrilling, but too much momentum is lost getting there. So, overall, not the best of the series so far, but give it credit for some great ideas.

[Polly Batchelor · Rating 3 out of 5]

"How is a fossilised skeleton moving about without flesh and blood to clothe it?"

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt like a classic Doctor Who adventure - Doctor and Nyssa turn up randomly, chaos ensues, weird skeletal dinosaurs start eating people, the Doctor prevails, nothing is really explained. What's not to like...

[Frank Davis]

Currently updating my reads for the end of 2023, I listened to this and a bunch of other Big Finish Doctor tales (some twice) towards the end of the year, mostly because I was too busy thinking about other things to focus on new stories and the comfort of the familiar voices was a welcome relief from other stresses. Unfortunately I have left it too long to give any story-specific details, but I will inevitably listen to these many more times in future and will hopefully be able to say something more substantial. Suffice it to say that these are just excellent. Production quality is top notch and the storylines are as good and sometimes even better than the TV episodes.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really quite enjoyed this one it had the rumblings of classical who mixed in with the THING! Spooky and dark, a fun adventure in all respects

[Jamieson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 4th Main Range/Monthly Adventures release re-introduces the companion of Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) as a companion of the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and is set between the TV Stories "Time-Flight" and "Arc of Infinity" (Seasons 19 and 20 of the Classic Series). The Doctor and Nyssa find themselves in Alaska and almost hit a small airplane. Jump ahead 30 years and they arrive at the home of Shaun Brett, built as a mausoleum to his late father. Soon, prehistoric monsters made of bone and held together by an energy field emerge and attack the house. This leads to a frantic attempt to survive and escape, while at the time trying to understand the creatures and eliminate the threat they pose to the planet.

Essentially a base-under-siege story, this was Big Finish’s first attempt at Dinosaurs (or at least Dinosaur-like creatures). It’s not a bad story, the action sequences are good and sound design works well. It’s just not great, the guest cast isn't the best (the accents are passible but could be better) and the inclusion of Alaskan native lore feels a bit forced, a valiant effort, but still a bit forced. Still, it’s early days for Big Finish, so I tend to give them some leeway. The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa do very well though. Sarah Sutton slips right back into the character as if she’d never left. Set between Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity, it works. It’s just that Big Finish goes on to much better stories later on, including a long run with this Doctor/Companion pairing that includes one of Big Finish's crown jewels.

[Nicholas Whyte]

The Land of the Dead takes the Fifth Doctor, but this time with Nyssa, to contemporary Alaska besieged by creatures from the Permian era. I would defend Nyssa against the likes of The Guardian who put her far down the list of companions, but Sarah Sutton is not especially outstanding here. Davison, however, is, and has a brilliant rapport with guest actor Lucy Campbell, whose performance here is memorable but appears to have done almost no other acting work apart from a bit part in another Stephen Cole Big Finish audio. Also the story is surprisingly good, with the archaeological delvings of the scientific researchers mirrored in the psychological delvings of the two main male characters into the circumstances of the tragic accident involving their fathers from decades before. The two actors slightly struggle to bring it off but it kept my attention.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Doctor and Nyssa latch onto a mysterious energy signature and find themselves in an isolated home under construction in Alaska. Chased by monsters, they discover that some secrets are best left buried.

There's some delightfully eccentric stuff here, with some vain attempts at integrating some Native American myths into a haunted house story. But the actors trying American accents fall flat, with some verging on heavy stereotype, and the actual logic of why the creatures are there doesn't entirely make sense. That said, the character of Monica is a real treat.

But it's not a great adventure, something I'd library or borrow to listen but wouldn't recommend a purchase

[Noah Soudrette · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the basic setup of this story appeals to me greatly (being a massive Lovecraft/The Thing fan), things quickly derail when the monsters make the scene. Not that they're horrible, but they're never much of a "present" danger, and the way in which the doctor beats them after an hour and a half of sitting around and doing basically nothing, is a bit daft. Honetly? I'd avoid it.

[MrColdStream · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Land of the Dead starts strong but ultimately fails to capitalise on its potential, leaving an uneven and underwhelming impression.

Full review at https://tardis.guide/reviews/story-th...

[Seb Hasi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was rather optimistic about the spooky premise of this story, but sadly was met with a very generic tale. Some bloke going mad, very forgettable monsters, and Nyssa being vaguely clairvoyant. It’s hardly an original mix and the fact that is the first story of the monthly range to fill a full two hours is rather ironic; would’ve certainly preferred an extra half hour on Whispers of Terror. Not this. The acting is fine, the writing is consistent, but everything is just so bland and forgettable. By the time we get to episode three, this monument to the rich guy’s father is not even part of the plot anymore. The evil and mediocre monsters are stomping about, and then like in every cliche horror story set in Alaska; they are defeated by fire.

I can’t say I hated the story, but my enthusiasm really did wain as each episode went by; as I realised which formulaic plot this story was going with. There was an excellent few scenes around the Tardis arriving for a moment at the time of this disaster that killed some natives and the rich man’s father, but beyond that there really isn’t much to latch onto. The Doctor really is only here for exposition, and having any scenes that aren’t a quirky remark or just reams of spoon-feeding what’s going to the listener, are really rare. All the levity and more upbeat tone is provided by Monica Lewis, played very well by Lucy Campbell. Admittedly her sarcastic and sassy remarks do start to make you groan after a while, but for the early half of the story, she really is the only character who has anything remotely interesting to say.

This story just really didn’t do anything with its premise, and to describe this in any way as a horror story would be stretching the bounds of credulity. The story passes the Bechdel test so there is that I suppose. I’ve always personally found Nyssa an incredibly bland and uninteresting character, and this is not one of those occasions where I’m surprised by her charm and personality. She really is there to just spread doom and gloom, be deadpan and get attacked by mutant sea life. The pathos that is clearly meant to be added to the story by Tulung really doesn’t work, as I just can’t bring myself to care about their fathers; who only exist in the story as vague descriptions. His final confrontation with Brett (I finally bothered to google the rich madman’s name) is a far more interesting piece of inter-character conflict, and far more interesting than the Doctor trying to plug a hole in a wall.

There really isn’t anything that makes this story detestable or anything, but the moderate lack of backing music, combined with providing no depth to the characters just leaves you not connected to what’s going on. I can’t discredit the acting at all, but perhaps other elements of the story could’ve matched that quality; namely having the villain be more interesting than a mound of sea life and goo. If anything this is always the level of bland I’ve viewed the 5th Doctor’s era as, so I suppose you could say this is perfectly evocative of his TV stories. A compliment, sort of..

[MrColdStreamComics · Rating 3 out of 5]

"THE LAND FROM THE DEAD" FROM BEST TO WORST

〰〰〰〰

8 - An atmospheric setting.
Alaska is a rare, spooky, and effective story for a Doctor Who setting, and it comes alive very well.

7 - The sinister Brett.
Standing out among the guest cast is Christopher Scott's Brett, who feels like a mysterious and sinister presence from the very beginning.

7 - Good tension from the onset.
The setting and the sound design help give this story an atmospheric and tense environment to develop the narrative.

7 - The present and the past connected.
It's not a Doctor Who story without some time travel element, and this story uses the events of the past to fuel the story of the present, and does it naturally.

6 - A good team at the heart of the story.
Nyssa was never my favorite onscreen companion, but she makes a good team with Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor in this story. She sounds like a natural fit for the story and bounces off Five's more humane persona perfectly.

6 - Interesting exploration of Alaskan culture and traditions.
Part of the story leans on Alaskan traditions that play a key part in the story and provide a fascinating backstory for the listener to dig into.

5 - An unremarkable guest cast.
Other than the aforementioned Christopher Scott, the guest cast isn’t much to brag about in terms of performances. The actors are okay, but not very interesting.

4 - Repetitive cliffhangers.
The cliffhangers at the end of the individual parts are starting to feel very similar to the previous stories by now.

4 - The Permians don't come alive.
While the basic idea around the alien threat of the story is a good one, the audio format doesn’t really do the Permians justice and they remain very ambiguous and ineffective.

4 - The visuality of the story doesn't work as well on audio.
Some of the more intense moments get buyri9ed under walls of sound that fail to capture the visuality of the moment.

〰〰〰〰

41 positive points / 17 negative points = 5,8/10

〰〰〰〰

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part1
ターディスはアラスカに到着。ドクターとコンパニオンのニッサがモニターで地表をスキャンしていると強いエネルギーを探知する。遠くに煙が上がっているのを見つけ、外に出て調べようとするが飛行機とニアミスし、その衝撃でターディスは30年後の1994年に。探知したエネルギーがますます強くなっていることに不審を感じたドクターはニッサとともにエネルギーの発信元を突き止めに外に出かける。吹雪の中、見たこともない巨大な獣に襲われドクターとニッサは建築中の施設に逃げ込む。その施設は大富豪のブレッドが手がけている石油採掘で財をなした父親の功績を讃えるための建物だった。そこではブッレットに雇われたモニカとチューロ、ギャブリックが働いていた。ドクターとニッサは自分たちを追いかけてきた獣を追い払うために明かりを出せるものを貸して欲しいとモニカとチューロに頼む。ところがニッサが頭痛に襲われ動けなくなってしまい、チューロとともにドクターは獣を追い払いに外に出るが、獣の姿はすでになかった。ドクターとニッサは施設に泊まれることになる。しかし、ニッサはますます体調を崩していく。ドクターがブレッドに施設内を案内されている間、ニッサはチューロから30年前に事故がおこり、チューロの父親は死に、ブレッドだけが生き残ったという話しをきく。夕食もご馳走になったドクターとニッサ。しかし、ニッサは熱があり部屋に戻ることに。ニッサは「何かが海からやってくる」と取り憑かれたようにつぶやき始める。不穏な物音がし、一同は倉庫の扉がなんらかの力で破られていることを知る。ドクターは別室にいるニッサの元に急ぐが部屋から「海から化け物が私たちを殺しにくる」という悲鳴が聞こえるが部屋の扉を開けることができない。

Part2
ギャブリックの手を借りてドクターは部屋の扉をこじあけ、ニッサを助け出す。部屋には外でドクターとニッサを襲ってきたのと同じ形態の獣がいた。その姿はさまざまな動物の方身体で構成されており、とても地球上の生命体の姿とは思えなかった。アラスカのネイティヴ部族出身のギャロップは伝承で伝わる化け物にちがいないと怯える。ドクターは正確に化け物の正体をつきとめるために、もう一度部屋の中に入りサンプルを採取。ターディスにもどって調べようとするが、チューロが検査できる装備が車で行ける近くの施設にあると提言。そこで、ニッサとチューロが施設に向かうことになり、ドクターはそのまま施設や化け物を調べることで正体をつきとめることにする。モニカから話をききながら建物を調べていると化け物と遭遇。二人は気付かれないよう身を潜めるが不運にも姿を現したギャブリックが化け物に食べられてしまう。ニッサとチューロも化け物に追われるが、かろうじて施設に到着。サンプルを調べると、化け物が恐竜よりも古い時代から存在していることをつきとめニッサは電話でドクターに知らせる。

 

Part3
ドクターとモニカが化け物から逃げ回りながら、対処法を探っている間、チューロは30年前に自分の父親が石油採掘中に命を落とした事件と化け物の出現に関連があると確信し、ブレックに問いただそうとする。30年前、ブレックの父親の指揮下で石油採掘を行っていたチューロの父親を含むネイティヴたちは帰らぬ人となっていた。チューロは採掘現場で何があったのか真実を知りたいとずっと思い続けており、ブレックのプロジェクトに参加していたのだ。ブレックは真実が明らかになるはずだとチューロを説き伏せ、ニッサを無理やり連れ出し30年前の採掘現場に向かう。

 

Part４
30年前の事故のことが明らかになり、チューロ、ブレック、ドクター、モニカ、ニッサは化け物をこの地から出さぬよう殲滅するため、命をかける。

 

感想
ターディスが飛ばされたり、極寒のアラスカで化け物に追われるドクターとニッサ、そのあたりのくだりは随分とハラハラさせられた。この八方塞がりな状況をドクターはどうやって切り抜けるのかと緊張の続くストーリー運びだったが、30年前に起こったチューロとブレックの父親たちに起こった事件やそれをめぐるチューロとブレックの確執が大きな割合を占めていた割に、ドクターやドクターと行動を共にしていたモニカとほぼ関わりのないところで起こっていたためか、クライマックスとして配置されていた謎解き場面がクライマックスとしてあまりうまく機能しなかった印象を受けたのがちょっと残念。(当方のヒアリング力不足が原因の可能性大ではあるが...)

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just not that great.

It's 1964, briefly at least, and the Fifth Doctor has just recently left Tegan Jovanka at Heathrow Airport in the wake of Adric's untimely death. Travelling alone with Nyssa, he materialises the TARDIS in the icy north of Alaska. The TARDIS seems to have a mind of its own, locking in on an odd energy source and disappearing back into the time vortex; it rematerialises in the same location, but thirty years in the future, in 1994. Here it does land, and the Doctor and Nyssa find themselves chased by a dangerous creature across the tundra to an unusual house and an odd group of individuals.
Multi-millionaire Shaun Brett has made a fortune in Alaskan oil, but at a price: the death of his father in 1964. He is now building and furnishing the house—sourced from local materials, which is a desecration in the eyes of the local natives—as a shrine to his father's memory. He is matched with Tulung, a half-Koyukon native hired by Brett to liaise with the locals, whose father died in the same incident as Brett's father. Each blames the other's father for the tragedy. Brett is assisted by Gaborik, another Kolyukon, who is secretly sabotaging the work so as to ensure his own continued employment and is also stealing pelts from the house to sell. Also on site is Monica Lewis, an interior designer who has been working at the site for three years, crafting the interior of the house.

[Isaac · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Fifth Doctor and Nyssa story, which on the offset makes me apprehensive, because imo Nyssa is the least interesting companion in Doctor Who - a whole lot of wasted potential. But in this she was pretty good. In fact this was the best Big Finish story so far, imo. Still not great, which it honestly could have been, but good. The main problem with it is that towards the end it just becomes super dragged out and kind of boring. The first few parts are some tense, exciting horror with some really interesting and enjoyable side characters. And the Doctor was written brilliantly - I loved the dialogue in this story. But when the mystery starts to unravel I just find the explanation to be slightly ridiculous, and the writing gets a bit weird with Monica in the final part where instead of acting scared in this life or death situation which has been terrifying her up to this point, she starts quipping and acting kind of blase about it. There was a bit of poor voice acting too - namely Andrew Fettes as Gaborik. And then there was that random hint at a romance between two of the characters at the end, which hadn't been previously developed in the story at all. Overall it was just a good story. 3.5 stars.

[Finlay O'Riordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this story gets a lot of shtick because it's early Big Finish, where there's a certain predisposition to view stories as aged or weak compared to later years, but in my opinion, this is a very strong production by early Big Finish standards.

Parts 1-3 are great with some wonderfully grotesque images. Part 4 isn't bad, but it's very... Slow. It felt like the writer had hit all his goals within the first three parts, and then was left with an extra episode to just fill with dialogue and random, actionless scenes. The conclusion is weak because the threat just kind of gets dealt with in a mediocre way, and then an implied romance comes out of nowhere.

But overall, this is decent listening for an early Big Finish story. Just don't expect a wholly satisfying conclusion, and instead focus on enjoying the immersion rather than the narrative.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars this one for me. Nice base under siege type story, and I like the idea of the 'monsters' they're facing as such. Nyssa and the Doctor are portrayed well here, but while the supporting cast acted well, I think Big Finish was still finding their feet with the audio medium here, and so there is a lot of seemingly unnecessary and unlikely dialogue from them here, which seemed intended to describe the situation on audio but felt a bit false. Generally though I did enjoy this one.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad that Spotify has some of the Big Finish Doctor Who audiobooks available since it certainly makes them more accessible.

This little adventure with the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa certainly had a good Doctor Who flavor to it under unusual circumstances. It was rather refreshing to focus on a culture like the Inuits given the typical efforts to explore European historical events more often than not. The resolution was pretty on point and the audio acting throughout really brought things to life.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was watching the original Dr. Who episodes when they first came out, they usually had a feeling of being padded and told stories over 4 parts that could have been accomplished in two. I had the same feeling with this story. Don't get me wrong, I am a 5th Doctor fan and love Peter Davidson's portrayal along with Sarah Sutton, it was just the story went on for too long with what was being told. Having said that, I am glad I listened to it.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

If there were half stars, I’d give this 2 1/2. The fake American accent took me out of the story one too many times and the story itself didn’t really do it for me anyway. On the plus side, there were some funny bits and Davison had good chemistry with the gal playing Monica. Probably won’t listen to it again, though.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are really all over the map for me. The last one I really didn't like but this one was okay and I have heard some I thought were really good. I thought the atmosphere was well written you felt you were in Alaska and Nyssa and the Doctor are always good together. It fell down a bit with some of the plot points that were a bit not good.

[Heydi Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so excited about the discovery of all the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary shorts which are done by all the authors I already love. It's like the perfect match. I have really enjoyed the variety of worlds and troubles that these adventures explore. I hope to read them all one day.

This series is also really good, just a bit retro.

[Matthew Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very much Doctor Who meets The Thing... minus the horror, of course! And it works, I think, for the most part. Replacing the monster with genetically mutating prehistoric fossils running amok on the ice base is a nice sci-fi touch. And compared to Davison's last outing in the monthly adventures, Phantasmagoria, this is clearly the better plot!

[Dodau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although Peter Davidson was my first doctor I'm not enjoying his audio dramas much. I don't know what it is about them, maybe I.m not much of a audio book person. The story was bland, the other characters all unlikeable and the only plus to it really was that it was short.

[C S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prehistoric monsters awake beneath the Alaskan tundra as tensions boil between the few inhabitants of an isolated research centre in this claustrophobic tale of hubris and the horrors of the past.

[Natira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich fühlte mich gut unterhalten mit dieser Story und ich mochte die Interaktionen des Doctors mit Nyssa einerseits und mit Monica andererseits.

[Luke Sims-Jenkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just okay. Probably could have been two episodes instead of four. Some of the accents aren't great, but Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton still shine as the 5th Doctor and Nyssa. Land of the Dead is a really early Big Finish audio and I find a lot of these early ones can be hit or miss, at least until they found their feet.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was actually kinda creepy.

[Gail Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Who in Alaska fighting Prehistoric aliens. Good American and Native American accents.