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The Confessions of Dorian Gray #SP
Dorian Gray: The Lost Confessions
Three brand-new readings of unmade stories from The Confessions of Dorian Gray.
1. Last Man Standing
France, 1915. After being dispatched on a top-secret mission with his comrade, Jonathan Roberts, Captain Gray finds himself lost in the wastes of No Man’s Land searching for a concealed German outpost. As both men venture further from the trenches, they soon discover forces greater than king and country.
2. There Are Such Things…
England, 1930. Father Victor Merriman is confused when a bedraggled young man locks him inside his own church on a dark and stormy night. The man claims not to be locking them in, but rather to be locking something out: something that has haunted Dorian Gray for over a year now, ever since the engagement of Milly Lloyd.
3. The Last Confession
The Future. Since his experience at the Brigadoon Hotel, Dorian Gray struggles to come to terms with having a soul; and worse, having lost his soulmate. Travelling the world, he hopes to lay some demons to rest… and perhaps even confront the biggest one of all?
1. Last Man Standing
France, 1915. After being dispatched on a top-secret mission with his comrade, Jonathan Roberts, Captain Gray finds himself lost in the wastes of No Man’s Land searching for a concealed German outpost. As both men venture further from the trenches, they soon discover forces greater than king and country.
2. There Are Such Things…
England, 1930. Father Victor Merriman is confused when a bedraggled young man locks him inside his own church on a dark and stormy night. The man claims not to be locking them in, but rather to be locking something out: something that has haunted Dorian Gray for over a year now, ever since the engagement of Milly Lloyd.
3. The Last Confession
The Future. Since his experience at the Brigadoon Hotel, Dorian Gray struggles to come to terms with having a soul; and worse, having lost his soulmate. Travelling the world, he hopes to lay some demons to rest… and perhaps even confront the biggest one of all?
5 pages, Audiobook
Published August 6, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 18, 2022
First off, unlike the majority of the other offerings in this series, this is not an audio-drama, this release is an audiobook. Although we get Alexander Vlahos, our favorite Dorian Gray himself, reading the tales to us. So I’m not complaining. Although I have to admit that, my first reaction to this being an audiobook, was disappointment. It’s just that I do prefer audio-dramas, with a full cast, over audiobooks.
Last Man Standing ~ Opens during the midst of The Great War, the one that was allegedly to end all wars, and illustrates how Dorian Gray’s inability to die, his inability to be injured … weighs heavily on those around him. This is magnificent. Vlahos has an excellent voice and his tone, pacing and delivery is beguiling and entrancing. His voice both soothes and incites emotions. For an audiobook, this rating is unusual for me (5/5).
There Are Such Things … ~ Interesting. And certainly well delivered (read). But there were aspects of this one that just didn’t sit well with me, aspects that felt contrived. Part of this might be that I distracted and it took me some time, some days actually, to get back to the narrative. Still good though (3/5).
The Last Confession ~ Dorian Gray as the captain of the starship Enterprise? Clearly we’ve jumped a shark! Oh, wait … hang on a tick! This really another fascinating character study for Dorian Gray. And it’s filled with truly gothic atmospheric tension. There are some wrap-up style aspects to the elements here, sort of tying off loose ends. But it is certainly more than just tying off those loose ends. An argument could be made that this is a lot of fan-service in finale, but there are aspects that help keep it a bit above that. Not the strongest, but definitely entertaining (4/5).
Extras include a fascinating conversation between Alexander Vlahos and Scott Harrison on why they’re back after saying the last series was going to be the last. Also includes the absurdity of having an audio commentary of an audio-drama? Yep. That’s exactly what it is. An audio commentary for The Confessions of Dorian Gray: The Heart That Lives Alone. Wild and weirdly absurd. Also includes an extensive isolated music suite. Always expect the wild and weird from Big Finish.
Last Man Standing ~ Opens during the midst of The Great War, the one that was allegedly to end all wars, and illustrates how Dorian Gray’s inability to die, his inability to be injured … weighs heavily on those around him. This is magnificent. Vlahos has an excellent voice and his tone, pacing and delivery is beguiling and entrancing. His voice both soothes and incites emotions. For an audiobook, this rating is unusual for me (5/5).
There Are Such Things … ~ Interesting. And certainly well delivered (read). But there were aspects of this one that just didn’t sit well with me, aspects that felt contrived. Part of this might be that I distracted and it took me some time, some days actually, to get back to the narrative. Still good though (3/5).
The Last Confession ~ Dorian Gray as the captain of the starship Enterprise? Clearly we’ve jumped a shark! Oh, wait … hang on a tick! This really another fascinating character study for Dorian Gray. And it’s filled with truly gothic atmospheric tension. There are some wrap-up style aspects to the elements here, sort of tying off loose ends. But it is certainly more than just tying off those loose ends. An argument could be made that this is a lot of fan-service in finale, but there are aspects that help keep it a bit above that. Not the strongest, but definitely entertaining (4/5).
Extras include a fascinating conversation between Alexander Vlahos and Scott Harrison on why they’re back after saying the last series was going to be the last. Also includes the absurdity of having an audio commentary of an audio-drama? Yep. That’s exactly what it is. An audio commentary for The Confessions of Dorian Gray: The Heart That Lives Alone. Wild and weirdly absurd. Also includes an extensive isolated music suite. Always expect the wild and weird from Big Finish.
April 22, 2026
Last Man Standing -
As good as this story is it’s quite understandable why it was never made into a proper addition to the Confessions range. There had been plenty of war stories already and this one just fade into obscurity memory-wise, with no real factors that scream ‘unique’. As an individual narrated piece of storytelling however, this one does work surprisingly great. There is such rich imagery which is communicated to the listener very effectively, through minor use of sound effects, but mostly because the details of objects/places/people are all so rich and vibrant. Even somewhere as gloomy and horrific as the French trenches in WWI are described so meticulously, giving the listener and idea of how these things impact all five human senses. From how these magical objects feel, to the smell of cigarettes and mud, there is a very strong juxtaposition from the bleakness and horror of the war and trenches; to how beautifully everything is described. Alexander Vlahos does an excellent job as the narrator with such effortless performances of each character and not only does he imbue the characters with real emotion, he does a decent range of accents and tones for each of them. Admittedly nothing will ever top his Dorian and even 3 years displaced from the role, he just slips back into it with no difficulty whatsoever. The only major problem sadly is the script, with a really beautiful 30 minute story being told… over 90 minutes.
Of course audiobooks have different pacing to audio dramas but the events of the story do feel so drawn out. There is far too much padding, for scenes that really do not need it (a five minute description of a church for example) which slows the story nearly to a halt towards the final scenes and that does take away from the quality a fair bit. I really did feel that the dramatic climax felt more anti-climactic than anything, with the clear necessity for every single movement and physical expression of each character being if anything, too vivid. Where there should be a final confrontation with lots of action, drama and a supernatural threat, it’s still just imagery. These clearly necessary stretches do just highlight the aspects of the story that lack much drama, character or otherwise, and the pacing slowing to a near halt as the ‘twist’ approaches took a lot of effort to remain engaged with. This fatal flaw does make the story less enjoyable, but as a script on paper it feels authentic to the series, even if the setting and events have already been done more than once.
There Are Such Things… -
This second entry to the boxset is a real mixed bag, a quite unremarkable tale being told as part of a far more interesting narrative. The overarching story with Dorian and the vicar is brilliant stuff and the dialogue is very unnerving, it’s just annoying that the we keep going back and forth from that; to a series of flashbacks that provide context but are just really boring. Of course finding out why Dorian came to the church is interesting, I just completely mentally checked out when characters I’ve known for about ten minutes are killed off. I think the greatest flaw here is that there is not a single interesting character other than Dorian. The vicar does have some witty dialogue at times and is crucial to the narrative but neither him nor Dorian’s friends in the flashback have any real distinct qualities to their characters. Similarly to Last Man Standing, this story’s main faults lie in its length but in this one that problem is far more prominent.
The first sixty minutes are just flashbacks, exposition and developing an interesting villain, then the following thirty minutes are a very drawn out final confrontation. This story would definitely have benefited most of the three in the set if it were made as a proper audio drama, as the far shorter runtime would allow it to shed about ten minutes of descriptions of glass shards and would have given the plot far better pacing. Thankfully Vlahos is a great narrator and does manage to give the characters some distinct qualities but there is only so much a charismatic reader can do to give underdeveloped characters merit. There is thankfully a lovely twist in the story which revitalises it towards the end and surprisingly does give the story a far more memorable quality (even if it only makes about a quarter of the story memorable). This entry in the boxset is hardly bad but just doesn’t inspire desire to re-listen, and feels more like a speed bump between the decent opening story and the spectacular finale.
The Last Confession -
The Last Confession is the alternative swan-song for the CODG range, and it goes in a completely different direction to the canonical final story of the series ‘Ever After’. Thematically the two stories are the same, the theme of finality really driving the story and towards Dorian to the final moment of change; a theme very true to those of the original novel the series is based upon. This story has a very character driven narrative, showing the listener all of the lessons, wisdom and maturity that Dorian has accumulated over the years and seeing him take his final stand. That is probably where the similarities between the two stories end, as this story doesn’t see Dorian sectioned, haunted & possibly lobotomised. The Last Confession spans many different locations, time periods, concepts and characters which keeps it feeling fresh and builds slowly to a beautiful ending. Dorian visiting old friends/families/enemies felt like a beautiful whistle stop tour as you’re likely to see your favourite return (albeit briefly) and contribute a nice moment with Dorian to the slowly building drama. The story doesn’t rely on nostalgia like you would expect of a plot like this, it really just extracts moments and lessons Dorian has learned from these adventures to help him figure out what he should do next.
This only worked because Alexander Vlahos does an amazing job narrating the story, with the scope of impressions feeling distinct and convincing. He does have his odd wobble (American accents mainly) but he puts such emotion into these moments between the characters; never failing to emphasise the lines that contribute to the ending. His narration is aided by a tight script that doesn’t waste time, so in lieu of a five minute description of a banana (or something equally & believably ludicrous) you get Dorian having touching moments of reflection & beautiful internal monologues. It can feel like the story is meandering at times but I found that was marvellous as the slow build up across the first seventy minutes is what makes the final confrontation so explosive. Having someone to play against for that final chapter does allow Vlahos to give his best performance of the set, but the weight and heart of the writing of the ending brings a tear to the eye and just leaves you speechless. Truthfully, this story would have been the perfect ending had Ever After not been what they went with and now they just stand as two equally beautiful yet narratively disparate finales.
As good as this story is it’s quite understandable why it was never made into a proper addition to the Confessions range. There had been plenty of war stories already and this one just fade into obscurity memory-wise, with no real factors that scream ‘unique’. As an individual narrated piece of storytelling however, this one does work surprisingly great. There is such rich imagery which is communicated to the listener very effectively, through minor use of sound effects, but mostly because the details of objects/places/people are all so rich and vibrant. Even somewhere as gloomy and horrific as the French trenches in WWI are described so meticulously, giving the listener and idea of how these things impact all five human senses. From how these magical objects feel, to the smell of cigarettes and mud, there is a very strong juxtaposition from the bleakness and horror of the war and trenches; to how beautifully everything is described. Alexander Vlahos does an excellent job as the narrator with such effortless performances of each character and not only does he imbue the characters with real emotion, he does a decent range of accents and tones for each of them. Admittedly nothing will ever top his Dorian and even 3 years displaced from the role, he just slips back into it with no difficulty whatsoever. The only major problem sadly is the script, with a really beautiful 30 minute story being told… over 90 minutes.
Of course audiobooks have different pacing to audio dramas but the events of the story do feel so drawn out. There is far too much padding, for scenes that really do not need it (a five minute description of a church for example) which slows the story nearly to a halt towards the final scenes and that does take away from the quality a fair bit. I really did feel that the dramatic climax felt more anti-climactic than anything, with the clear necessity for every single movement and physical expression of each character being if anything, too vivid. Where there should be a final confrontation with lots of action, drama and a supernatural threat, it’s still just imagery. These clearly necessary stretches do just highlight the aspects of the story that lack much drama, character or otherwise, and the pacing slowing to a near halt as the ‘twist’ approaches took a lot of effort to remain engaged with. This fatal flaw does make the story less enjoyable, but as a script on paper it feels authentic to the series, even if the setting and events have already been done more than once.
There Are Such Things… -
This second entry to the boxset is a real mixed bag, a quite unremarkable tale being told as part of a far more interesting narrative. The overarching story with Dorian and the vicar is brilliant stuff and the dialogue is very unnerving, it’s just annoying that the we keep going back and forth from that; to a series of flashbacks that provide context but are just really boring. Of course finding out why Dorian came to the church is interesting, I just completely mentally checked out when characters I’ve known for about ten minutes are killed off. I think the greatest flaw here is that there is not a single interesting character other than Dorian. The vicar does have some witty dialogue at times and is crucial to the narrative but neither him nor Dorian’s friends in the flashback have any real distinct qualities to their characters. Similarly to Last Man Standing, this story’s main faults lie in its length but in this one that problem is far more prominent.
The first sixty minutes are just flashbacks, exposition and developing an interesting villain, then the following thirty minutes are a very drawn out final confrontation. This story would definitely have benefited most of the three in the set if it were made as a proper audio drama, as the far shorter runtime would allow it to shed about ten minutes of descriptions of glass shards and would have given the plot far better pacing. Thankfully Vlahos is a great narrator and does manage to give the characters some distinct qualities but there is only so much a charismatic reader can do to give underdeveloped characters merit. There is thankfully a lovely twist in the story which revitalises it towards the end and surprisingly does give the story a far more memorable quality (even if it only makes about a quarter of the story memorable). This entry in the boxset is hardly bad but just doesn’t inspire desire to re-listen, and feels more like a speed bump between the decent opening story and the spectacular finale.
The Last Confession -
The Last Confession is the alternative swan-song for the CODG range, and it goes in a completely different direction to the canonical final story of the series ‘Ever After’. Thematically the two stories are the same, the theme of finality really driving the story and towards Dorian to the final moment of change; a theme very true to those of the original novel the series is based upon. This story has a very character driven narrative, showing the listener all of the lessons, wisdom and maturity that Dorian has accumulated over the years and seeing him take his final stand. That is probably where the similarities between the two stories end, as this story doesn’t see Dorian sectioned, haunted & possibly lobotomised. The Last Confession spans many different locations, time periods, concepts and characters which keeps it feeling fresh and builds slowly to a beautiful ending. Dorian visiting old friends/families/enemies felt like a beautiful whistle stop tour as you’re likely to see your favourite return (albeit briefly) and contribute a nice moment with Dorian to the slowly building drama. The story doesn’t rely on nostalgia like you would expect of a plot like this, it really just extracts moments and lessons Dorian has learned from these adventures to help him figure out what he should do next.
This only worked because Alexander Vlahos does an amazing job narrating the story, with the scope of impressions feeling distinct and convincing. He does have his odd wobble (American accents mainly) but he puts such emotion into these moments between the characters; never failing to emphasise the lines that contribute to the ending. His narration is aided by a tight script that doesn’t waste time, so in lieu of a five minute description of a banana (or something equally & believably ludicrous) you get Dorian having touching moments of reflection & beautiful internal monologues. It can feel like the story is meandering at times but I found that was marvellous as the slow build up across the first seventy minutes is what makes the final confrontation so explosive. Having someone to play against for that final chapter does allow Vlahos to give his best performance of the set, but the weight and heart of the writing of the ending brings a tear to the eye and just leaves you speechless. Truthfully, this story would have been the perfect ending had Ever After not been what they went with and now they just stand as two equally beautiful yet narratively disparate finales.
April 16, 2020
One of my favourite ranges from Big Finish - and I thought it was done. Very glad that there's a little reprise in the form of this set. Different in that there is a single reader - more like an audiobook than a play with other actors, but Alexander Vlahos is excellent throughout to carry it off. The stories are a bit longer than the usual ones. Hope that there's more in the future.
January 17, 2023
Mixed feelings about the last story having a fakeout early on, but I guess that would’ve been too over the top.
August 11, 2019
*chef's kiss* that was marvellous
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews