Big Finish Review: The Grey Man of the Mountain

Hoping for Hogmanay in Edinburgh, the Doctor and Ace arrive in Aviemore to be reunited with an old friend. The Brigadier is investigating missing climbers and strange sightings at the peak of Ben Mc’Dui and he could do with a hand. As they ascend the mountain, they come face to face with fear itself and something eerily familiar.  

As a Scot, I’m always quite sceptical about Big Finish audios set in Scotland. I’m always listening out for unconvincing, or downright offensive Scottish accents. Thankfully, The Grey Man of the Mountain has two Scottish actors in the Scottish roles, though the less said about one actor’s absolutely demented portrayal of the guest house owner Mrs McKenzie, the better. On far more convincing form is Jon Culshaw as the Brigadier.  

Since Jon Culshaw was cast as the Brigadier in The Third Doctor Adventures was announced it was only a matter of time before he popped up in other ranges. The Grey Man of the Mountain is his first foray into other ranges and in some ways, his performance is more suited to the Battlefield iteration of the character. To my ears at least, Culshaw’s Brig has always had the more mature, whisky-soaked tones of an elder Nicholas Courtney than the younger, more authoritarian military man. Perfect for Lizbeth Myles’ script then, which appears to be set a few years after the events of Battlefield.

I say “appears” because though it’s clearly the next consecutive meeting between the 7th Doctor, Ace and the Brigadier, there is a good deal of jarring references to Wi-Fi, TripAdvisor and Vlogging. UNIT dating, amirite? It’s a small niggle, but it does slightly throw you off as you try and square such modern-day cultural touchstones with the palpable feel of 1989’s Season 26.  

It’s a shame because Myles’ pitch-perfect evocation of that final series of the classic run is the story’s main strength. This is a back-to-basics 7th Doctor and Ace without the weight of three decades of expanded media and the script absolutely nails their partnership of occasionally manipulative mentor and pyrotechnically minded pupil. McCoy and Aldred are reliably brilliant but it’s McCoy especially who manages to portray some new sides of his Doctor.

It’s also a rare treat these days to hear the 7th Doctor solving a mystery rather than playing some complicated long game. It’s a double-edged sword though; knowing this Doctor like we do and hearing repeated references to classic serials, listeners could be forgiven for thinking they’re listening to a sequel. 

Sequel or no, (no spoilers here) The Grey Man of the Mountain leaves you wanting. In terms of pacing, it spends rather a lot of time figuratively and literally trudging around a mountainside. It’s certainly atmospheric, perfect for a stroll on a frosty day or a winter’s evening with a crackling fire or the central heating whacked up. It conjures up memorable images in your mind’s eye – the Doctor frantically scratching out a map in the snow, or a corpse quite literally frozen in fear and ice. And yet, the plot advances at quite a glacial pace.

The problem is that it spends so much of the run-time building up atmosphere and tension that it forgets to have something substantial at the end of it. The answer to the mystery of the Grey Man feels quite hastily sketched in; an interesting concept but we never really spend enough time to get a sense of the hows and the whys of the Grey Man and their world. More frustrating still is that the resolution takes place or will take place “off-air”.  

This is one of two Christmas releases this year – alongside a swashbuckling 6th Doctor adventure – and maybe it’s best to enjoy it as a spooky winter’s tale that beautifully evokes both McCoy’s best series and an eerie Scottish mountainside. However, its impact as a Doctor Who adventure is ephemeral, quickly melting away like fresh snow after the credits roll.