I didn't listen along to The Chimes of Midnight at the allotted time, because like the rest of the global watches it was the middle of the night for me, but I did relisten the other day. And with every listen through, I’m reminded that the audio seriously deserves its reputation as one of the best Doctor Who stories ever.
I'll never get over how many things Chimes is at once. It’s -a ghost story, -a horror story, -high-concept sci-fi, -a time loop episode, -a murder mystery, -a parody of a murder mystery, -a black comedy, -and, of course, a christmas special.
It does all of those things perfectly, and with fresh, unique, and meta twists on several of them. It’s a time loop episode where the loops have blended to create a surreal, conceptual world. The first episode is a ghost story where, in a way, the main characters are the ghosts. It turns into a murder mystery where the clues don’t matter and the murderer is the setting, quite literally.
It does all that and it’s built explicitly on the themes of classism, suicide, and the value of life. AND it seamlessly ties into the ongoing story arc. AND it gave us some of Big Finish’s most iconic memes.
It makes me laugh and cry and (maybe most importantly) think every time I listen to it. The only criticism I can level at it is that it's too good, and Rob Shearman should leave some writing skill for the rest of us.
