Mind of the Hodiac

"The TARDIS was invaded by the power of pure thought."

Writers: Russell T Davies & Scott Handcock

Format: Audio

Released: March 2022

Series: Lost Stories 7.03

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Mel

Synopsis

In the depths of space, the mysterious Hodiac is manipulating the Galactic Stock Exchange to raise money. His aim? To hire mercenaries for a deadly quest across the stars.

Meanwhile, on Earth, an ordinary British family is plagued by a series of psychic events.

The one thing connecting these events is a magnificent patchwork coat – which just so happens to belong to the Doctor!

Verdict

Mind of the Hodiac was a great Lost Stories adventure! Ever since Russell T Davies released his draft script for this story back during the Doctor Who Watchalongs in 2020, it was clear that Big Finish were going to snap this up and the very idea of RTD writing a story for the Sixth Doctor is just extraordinary! It's so good for him to have a performed story from the Classic era and there are all the traits we would become accustomed to with RTD in this story with the intergalactic scale and then things being whittled down to an ordinary family on Earth. I thought the concept of the Intergalactic Stock Exchange was fun and the Hodiac was positioned straight away as being ruthless when it came to money and the control and influence it can bring. I must admit that I didn't expect the Hodiac to be humanoid and he did just sound like an ordinary villain, but there was a lot more there when it came to the hunt for his Other. That concept was very good and I liked the idea of a shared consciousness and one half running away and making herself human. The pairing of the Sixth Doctor and Mel was brilliant and they really are an underrated pairing in my eyes. I thought they were terrific here and it was wonderful to hear them reciting words from the next show runner! The cycle of Doctor Who really is something else. They were slowly mingled into proceedings with a lot of the characters we were introduced to but they made a big impact once that happened. The idea of the Hodiac to take control of currency on a galactic scale was fantastic and I really wished that stayed the focus of the adventure as that potential control was extraordinary. However, the focus in part two seemed to shift to the hunt for the Other which was fine but not quite on the scale I was enjoying. It all came down to Earth (literally) with that hunt and whilst it probably dragged out a little, it worked well. The threat of the Tungsten warriors could have been better but it was good that the Doctor knew them by reputation. I thought Mrs Chinn was a very fun character with her religious tendencies and her thinking that her god was arriving when the Hodiac descended was outstanding. She was brutally dealt with as there was a new god now. The family dynamic of the Other-become-human was very good and the younger members not really understanding what was going on was fantastic. I liked how everything became linked towards the latter stages of the adventure but given its position in the synopsis I was expecting more of a connection with the Doctor's coat. I did like how the Doctor was all thought out by the Hodiac and his mockery of the Time Lords was amusing with all their talking. It was also wonderful to have the Shadow Proclamation used as a threat which probably wouldn't have happened if this was made back when it was written. I thought the ending was quite neat and tidy with the mental power of the Hodiac being used against itself which wasn't much of a surprise but I still enjoyed it! The multiples of one mind mentions was good so it was a somewhat ironic end. Overall, a delightful audio!

Rating: 8/10