The Scent of Blood

"Why would someone want to provoke vampires?"

Writer: Andrew Lane

Format: Audio

Released: October 2019

Series: BBC Audio 07

Featuring: Eighth Doctor

Synopsis

It's the late 1890s, and newspaper journalist James McFarlane is on the trail of a supernatural entity. He's joined in his investigations by a mysterious stranger, who calls himself the Doctor and professes to know a lot about vampires.

As gangs of locals gather zombie-like on the city's streets, James and the Doctor find themselves on a dangerous trail to find the truth. What links the secretive Lord and Lady Elmurst to local events? What strange force is luring ordinary men and women to a local quarry? The Doctor soon realises that the answers lie in his own past...

Verdict

The Scent of Blood was a great audio adventure for the Eighth Doctor! It was nice to hear him travelling solo as listeners not familiar with Big Finish might expect given where The Movie left off, and I absolutely loved the take on the opening theme. I wonder if that will come later on in my current run of the Eighth Doctor as I am yet to get to Dark Eyes and beyond, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a huge fan of the setting of Edinburgh having visited there in 2019 and it was one of my favourite tourist destinations I have ever been to. On the day we landed we actually climbed Arthur's Seat which wasn't easy so the suggestion of it containing a Great Vampire and the heat from is crash being how it was formed was excellent and just fun. I always enjoy a story set in a place I have visited and whilst this was taking place in the 1890s, there were enough familiar elements. I thought the Victorian setting worked well especially for the Eighth Doctor and the relationship he garnered with James McFarlane was terrific. He was a fun character as the journalist investigating the death of Agnes and that formed a strong start and basis for the adventure. He was an amusing character when the Doctor revealed all of the history between his people and the Vampires, and the suggestion of him thinking Gallifrey was in Ireland was fantastic. I really enjoyed their relationship and I definitely think a little run as a companion for him with BBC Audio would be a tremendous idea, but with three years having passed since the release of this story I doubt that is going to come now. Dan Starkey deserves a lot of credit for his narration and performance with this audio as it didn't feel like there was just one actor and it certainly felt more performed than just text being read which is a huge compliment. His take on Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor was outstanding as well. It really was uncanny and definitely the best I've ever heard for this incarnation. Lord Elmurst turning out to not be all that he seemed was a nice twist and whilst he never changed over the previous century, his wife did which obviously alluded to him being the same man and a Vampire. The Doctor having to describe that garlic was only useful against fictional Vampires was fun and he really did sell the threat of the Great Vampires. He was a little surprised that something associated with his people from a time where they actually acted was still around and that was really well done. The Doctor didn't hide his feelings or thoughts here which I liked a lot. The bow-ship having intelligence and being the explanation for the townsfolk issues that had gripped the local area was very good and the conversation with what was essentially a giant stake for a Great Vampire was intriguing. The bow-ship actually sacrificing itself was well done and it was nice for it to associate itself with the Doctor as a Time Lord and seeing his existence as evidence of their victory in the war. You don't normally get an exploration into Gallifreyan continuity when it comes to the BBC Audio range, so this was a really nice touch and worked very well as an adventure! A more than worthy listen. 

Rating: 8/10