Vampire of the Mind

"You may have a new body, but you never change."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Audio

Released: May 2016

Series: Monthly Adventures 212

Featuring: Sixth Doctor

Synopsis

Somewhere off the South Coast of England, there's a lonely island. On that island stands a solitary castle, long since abandoned – haunted, they say. But the truth is, that castle houses something far worse than mere ghosts. 

The castle is what lies at the end of a trail followed by the Doctor in search of several missing scientists – all of them connected to the top secret Dominus Institute and its elusive CEO, Sir Andrew Gobernar...

But the Doctor will soon discover that he's the one being haunted, by a ghost from his past... or perhaps, his future.

Verdict

Vampire of the Mind was a great audio adventure! It seems I'm taking the long route round on this Master trilogy as it's been a fair few months now since I listened to And You Will Obey Me and I don't even own the finale at the point of writing! But this also allows a chance to fully view the story in isolation and it works really well. As I was listening I was thinking that we haven't actually had much of the Sixth Doctor taking on the Master. Of course, the pair met twice on screen in The Mark of the Rani and The Trial of a Time Lord, but I feel like they were both overshadowed by the Rani and the Valeyard. We haven't had much of Sixie and the Master just going at it. So I was intrigued to see this incarnation of the Master ready to take on the Sixth Doctor, but it was a mashup I was very excited to hear! I thought the use of memory was excellent and of course something had to be done about this Doctor meeting this Master otherwise Dominion would not make much sense at all! I was so glad that we didn't get a standard memory wipe as that trope is way overused now at Big Finish even if it is sometimes necessary for fun combinations. But the use of memory was actually part of the plot! That was really clever and something I very much appreciated. The plan of the Master here was pretty evil and twisted even for him with the condition he'd left the Blanks in. The whole scientific concept of saving and even extracting memory is fun to think about. It doesn't feel like it would be possible but it's an incredible idea. It's no surprise that it peaked the Doctor's interest! I thought it was intriguing to have the Sixth Doctor travelling alone but Heather more than filled the companion role for the story. I thought she was great and could easily have carried on full time after this outing! She had a connection with the Doctor with her being the daughter of his old friend Professor Threadstone and the mystery of him having not actually entered the USA. The situation regarding the missing scientists was good and the audacity of the Master to claim it was all to lure the Doctor in was incredible! Even for him. I thought the Master having gaps in his memory was fascinating and hearing the post-regenerative trauma in play and this incarnation post-regeneration reacting to his new everything was fabulous. The plan to utilise the Doctor's memories to fix up his own TARDIS was good. I got strong vibes of Evolution of the Daleks when it came to the fate of the Blanks and the Master's fail-safe being to kill them all at the push of a button. That was a heartbreaking moment. I loved that the Master had laid trap during his captivity somewhere between The Daemons and The Sea Devils, but returning to the site of his former prison was superb! He'd returned to reap the spoils of an old trap finally come good. The mind leech served as a good cliffhanger at the end of part three, but I think the threat cooled off incredibly quickly and the Doctor was clearly trying to help her. She was subjected to the Master and help was at hand. I thought the Doctor sacrificing his own short term memory for the Blanks was really clever and hearing them repeat infamous phrases of other incarnations was good fun. It also was perfect for the Doctor not knowing this incarnation of the Master and it was pretty humorous to hear him discussing with Threadstone and company about recent events. His memories now were incredibly selective! Overall, a great audio adventure. 

 

Rating: 8/10