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'Doctor Who: Vampire Weekend' Review - A Horror Comedy Romp Kicks Off The Thirteenth Doctor's Audio Debut
When the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz returned to TV screens in 2021's 'The Halloween Apocalypse', nearly a year after previous companions Ryan and Graham departed in 'Revolution of the Daleks', it was clear some time had passed for the time-traveling duo. But what happened during that period between 'Revolution of the Daleks' and 'The Halloween Apocalypse'? Enter Big Finish Productions' new ongoing Thirteenth Doctor series of audio dramas, set in that gap between seasons. And Tim Foley's 'Vampire Weekend' kicks off this new series of adventures with a bang as the Doctor crashes the hen-do of one of Yaz's oldest friends, hot on the heel of a supernatural terror. It's a funny, thrilling Doctor Who romp in the best of ways that perfectly mixes the Thirteenth Doctor's frenetic energy with some much-needed quieter character moments for the Doctor and Yaz.
The Hen-Do From Hell
When Yaz (Mandip Gill) takes a break from traveling with the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) to celebrate the upcoming wedding of one of her closest friends, she's hoping for a quiet weekend of old-fashioned fun. But, naturally, the Doctor crashes the party, hot on the heels of a vampire from the dawn of time, and things take a turn for the nightmarish. With a vampire lurking amidst the halls of the beautiful manor, Yaz's friends turn on each other one after another as paranoia and suspicion set in. Can the Doctor and Yaz find and defeat the vampire before it's too late? Or is this destined to be the get-together from hell? Tim Foley's 'Vampire Weekend' offers a supernatural take on an Agatha Christie-style mystery. It's And Then There Were None but with vampires and every bit as fun as it sounds.
'Vampire Weekend' offers up a bit of a Clue-style runaround in the most Doctor Who of ways. It's got the energy of an episode like 'Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror', with its campy atmosphere and frantic running to and fro. But it's also got heaps of quieter character moments, like the ones that made 'Flux' stand out against much of the rest of the Thirteenth Doctor's televised era. The ending ties things up a bit too neatly, particularly in the last few minutes, but the whole story never fails to be anything less than immensely enjoyable. It's got exactly the energy everyone hoped for when Whittaker was first introduced as the Doctor, and hearing her here, removed from the baggage of the Timeless Child arc, breathes new life into the character.
A Two-Handed Caper
Much of the story's success rests on Whittaker and Gill's electric chemistry. They immediately fall right back into their roles, as though it were only yesterday they'd last played them on television. It helps that Foley's script gives them both ample time to connect with each other. So much of the Thirteenth Doctor's TV era was characterized by its frenetic pacing and its wealth of characters, with all four of the main companions frequently feeling like afterthoughts in any given episode—a curse that plagued Yaz most of all. But 'Vampire Weekend' takes great steps to rectify that, really focusing on the Doctor and Yaz's ongoing relationship, exploring how the characters get from the end of 'Revolution of the Daleks' to that opening scene of 'The Halloween Apocalypse' on an emotional level.
The way Foley's script uses vampires aids greatly in those character beats too. The vampires here are less like your traditional vampire and more like a Colin Robison from What We Do in the Shadows kind of vampire. They compel their victims to tell the truth, which always creates some juicy character drama well worth mining. We get to see both Yaz and the Doctor struggle with their relationship a bit—how well do they know one another, how much do they trust one another, do they even want to keep traveling together at all after this? It's all meaty stuff, and it's nice hearing Whittaker and Gill get to dive into those kinds of complexities. It's the kind of emotional drama that often got hinted at in 'Flux' and the 13th Doctor's final set of TV specials, but never quite got explored to its fullest extent.
Final Thoughts
If you're a hardcore fan of the Thirteenth Doctor's TV era, there's a lot to love about 'Vampire Weekend'. Put simply, it takes everything you loved about her TV seasons and relishes playing within that toybox. But, better yet, if you had more mixed emotions about those episodes, there's just as much to love about Foley's script. Wanted more standalone stories? Check. Longing for some quieter, more character-driven moments? Check. It's all right here in this very quintessential Doctor Who romp. As the debut episode of a new series of Thirteenth Doctor audio adventures, it hits all the notes you'd want it to. And as a standalone story in its own right, it's immensely enjoyable. Packed with some meaty character development and enough twists, turns, and scares to make a horror fanatic tremble, 'Vampire Weekend' is a delightful listen from start to finish and a promising beginning to a new era of Thirteenth Doctor stories.
Doctor Who: Vampire Weekend is available now from Big Finish Productions.
