The range of Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas featuring the Fourth Doctor continue with the latest satisfying release entitled The Hellwood Inheritance. Tom Baker and Louise Jameson reunite as the Doctor and Leela, respectively, for two stories contained in this set. Ken Bentley and Jamie Anderson share directing duties. Both stories turn out pretty well, but with Baker and Jameson in the lead, that’s going to be a likely outcome.
Alan Barnes starts off with a bit of spookiness in The Hellwood Inheritance. The guest cast includes Rosie Day, Chris Jarman, Richard James, James Meteyard, and Tamzin Outhwaite.
The Doctor and Leela arrive on the grounds of Hellwood Manor where they have a troubling encounter with a headless knight that pursues them through the grounds. After that escape, they meet the architects of what is planned to be a ghost safari and shown the “ghost catcher”. The Doctor is not sure that he is being told the whole truth about what powers the device, and a more sinister plot than a mere supernatural entertainment park is revealed.
I wouldn’t call this a real standout story, but it gets the job done as far as being entertaining. Tom Baker still sounds strong and engaged in the role even though he is close to his ninth decade at the time of recording. Jameson still slips into her most well-known character with ease.
I love a good ghost story in Doctor Who, and this fits the bill. There are not many scares or chilling moments, but the humor makes up for it. The performances are solid enough. The writing is not all that bad. Barnes has been associated with Big Finish and Doctor Who for some time, and his reliability as a writer remains evident here.
The episode still falls a little short of what I think would be among the more highly regarded stories in the range, but it still shouldn’t be overlooked. Tom Baker is well into his nineties here, so I am cherishing every new performance I can get.
The Memory Thieves is written by Phil Mulryne. The guest cast includes Daisy Ashford, Ayesha Antoine, and Wayne Forester.
The TARDIS arrives on a colony world in the future where strange pulses emanate from the forest, and the colonists lose their memories. The Doctor and Leela are separated by an earthquake. They have to earn the trust of the colonists in order to help them stop the force known as the Abeyance.
I had some trouble getting into this one. Baker and Jameson are still worth the time, but I didn’t find the story all that interesting. It’s not a terrible effort by Mulryne, but I did not find this particular contribution all that memorable.
It’s always fun to get some new stories with the Fourth Doctor and Leela, and this particular set was entertaining enough for me to still recommend to my fellow Whovians to give it a go.
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