Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill begin their audio adventures at the Hen do from hell. 

Remarkably, with all the Whoniverse has been through since, it’s under three years since Jodie Whittaker left the TARDIS. ‘The Power of the Doctor’ aired in late 2022 to celebrate the BBC’s Centenary, although it filmed almost a year before that.

Since then, she’s been busy. She turned in terrific performance in series 2 of Jimmy McGoven’s Time, as well as taking a leading role in Toxic Town for Netflix. Not to mention returning to the West End stage for The Duchess, and that cameo in Ncuti Gatwa’s final story too.

Mandip Gill’s Yasmin Khan also left Doctor Who at the same time. She’s also been busy on stage with 2:22 A Ghost Story, as well as roles in Suspicion for Apple TV+ and Curfew for Paramount+.

The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures

Now, the pair have joined Big Finish, reprising their Doctor Who roles on audio for a new 12-part series. Dropping bi-monthly over the next two years, interspersed with the new Ninth Doctor and Rose series, it begins here.

Vampire Weekend

In a contemporary setting, albeit a remote and potentially creepy one, we’re introduced to Yaz’s friends. Gathered for a hen do, alongside the bride’s mother and her dog, they’re a diverse bunch and we get the sense that Yaz has been missed while on her travels. However, the Doctor soon gatecrashes the party, bringing something dangerous in her wake.

Vampires are the ancient enemy of the Time Lords, but there’s no arcane dump of backstory. Tim Foley‘s script tells us all we need to know with economy, and at pace. The Doctor doesn’t come empty handed either – she arrives with a pair of hilariously named chickens. While it’s a great gag, there’s also more to it as vampires apparently hate eggs. It’s a new wrinkle to the lore, but one that provides lots of fun! As the story develops, playing with the slasher format, there’s suspicion to go around as the guests are knocked off one by one.

In the guest cast, Mandi Symonds creates a terrific character in Gina’s Mum, and Anna Critchlow makes it easy to loathe Zoya, the disorganised official maid of honour who’s effectively the anti-Yaz. Jeremy Ang Jones and Daniel Walford round out the cast as Mason and Daryl, with the latter enjoying sensitively handled scenes with Yaz.

In his modern breezy score, Joe Kramer sells the era and Segun Akinola‘s version of the theme tune absolutely bangs!

Towards the end of the tale there’s also something teased which Yaz later forgets but sounds like the start of an ongoing thread.

In Summary

Returning to the Doctor, Jodie Whittaker effortlessly translates her energetic on-screen antics to audio and Mandip Gill matches her with Yaz’s practicality and charm.

This new Thirteenth Doctor series sits in a sweet continuity spot, after Series 12 and before Flux. With Yaz as a solo companion, as opposed to being one in a crowded TARDIS, there’s more room for interaction between her and the Doctor. The television show was good at telling us how capable Yaz was, we’re looking forward to hearing that in action. However, she’s also not used to this one-on-one dynamic, that’s addressed here too.

With its entertaining comic horror setting, ‘Vampire Weekend’ is a glorious knockabout – a modern Agatha Christie with vampires and chickens. In short, this is a solid season opener – fast, funny and a fine reintroduction to the Doctor and Yaz. The Thirteenth Doctor is back – lucky for us!

Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Vampire Weekend is out now. It’s available as a digital download to own, or as a download to own with Collector’s Edition CD, only from Big Finish.

Next Time: ‘The Return of the Doctor’

In The Return of the Doctor by Rory Thomas-Howes, Yaz discovers that adventures in time and space can have unintended consequences. The time-travelling duo set out to put right what has gone wrong since they left the planet Velazaar, but this task will test the Doctor and Yaz’s partnership to the limit…

Having saved the peaceful Zaarians from an evil alien threat, the Doctor and Yaz sail off to their next adventure. Only this time, Yaz wonders if they’re moving on, or running away.

Convincing a grudging Doctor to return to the planet, they are shocked to find the Zaarians in turmoil. What did the Doctor do? Why is the city in ruins? And what’s that voice in Yaz’s head…?

The story’s guest stars are Belinda Stewart-Wilson (The Inbetweeners) as Vashir, Charlie Kelly (The Terror) as Azaan, Will Kirk (The Gathering) as Talpa, and Stephan Bessant (Peaky Blinders) as Taav.

Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Return of the Doctor is out in September 2025.