Tom Baker and Louise Jameson return for more audio dramas as the Fourth Doctor and Leela.
It’s always fun to launch into another series of adventures with the irrepressible Tom Baker.
In this fourteenth run of audio stories, he’s paired with Louise Jameson’s noble savage Leela, with adventures set around 1977/78. Both tales excuse K-9 from the action, as was often the case on screen.
The Hellwood Inheritance
Alan Barnes’ four-parter takes place at a safari park for ghosts. If that isn’t a cracking premise for a Doctor Who story, what is?
It begins with the Doctor and Leela arriving at “Hellwood Manor”, a country estate which has been redeveloped for the purpose. The time travellers soon find themselves in trouble, with Leela coming off badly after a close encounter with a headless spectre. The pair are promptly taken for a visiting parapsychologist and his assistant, invited to confer some legitimacy to the operation.
There’s human villainy at work here, with what appears to be a plan to cheat the young Earl of Elwood (James Meteyard) of his inheritance by his stepmother Lady Anita (Rosalie Craig) and her scientific partner – the wonderfully named Bonaparte Baptiste (Chris Jarman).
However, their shenanigans are matched by alien skulduggery too. The ‘ghost catcher’ device hails from another planet and its owner is playing an incredibly long game. With multiple sets of villains and several twists and turns, there’s a lot going on here. The story also provides three strong cliffhangers too.
In the wider guest cast, Richard James plays the highly sceptic parapsychic investigator Professor Richard Pryce, while former EastEnder Tamzin Outhwaite is his capable assistant Joan Stone. Another standout character is the Victorian maid Betty, creepily voiced by Rosie Day, who’s effectively the lead ghost.
The Memory Thieves
The second tale, a two-parter from writer Phil Mulryne, plays with the idea of identity. It concerns a colony which is struggling to establish itself, falling foul of strange electric pulses and memory loss.
With the Doctor and Leela separated, she’s paired with a scientist while he finds himself at the mercy of the colony’s officials. However, there’s a battle is brewing between the scientific and the military which threatens to imperil them all.
With its shorter duration, the story is natually a simpler affair than ‘The Hellwood Inheritance’, but the characters are well-drawn and engaging. Ayesha Antoine plays Governor Bryce, while Wayne Forester schemes as Commander Wolfe who is poised to take control.
In Summary
With two contrasting tales, this is a great start for Tom Baker’s latest run as the Doctor. While he is having a ball as always, Louise Jameson is also superb as Leela – defiantly rational in the face of all she encounters.
Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Hellwood Inheritance is out now. It’s available to purchase on Collector’s Edition CD (+ download), or download to own, from Big Finish.
The Fourth Doctor Adventures continue…
Series 14 continues with a second boxset titled The Ruins of Kaerula.
Out in June 2025, it features two stories from Phil Mulryne, and one from Tim Foley. Joining the regulars, it also features K-9 (John Leeson) and marks the debut of the Brigadier (Jon Culshaw) to the range.