The Scent of Blood [AUDIO/2019.10.3]

★★★☆☆

  Vampires and Doctor Who are a match made in heaven, especially when the match in question is set in an hour-long Eighth Doctor tale steeped in that unmistakable Gothic horror atmosphere. I really have to commend David Darlington for the sound design, which allows the atmosphere to almost ooze out in the most pleasing way. Capturing the essence of the Eighth Doctor, the romantic traveller who makes no secret of his devilish enjoyment of mystery and cut-throat intrigue, is also a hard endeavor, but Dan Starkey gives such a subtle and yet effective portrayal of him that I was pleasantly surprised.

  Andy Lane is always a dependable writer, and he yet again delivers an experience that both thrills and provokes with The Scent of Blood. I always love a story that gives me an interesting, novel take on the already fascinating corner of the Doctor Who mythos: vampires. As a concept, they're among my favorite of Doctor Who's many races, and I am hopelessly drawn to their ever-expanding mythology. How fascinating is it that for once, the "baddie" is not the vampires themselves (who have taken to living in 1890s Scotland) but a sentient bowship that was built by Time Lords of old during their war against the bloodsuckers? It's an interesting concept to tackle, and Lane does so to a sufficient amount. Would I have liked a deeper examination of the Time Lord-vampire dichotomy? Yes, I would've — but you can't have everything.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  You know how films used to have double features, in which two separate movies were shown in succession (often meaning they were connected through themes or other such threads)? If I had to pair two Doctor Who stories together, it'd be The Scent of Blood and Big Finish's Project: Twilight. Between those two, you may very well be convinced that Who's vampires are the best of the entire fictional lot.