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"THE STONES OF BLOOD: GOTHIC HORROR MEETS SPACE COURTROOM FARCE"

After the middling start to The Key to Time arc, The Stones of Blood takes a step back into the eerie, folklore-inspired horror of early Tom Baker stories. With its druidic rituals, cults, and mysterious godlike beings, this adventure has all the ingredients for a classic Doctor Who gothic thriller. However, these promising elements are only briefly explored before being discarded in favour of a bizarre and tonally inconsistent finale.

The first two episodes embrace the kind of rural horror Doctor Who has done so well in the past, using English landscapes, ancient stone circles, and eerie nighttime sequences to build an unsettling mood. Yet, the tension takes too long to build, and by the time the horror elements truly take hold, the serial shifts gears into something much stranger.

ROMANA TAKES A BACK SEAT WHILE K9 SHINES

Tom Baker and Mary Tamm continue to develop their enjoyable dynamic, though Romana is disappointingly reduced to a more traditional companion role here. Unlike her strong debut in The Ribos Operation, Romana spends much of this story needing to be rescued, while Professor Rumford takes over as the Doctor’s main intellectual equal. K9, however, gets plenty of great moments, including some fun banter (such as Romana’s accidental request for him to erase his tennis databanks).

MEMORABLE SUPPORTING CAST… MOSTLY

Professor Rumford is a standout character, brought to life by Beatrix Lehmann’s wonderfully eccentric performance. She’s a likeable and intelligent presence, though her occasional over-enthusiasm can become a little grating. In contrast, the cult members played by Elaine Ives-Cameron and Nicholas McArdle are utterly forgettable, delivering some of the most wooden performances in Doctor Who history. Fortunately, they disappear early on, leaving more room for Susan Engel’s Vivien Fay. While her character is far from the most dynamic villain, Engel’s performance grows stronger as the story progresses, and she fully embraces the role’s theatricality in the later episodes.

OGRI: STUPIDLY BRILLIANT OR JUST STUPID?

The Ogri—giant, glowing, blood-drinking stone pillars—are a ridiculous concept that somehow manages to work. Despite their limited mobility, they are surprisingly effective as a threat, and their attack on the two campers in Part 3 is one of the creepiest moments in the serial. Unfortunately, this tension is completely undone when the story introduces the Megara—sentient flashing lights that act as intergalactic judges. They are as ridiculous as they sound and drag down the final episode with an extended trial sequence that feels like it belongs in an entirely different (and far worse) story.

DIRECTION AND VISUALS: A MIXED BAG

Director Darroll Blake makes his Doctor Who debut here, and while he makes excellent use of the atmospheric location footage, the production isn’t without its flaws. Several scenes suffer from actors speaking over one another, and some of the action sequences feel oddly disjointed. The prison ship set in Part 3 is a nice touch, resembling the rebel blockade runner from Star Wars: A New Hope, but it’s not enough to elevate the messy pacing of the latter half.

On the plus side, the incidental music is a highlight. Its unpredictable shifts from light and playful to dark and ominous give the story an unusual and layered soundscape that helps compensate for the uneven tone.

A PROMISING START THAT FALLS APART

The first two episodes are slow but manage to build an ominous atmosphere, with Part 3 delivering the best blend of gothic horror and sci-fi mystery. However, Part 4 completely derails the momentum with an overlong and tedious trial sequence that feels more like a comedic sketch than the conclusion to a gripping thriller. What should have been a classic horror-infused adventure ends on a frustratingly lighthearted and sluggish note.

📝VERDICT: 6/10

The Stones of Blood starts strong, with moody locations, folklore-inspired horror, and a sense of creeping dread that recalls the best of the Hinchcliffe era. However, it quickly loses its way, with Romana sidelined, an increasingly absurd plot, and a painfully dull final episode that completely undercuts the promising setup. It’s an adventure of two halves—one dark and atmospheric, the other bizarre and frustrating. An interesting experiment in tone, but an ultimately unbalanced and unsatisfying story.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

• Tom Baker wearing that stupid wig in Part 4 makes me think of David Tennant doing the same in The Star Beast.
• The role of Vivien Fey was originally offered to former Bond girl Honour Blackman (I'd have liked to see that!).