There is always a tendency to over exaggerate regarding Big Finish, I feel, where people will insist that The Sixth Doctor was only good in Big Finish, or this thing in Big Finish is better than the rest of Doctor Who, whilst failing to recognize Big Finish’s genuine flaws when they present themselves. Recency bias is almost always at hand when a Doctor has a good story in the EU. Know that I am aware of this, and am deeply attempting not to exaggerate or anything when I state that Vampire Weekend is firmly my favorite Thirteenth Doctor story thus far, and finally gives a near perfect outing to one of my favorite doctors.

This is not the massive retool some may have been expecting. It is certainly authentic to the original era of the Thirteenth Doctor and does not massively revamp the characterization of her, though she proves a little more dotty and balmy than she was on television. Entertainingly so — Whittaker is inarguably the highlight. I can already picture the myriad fanarts of her offering people eggs. The story features an ensemble cast much like other Whittaker adventures. Many other choices are similar.  Where Vampire Weekend succeeds is largely due to its characterization of Yaz, as a character who is arguably too used to the Doctor.

Nothing about Yaz’s character here is what was not on television. She is not heavily recontextualized, the story is simply constructed around her in a way that the television era consistently failed to do. Yaz is still a simple character, but she serves well as the focus of the story, as the main protagonist we follow — we’re familiar with Doctor Who bullshit and unfamiliar with Yaz’s friend group, just as ironically, she is. As Yaz gets to know her friends again, we do too, and in turn, learn about her. It’s a clever situation. The story impressively manages to well characterize the entirety of the cast via this method. I liked these side characters very much, and I hope that we return to them at some point during this season: they give a grounding to Yaz in the same way that Jackie grounds Rose, I think they’re essential.

Tim Foley’s done Whodunnits before in Doctor Who; most notably in his stellar Fifth Doctor Adventure “The Merfolk Murders.” Where I figured that one out, Vampire Weekend’s ultimate twist did stump me, even if it was adequately foreshadowed. It’s fairly wacky, but also essential Doctor Who. I only wished I could have spent more time with such a delightful main villain, and they weren’t defeated so quick. Ah well! That’s more of a nitpick, especially when the characters have nice character development like this. This isn’t the best Tim Foley script, but it is one of the most fun and that is precisely the jolt of energy that was needed to start the range. Highly recommended.