Review by Daniel Mansfield

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The Third Doctor Adventures return with another seven-part audio adventure, Doctor Who and the Brain Drain, written by Big Finish newcomer Richard James and familiar face Nicholas Briggs. Set in the earliest days of the Third Doctor, just after his first episode, this story takes the Time Lord, the Brigadier and Liz to a castle in Scotland, where a scientific mission to solve memory loss and cure dementia finds itself plagued by disappearances, ghosts and sightings of mythical beings.

This is a straightforward but enjoyable tale, easy to listen to with a couple of lovely twists. Tim Treloar, Daisy Ashford and Jon Culshaw continue to prove excellent in their roles as the Doctor, Liz and the Brig, all three getting a chance to shine here, and the latter two characters even having a whole episode to themselves, without the Doctor, which is a fantastic novelty.

Sometimes spooky, sometimes silly, but always entertaining, The Brain Drain is a touch overlong, but the script and entire cast’s performances are such a delight that, even though there isn’t always a lot going on, you always want to keep listening. While it’s not up there with the best of the ranges’s six or seven parters, The Brain Drain is, overall, a success – a nostalgic trip back to the 70s with some glorious ideas, lovely performances and a charmingly old-school sense of adventure.

Doctor Who and the Brain Drain is now available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com