Review by Daniel Mansfield

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Hot on the heels of her surprise appearance in The Reality War, Jodie Whittaker returns once again as the Thirteenth Doctor, alongside her faithful companion Yaz (Mandip Gill), in a brand-new, twelve-part series of audio adventures from Big Finish Productions!

Despite being the longest-running Doctor/companion pairing of the 21st century, the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz actually spent precious little time alone together onscreen, their adventures almost always featuring other companions. This new series rectifies that, however, giving us a chance to hear what they got up to together between Graham and Ryan’s departure in Revolution of the Daleks and Dan’s arrival in The Halloween Apocalypse.

Vampire Weekend by Tim Foley is the first instalment in the Thirteenth Doctor’s audio adventures, and immediately sets the tone by placing the focus squarely on Yaz, who is about to spend the weekend at a hen-do with her friends. Despite several trips back to Earth, we never really got a feel for what Yaz’s life outside of the TARDIS was like in the TV series, so it’s great that, right from the off, the Thirteenth Doctor Adventures is so dedicated to breaking new ground, and deepening our understanding of Yaz as a character.

Of course, it’s not long before the Doctor bursts into the story, with, as you might have guessed from the title, a vampire in tow! What follows is a fast-paced romp of a whodunnit as the Doctor and Yaz race against time to work out which one of the other characters is a bloodsucking alien in disguise. With twists, references and teases of bigger storylines peppered throughout, this story’s hour runtime absolutely flies by – a truly joyous listen.

It’s not all fun and games, though. In a particularly striking scene, the Doctor and Yaz have a heart-to-heart about their relationship with one another, Yaz lamenting the Doctor’s constant secrecy and admitting that she doesn’t know how to navigate travelling in the TARDIS without Graham and Ryan around. This is the kind of stuff that got skimmed over on TV, but which feels really integral to Yaz’s journey as a companion, so kudos to Foley for incorporating that here.

Overall, Vampire Weekend is a wonderful listen from start to finish. Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill take to audio like ducks to water, returning to their roles as if they were never away while continuing to add new dimensions to their characters. Add to that an action-packed story and a guest cast firing on all cylinders, and you get a truly brilliant start to this new series.

Vampire Weekend is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com

The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures continue in September with The Return of the Doctor