Leela, in her last moments of life, recalls a long-forgotten memory: a time in the TARDIS. The Doctor is worried that K9’s increasingly bizarre behaviour might become dangerous. He decides to make a new model, little knowing that the fate of all three time travellers has long since been decided.
As Leela recalls the chilling connection between K9’s ‘illness’, the Z-nai and the haunted sea fort in which the TARDIS lands, she prepares for her final journey: into the land of her ancestors; the Afterlife.
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: THE TIME VAMPIRE
The thirtieth Companion Chronicle, Nigel Fairs’ “The Time Vampire,” brings the trilogy of Leela stories to a close and represents Louise Jameson’s penultimate appearance in the range. It’s an intricate, complex story, and it wraps the “arc” in satisfactory fashion – but it also glosses over more interesting material in the process.
“The Time Vampire” is another Companion Chronicle in which both voices are former companions: Jameson as Leela, of course, but John Leeson also appears as K9. The immediate benefit is that Leeson’s speaking voice sounds nothing like K9’s, so when he doubles up as Holland, it’s like having an additional actor performing. Jameson is also quite convincing as the odd Tancredi; these are two skilled vocal performers exploring their ranges and enhancing the story as a result. The older, dying Leela is heartbreaking, more so here than in the other stories in this series: juxtaposing her against her younger self brings home how much she has lost over her endless decades in Z’nai captivity. And Fairs writes K9 on the verge of a total system malfunction, explaining why the Doctor constructed a new model: this is a portrayal very much in the vein of “Warriors’ Gate,” and K9’s confused ruthlessness is actually somewhat frightening.
There’s an important line at the beginning, about how the Sevateem believe that babies are born with all the knowledge they will need, having inherited it from their past lives. When the Doctor later explains that a Time Vampire can be created by an individual crossing their own timeline, it becomes obvious what’s going on: Leela has (or will) become the Time Vampire, and will influence future (or past) events to ensure her own creation. I don’t think this main story is particularly hard to follow – it’s actually rather elegant – but I’m not sure how well it works as a conclusion to the arc. The final scene, which flashes back through Leela’s time with the Doctor, is beautiful, but the idea is still overtly sci-fi and largely difficult to relate to. Still, it’s better than running off to marry Andred and never being seen again.
Meanwhile, up in the Z’nai sky city, the Doctor is forced to watch helplessly as the Z’nai break their promise and eradicate the entire planet, consigning countless millions to a fiery demise. It is, he says, one of the most difficult moments of his entire life, as he has no hope of preventing the tragedy and must endure it from afar. This sounds like a fabulous dramatic opportunity, and honestly more compelling than Leela’s story – so where is it? I understand that the Companion Chronicle format makes it difficult to tell Doctor-centric stories, but tantalizing the listener with something better that they never get to hear isn’t a very rewarding storytelling strategy. Also, since we learn it’s the third Doctor up on the ship – this isn’t the same entire world burning that he refers to in “The Mind of Evil,” is it? Because that was an obvious reference to “Inferno” – by the same writer! – and it would be a thoroughly silly retcon to change it.
As with his other stories, Nigel Fairs controls all aspects of the production: he writes, he directs, and he is the sound designer. This works well in cases like this where the creator has a strong artistic vision, and the soundscape is particularly effective. The atmosphere doesn’t quite live up to the other stories in the trilogy, but it’s still quite good, especially the haunting, vocal elements of the score. Overall, “The Time Vampire” is a success that provides an appropriate conclusion to the Leela trilogy. A few flaws keep it from reaching classic status, but there’s no reason not to listen to ambitious audio drama with loftier goals in mind than “standard Doctor Who.”
Highly recommended.
8/10