Doctor Who: The Violet Hour

The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures #5

by Rafaella Marcus, Jodie Whittaker (Narrator )

The Doctor and Yaz arrive in the East End of London, 1926. There’s grief in the air: not only the years of war and sickness, but a more recent death. A strange message prompts them to investigate the murder of a medium. A young woman whose seances hide deeper secrets - and an unearthly power that threatens the entire city.

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Time Travel

Audio CD

First published March 12, 2026

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

a brand New adventure with the 13th Doctor and Yaz. Aiming for New York 1926 the TARDIS lands in 1926 allright but in a different city namely the city of London. Here both Time Travellers find themselves involved in the death of a medium of the paranormal kind a conduit with the dead. And as it actually turns out there is series of dead mediums which before the professional Homicide investigations was a rather wasteland of not shared knowledge.
It turns out that the thirties is more than a glamorous Jazz age but also people trying to survive and the darkness of people that aim to gain what they want no mater the cost.
The Doctor also ackwowledges that in her current guise she has more remarks about her knowledge, skills and abilities than ever before.
And we finally meet the big "bad" enemy who has been trying to catch up with the Doctor. And now the Doctor turns around to start facing him or her?

Jodi Whittaker does a brilliant 13th Doctor and like Christopher Ecclestone who plays his Doctor I prefer the original actor playing their role in BF audiobooks. She and Mandip Gill bring an excellent story for BF in this 5th story of this run.
The paranormal side to this historical of Doctor Who is an excellent installment and the future with the opponent of this arch is worth looking forward to.

And then there is the moment between Yaz & the Doctor in which Yaz finally shows how she feels about the Doctor. Fans rejoice apperently I found the moment a bit creepy.

[Emilija · Rating 3 out of 5]

2026 52 Book Challenge - 52) Published In 2026

I've been quite enjoying this Thirteenth Doctor series, especially considering that she's not one of my favourite Doctors, but I do believe that this Big Finish run has been giving both the Doctor and Yaz some much needed character and emotional growth. I am really liking that aspect of the entire run so far.

That being said, this story didn't pull me in at all. I started this story three separate times and drifted off the first two times. Just a bit of a miss for me personally.

[FaclessOneLN · Rating 4 out of 5]

A far cry from the wilds of futuristic alien wars, we’re brought back into the realm of the supernatural with The Violet Hour. Although set during the 1920s, there’s a distinct ghostly Victorian vibe as The Doctor and Yaz are thrown into an investigation where a grief-stricken army veteran kills spirit mediums in an attempt to cross over to the other side.

As macabre as this idea sounds, Marcus’s intentions with this story are not about the scares but rather more about exploring its themes of grief or, more specifically, the all-consuming effect it can have on people. Exploring these themes is something this story does remarkably well, and that has a lot to do with how Marcus weaves the journey of its main human antagonist alongside its setting. With both a world war and a ruthless pandemic still fresh in everybody’s minds, the interim war years had a substantial amount of pain to work through. Maltravers, the antagonist, understands this more than most, with the death of his wife from Spanish flu being the main driving force behind his actions. Marcus weaves these ideas of personal tragedy and collective trauma, creating a complex character out of Maltravers, as these two effects work in tandem to warp his moral compass, ultimately driving him to murder.

With such an intense focus on themes of grief, however, other parts of the story inevitably suffer. Most notable sufferer is this adventure’s monster of the week: beings of pure thuron energy. Despite attempts to make them into amoral grief counsellors, the story never really explores this angle, resulting in them becoming little more than a strange, artificially created voice that pops up occasionally.

Additionally, the story’s other characters, besides Maltravers, also suffer from a lack of any real development. The story plays with the idea of an endearing friendship between two spirit mediums and wrestles with the insurmountable trauma from The Doctor’s past during its runtime. However, the story’s 54 minutes were never going to be enough to create anything of substance with either of these concepts.


We’ve had a few entries now into the Thirteenth Doctor Adventures, both good and (unfortunately) not quite so good. So where does The Violet Hour stand? Despite thorough explorations of its themes surrounding grief, its forgettable monster of the week and plain side characters leave it swimming in the middle of the pack. Solid but nothing special.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures, so far, have been a fine example of Big Finish at their very best. Effortlessly capturing the Chibnall era, these stories have been bold and full of adventure. Only one range has been better than the 13DAs for me, and that range is the Tenth Doctor Adventures. The Violet Hour is the most recent 13DA, but it isn't quite as strong as the other entries.

The Violet Hour sees the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) arrive in 1926 London, where they become embroiled in the mystery regarding the murder of a young medium, Esther. It plays with the concept of communicating with the dead well, but the subject matter isn't exactly new territory for Doctor Who, and other stories such as The Unquiet Dead and Dark Water/Death In Heaven have done it better.

The character work is solid though. The paranormal scientist, Maltravers (David Robb), is arguably more interesting than the story's alien antagonist, the Idolon. He's a man acting out of desperation, trying to use the Idolon to be reunited with the family he lost during the Spanish Influenza. Maltravers' motivations are understandable and it's hard to condemn him, even if his actions did kill Esther. The Violet Hour as a whole explores grief well, and the lengths people will go to feel like they can talk to the people they have lost again.

Fittingly for a Jodie Whittaker audio, there's a strong sense of family here. Esther is the sister of Miriam (Liv Andruizer), for instance, giving her a strong motivation for her involvement in the adventure. The way the Idolon uses Esther's voice to manipulate her into using her psychic powers feels cruel, preying on her undying love for her sister.

Whilst The Violet Hour feels a little unremarkable compared to the other Thirteenth Doctor Adventures, it's still an essential listen, because of Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill's performances. They always bring their A-game to voicing their TV characters, and the energy they imbue the Doctor and Yaz with is a joy to listen to. I could listen to this pair going on escapades in the Big Finish audio world forever and it makes even a more average Big Finish story a delight to sit through.

Overall, The Violet Hour is a decidedly average affair. Its plot may not bring much new to the table, but it still boasts some nice character work, and excellent performances from Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill.

[Aeryn Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like a very strong story to me— a very solid, high, four stars. As much as I love it when thirteen makes jokes, I liked that in this episode there was less of it.

I don’t enjoy Victorian stories in general, but in this one it was done well—mostly because, unlike with most BF sets in this era, it was only a setting. In others, the Victorians end up becoming the main characters and it’s uninteresting, but for this story it still felt like the Doctor and Yaz were the main characters and just happened to be in this setting.

I adored the new settings on the sonic, and Yaz knowing how to activate them. The concept of the Doctor making a setting that melts shoes makes so much sense— with how often people run away from her, I can see this coming in handy and occurring to her as a very simple and harmless way of stopping someone. And then the second setting introduced, which knocks out whoever next touches it, also seems cool. I almost can’t imagine the Doctor coming up with that one on her own, as she would perhaps find it morally dubious, but it was still a cool idea and not outside the realm of possibly that she might have invented it.

I also really liked the themes of grief and how that was handled. Plus, the setup of all this Tourist is being done very well. Going from tiny little mentions of it, to now a full on possession, is really building my intrigue nicely. Plus, the juice of the Doctor secretly following them whilst lying to Yaz about it… gorgeous. I love it.

[Toby Sutton-Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met Jodie and Mandip yesterday! Both at a Doctor Who con and then I saw Mandip come out of Nando's with Sophie Hopkins of Class fame!

This is a story that had a lot to say and an excellent execution. We continue to explore the sort of story that really only an all female TARDIS team can fit; this one makes the best potential of Thirteen and Yaz together. I had had *that* moment spoiled for me but it felt truly beautiful, and I've loved just how happy it's made so many people. Long live Big Finish (especially as Ncuti said he was up for doing some today at the con)!

[Pietro Rossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened 22 March 2026

Another hit for Jodie Whittaker's Big Finish Doctor Who range.

Set in 1926 London's East End, the Doctor and Yaz meet spiritualists. 

The first half is very strong. Psychic offworlders plus humans preying on people's mind. Performances are good throughout amongst the guests as well as the leads. 

But I'm not sure about how the Doctor resolves the situation. But the acting and atmosphere held my attention. 7/10

Scoring: 0 bad; 1-3 poor; 4-6 average; 7-9 good; 10 excellent

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure about this one at first, but it grew on me throughout my gym session. And well... what 13th/Yaz fan wouldn't be happy with certain events therein! I remembered to listen to this because I saw the review in Doctor Who Magazine - and the review made a good point about the era this audiobook is set in. It's somewhere between grief and hope.

[Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of boring. A little more progress on the "tourist" arc. But of course there's a wink-wink lesbian reference jammed in here. I want to know who at BF has decided that every New Who release (and most Classic Who, too) has to have some flavor of el-jibbity inserted. It absolutely pulls you out of the story, which is boring anyway.

[Marcel van Driel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only one of the best 13th Doctor Big Finish episodes, but also my favorite episode of her whole run. Fantastic dialogue, good story, great acting and it also has something to say. Simply marvelous.

[deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

...are we just not gonna talk about that kiss? 👀 DO IT AGAINNNN! anyways, love 13 and Yaz in these adventures, and this particular atmosphere of ghostly séances was so vibey. I'm hugely intrigued by the twist at the end and this new looming entity/character/mystery.

[Jonathan Picard · Rating 4 out of 5]

there’s this bit in the audiobook around the 46 minute mark where the doctor says how they’ve always been a meddler but it was never pointed out until this incarnation (this incarnation being a woman) and I genuinely beamed at how clever this bit was. Overall, very enjoyable story.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant, the atrocity of 13's television run is being redeemed here

[Brian Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great setting, interesting characters, and an intriguing premise. 13 and Yaz at the height of their powers.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

It always gets a little tricky when you get into whether Doctor Who is willing to acknowledge the supernatural.

[Alfie · Rating 4 out of 5]

giggling twirling my hair kicking my feet blushing

[H3dakota · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still love Yaz & 13.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forgettable 13 story

[Ari Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

mandip does a really great job being the "oh look this is happening now" soundscape translator
it's only slightly noticeable

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and enjoyable. While the individual episodes in this series are good, they are not really grabbing me by themselves. That being said, what is fascinating me is the larger overarching menace that is growing episode by episode. And it looks like the next one might star to provide some answers.

[Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars (rounded down to 4 stars)