Doctor Who: Mind of the Hodiac

The Lost Stories #Special

by Russell T. Davies, Scott Handcock

In the depths of space, the mysterious Hodiac is manipulating the Galactic Stock Exchange to raise money. His aim? To hire mercenaries for a deadly quest across the stars. Meanwhile, on Earth, an ordinary British family is plagued by a series of psychic events. The one thing connecting these events is a magnificent patchwork coat – which just so happens to belong to the Doctor!

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook

Audiobook

First published March 30, 2022

About the author

Russell T Davies, OBE, is a Welsh television producer and writer. He is a prolific writer, best known for controversial drama serials such as Queer as Folk and The Second Coming, and for spearheading the revival of the popular science-fiction television series Doctor Who, and creating its spin-off series Torchwood. Both are largely filmed in Cardiff and the latter is set there.

Reviews

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scott Handcock adapts a recently found script of RTDs first script submission sent to the Dr Who office in the mid eighties.
Possibly one of the best Sixth Doctor stories never made this mixes the ordinary and the extraordinary with a lovely blend of family drama, humour, sci fi and satire. I think that being a more recent production as the cast is certainly more interesting and diverse than it probably would have been I'd made at the time. Top marks all round.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. But really not all that great beyond the novelty of it being a “lost” Russell T. Davies script treatment. At least for me, there wasn’t anything that really called out to me in the narrative, it’s not bad and I’m sure that fans of the Sixth Doctor will enjoy it quite a bit. Nice performances from all the cast and the usually glorious soundscapes from Big Finish certainly helped boost the less than stellar story, but not enough to really overlook what the narrative lacked. This download edition also includes some short behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew, including Baker, Langford and Davies. And there’s a short music suite provided as well.

[MrColdStreamComics · Rating 2 out of 5]

😑35% 👍7 👎13
_________________________

THE GOOD:

Coming from Big Finish is this Lost Story, penned by the one and only former and future Doctor Who showrunner Russel T Davies circa 1986. Fans of RTD's work will find familiar elements in this story, such as the focus on normal people and their lives and a plot firmly established in social and cultural themes of the era (distinctively 80s, of course!).

Interestingly, the second part feels more like a traditional Doctor Who episode compared to the first one; it follows a single plot strand and develops the story through normal conversation. Actually, it feels like the first part of a regular four-parter. It does get down to explaining things and providing clearer context, therefore finally providing some tension.

The entire Hodiac concept is an interesting one, although it's not fully realized or explained until late into the story. There are other ideas at play here as well, but I feel most of them get buried under the extended cast and the multiple plot strands.

Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford are great as usual, the only performers that stand out (aside for the once again flawlessly sinister Annette Badland). Baker seems to ham things up a bit every so often, but I have a feeling it is a deliberate choice on his part.

---------------------

THE BAD:

Okay, so the narrative is all over the place in this one and it reaches too wide and far from the onset, effectively losing the listener in the process. There are many ideas at play here that don't fully work, perhaps due to the unfinished nature of the script, perhaps due to the fact that there are no visuals to support the narrative, or perhaps due to a combination of the above reasons. The Doctor and Mel are only marginally involved at first, spending a lot of the first half of the story citing poems and literature.

This story has me lost from the beginning. It's very difficult to connect the dots between the different characters and their situations. I find my mind wandering off as I wait for something to happen, only to be disappointed. The second part brings the story together somewhat but the climax feels once again messy and doesn't fully manage to capture the intended excitement and epicness of RTD's script.

The second half of Part Two returns to the messier style with an overblown climax and a script that leans back on the underdeveloped ideas of RTD's script, such as the tungsten warriors and the religious stuff.

Too many characters are involved in this one too, which might have worked for TV, but not so much for audio.

I'm sad to say, but there is little reason to listen to this lost story other than for the novelty of hearing RTD writing Doctor Who 20 years before his time. Baker and Langford are just as good or better elsewhere and RTD displays a better use of similar ideas in his later TV work.

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a bit divided on this.
Well, first off, this was near perfectly performed and everybody gave their best.
Colin is great, so is Bonnie Langford and Annette Badland.
It was a joy to hear them together.
As for the story....
What a curious mix of the usual tried and used RTD plot and ideas that were also used in the movie Hancock.
Sadly, I would have wished for more creepy and mystical elements instead of what we actually got.
It just boiled down to the usual Who plot and I was disappointed since this could have been really atmospheric and creepy.
So now we are with what I did not like:
The music. Yes, I imagine they were going for a more artistic and "different" sound with this and all the piano music... but I was not a fan. Personal taste.
And then all the strange psychic fallout that affected the Doctor and made him cite the Wind in the Willows.
Hey, I love Wind in the Willows, the animated movie was my favorite movie as a little kid!
But this was just too much. Instead of coming across as mystical and creepy, it did just slightly annoy me.
The same with the woman that repeated everything the Hodiac said and felt and did verbally.
This was like a very bad imitation of Sigourney Weaver in "Galaxy Quest".

Well, yes, they really tried to do something special with this release, with an awesome cast and some artistic decisions that made this sound different, weird and a bit apart of the usual releases.
I very much appreciate this effort.

However, this release just did not quite land with me.

Maybe I will feel different when I will do a re-listen at a later date.

[Danny Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2020 Lockdown, we had creators and the community come together in a dire time of need and showrunners and writers alike put together exciting new pieces of fiction for us to enjoy whilst the world was in a bleak place. RTD was one of those writers and during the events, he rediscovered an old script which turned out to be Mind of The Hodiac, after talking to Emily Cook and Scott Handcock, the world can now finally be exposed to what RTD's writing could have been like back in the 80s.

Mind of The Hodiac isn't the best of RTD's work but that's certainly not a bad thing, it has his usual traits which we would come to expect in later years whilst also investing in unique ideas with a story that's all about love for one's family. It's not the deepest piece of fiction which I think a lot of people were kind of expecting with this but at the same time, this was RTD making almost his very first footsteps into television.

The supporting cast is fantastic, the production and sound design are very well put together and it's easy to see this was made from the heart, it's truly a labor of love from RTD that's finally made it out into the world, it may not be the best he's ever written but it's certainly a very enjoyable story that I'm really thankful we now have! 8/10

[Stefan Grieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who by RTD before the TV, the story at least, but is it worth it?
Well, as an RTD fan to see glimpses of his talent, certain poetic flourishes, some epic sci-fi but also grounded soapy domestic drama and some high concept but topical sci-fi ideas that this has, but there are some flaws, that are the result of juvenile work.

The first episode involves the doctor becoming properly part of the plot close to the end, which I think is a little late, and the other characters aren't too interesting, apart from the domestic part related to psychics. I like references to 'The Wind in the Willows' but I didn't find them too necessary to the story. I appreciate the use of the 6th Doctor's garish costume in the narrative, but it seemed to be added just because. Plot points such as the stock exchange weren't that interesting, as well as some other plots.

The sound and music were great, also the performances were quite good, although it is jarring how older the voice of the 6th Doctor is compared to how it was usually meant to sound, but that can't be helped.

For curious RTD completionists, or those who want to listen to a mid-range Doctor Who adventure that can be quite fun, and due to the writing, still have elements of the writer's extraordinary talents.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a cool premise, but the pacing is beyond painful. In a way, it's a perfect representation of Classic Who. But that's also its biggest problem. It's abundantly clear the story, itself, never really left the initial draft phase. Scenes just go on and on, ambling aimlessly towards resolutions. And the tension just never truly builds up. That being said, there's a morsel of a great idea here. It's just a shame it's buried underneath a lot of otherwise meaningless guff. The emotional core works relatively well, and all of the actors give a respectable performance. It's just one of those stories that never really takes off. When it works, it's enjoyable. But when it doesn't work, it's a bit difficult to get through.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big Finish really stretched the meaning of "lost stories." Somehow, the behind the scenes interviews were more interesting than the story itself (though the cell phone notifications got annoying). The story feels very '80s in ways not always good. But it feels a bit NuWho in that it explores the personal lives of characters specific to this story. But overall, this felt like just an average story to me. So much for RTD's triumphant return. Heh.

[F.R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of a mess, if I'm honest. If there had been a series 24 with The Sixth Doctor and Mel, and it had followed the same lines as what had gone before in his televised era, then this would probably have fitted in quite well. There are some hints of what Davies would do later in his career, but they're lost in the sprawl here.

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 3 out of 5]

This two-parter is rather too long for what it offers, though the female-centric plot is welcome and Colin Baker is once again a delight. Davies and Handcock capture the Sixth Doctor’s personality, yet (as usual) have him largely superfluous to the resolution.

[Antonio Higgins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a prime example of somebody's first attempt at writing not being the best. The dialogue for the Doctor and Mel seemed a bit stilted, and the scenes with the Doctor in the first quarter didn't even really matter to the story. I appreciate the build up, yet it could have mattered more. For example, the Hodiac's cronies could have been involved more in the second half of the story, or the space patrollers could have had a more substantial part to play. What I did appreciate was the character placement in the scenes, as there is a good amount of variety and character's playing off each other. However, the tell-don't-show nature of the dialogue didn't help. If the story was just a bit tighter, maybe 3 thirty-minute episodes rather than 2-part, 1-hour episodes, that would have improved this.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Rob Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't fully engage with this one, if I'm honest. Colin Baker also very obviously sounds much older than the version of Six that he is playing.

[Jamieson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mind of the Hodiac was the story/script that Russell T Davies (RTD) sent into the Doctor Who production office in the mid-80s. The first episode script was re-discovered by RTD during one of the lockdown watch parties and produced by Big Finish as an audio drama. It's... okay.

The plot revolves around alien with two split aspects of itself, a capitalistic money-making scheme, psychic experiments and a lower-class family. Plus, according to the box, the Doctor's coat is somehow involved. While the second half was good, the first half was all over the and a bit boring. As a historical curiosity, it's interesting. Tracing RTD from this, to Doctor Who: Damaged Goods, to Rose and the New Series is an interesting exercise. As a story, and an audio story at that, this was just middling.