The Labyrinth of Buda Castle

Fourth Doctor Adventures #5.2

Released: 18 February 2016

Listened: 6/22/22

We’re dumping any silliness with this story, which seems to be aiming for Hinchcliffe-style horror. Buda Castle and its labyrinth are in Budapest, where Vlad the Impaler was once imprisoned, which in 1980 makes it popular with vampire hunters. Except that what’s here isn’t exactly a vampire, just an alien using blood as a gestalt organism, and taking people over. Romana is a lot more clinical about the possibility of vampires than the Doctor normally is, but she hasn’t met one yet, so probably regards them as myths. The Doctor is rather unusually shouty and righteous in this one, perhaps more appropriate to season 18 than 17. Mark Bonnar is unrecognizable as the baddie, but has a laconic tone that’s fitting for an immortal, and manages to be all the more sinister for it. Not too scary, but effective.