The Magic Mousetrap

Main Range #120

Released: April 2009

Listened: 12/28/20

We’ve now entered the part of this era where Big Finish was mostly operating in trilogies, often with continuing elements or themes through all three, which increases the complexity of the storytelling. And because the Seventh Doctor already likes operating in grand schemes, that’s accentuated here. The title is a reference to The Magic Mountain, the German novel by Thomas Mann, but it shares no resemblance to the plot, merely the setting in a sanatorium (pneumological health, not mental health) in the Swiss Alps. The story was originally intended to feature Agatha Christie, but that was changed after “The Unicorn and the Wasp” came out. The patients at the sanatorium are all eccentric, as is the lone administrator. The story starts with the Doctor suffering one of his plot-induced bouts of amnesia, with Ace and Hex nowhere to be found. In an unusual turn, Ace and Hex know what’s going on, and why the Doctor needs to be kept in the dark. The payoff takes a while to unravel, and I can say I didn’t see much of it coming. The story is both deeply weird and requires some deep-cut knowledge to fully appreciate. It’s a lot like the modern series in that regard.