Doctor Who review: The Monsters of Gokroth reunites the Doctor with his werewolf friend Mags

For the first time in three decades, the Seventh Doctor is reunited with his werewolf friend Mags. But there are other monsters to worry about in The Monsters of Gokroth…

The Monsters of Gokroth is a glorious Doctor Who take on monster movies, particularly the Universal ones. Even with it set on an alien world, it features a number of key tropes: villagers afraid to go out after dark; a scientist working on horrific experiments inside her castle; villagers ready to burn the castle down and destroy the monsters. The story even features a werewolf! And it’s this werewolf that’s the focus of not just this story, but of this year’s trilogy of Seventh Doctor audios.

The starring werewolf is Mags, who the Seventh Doctor had previously met in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. Set a long time after the events of that classic story for both of them, it’s not mere coincidence that’s brought them together again.

The Seventh Doctor is getting old, and he’s trying to take care of unfinished business. This is a rather intriguing idea, and it’s not the first time we’ve seen it explored, either. After meeting Klein in the 2001 story Colditz, the Doctor met her again in 2010, 2012 and 2013. In this last example, he explicitly mentions that he’s trying to resolve any loose threads before his upcoming regeneration, which he’s sensing is coming soon.

It’s nice to see that idea explored with another old friend of the Doctor’s. You get the sense that the Doctor is very aware of his mortality – at least, for this life – but he’s still eager for adventure.

Monsters and werewolves

I mentioned that The Monsters of Gokroth pays a lot of tribute to Universal Monster films. And it does. But Matt Fitton’s story plays with those tropes a lot, and subverts many of them. Sometimes in obvious ways, but there’s actually one specific development that I genuinely wasn’t expecting. Without giving too much away, let’s just say that part three has quite the brilliant little cliffhanger.

Unsurprisingly, this story also has hints of The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. While in many ways a very different character, Varron shares many things in common with Galaxy‘s Captain Cook. Particularly his rather selfish streak and having a habit of capturing and exploiting different species.

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But perhaps the most important part of The Monsters of Gokroth is how it re-introduces Mags. We find out what she’s been up to since the last time we saw her, and why she’s no longer travelling with the Psychic Circus.

Mags gets a much larger role in this one, mainly because there’s a lot more focus on how she deals with her condition. It’s really exciting to have Jessica Martin back playing this rather unique Doctor Who character, and I’m looking forward to hearing how her story develops across this whole trilogy.

The Monsters of Gokroth is very much your classic Doctor Who story. It pays tribute to strong genre influences – in this case, classic monster movies – while also providing a huge spark of originality that makes it stand out. A strong start to the trilogy.

Are you a fan of the character of Mags? Do you enjoy monster movies? Have you listened to The Monsters of Gokroth, and if so, do you think it was an effective tribute to the genre? Let us know in the comments below.