Doctor Who review: The Doctor visits the planet of the werewolves in The Moons of Vulpana
By James Aggas
The Doctor takes his new companion Mags home in The Moons of Vulpana – a Doctor Who audio that features a very different kind of werewolf story…
Following on from The Monsters of Gokroth, the Seventh Doctor is still trying to help his new companion Mags with her condition. Specifically, her condition of being a werewolf. Of course, this being Doctor Who, this wasn’t simply passed onto her through the bite or the scratch of another werewolf. In fact, this is a natural aspect of her species.
So to make her feel less alienated, the Doctor decides to return her home to Vulpana. Not the one she’s familiar with, but to a considerably earlier period in its history. When the Four Great Wolf Packs virtually ruled the planet, and Vulpana had a prosperous (if cut-off) civilization. Of course, with the Doctor’s arrival, all that’s going to change…
I absolutely adore a good werewolf story. Whether it’s a traditional horror that focuses on the personal and tragic aspect of the myth, (such as The Wolf Man or An American Werewolf in London,) or whether it’s something that provides a more radical take on the genre, (Age of the Wolf is one of the coolest horror comics out there,) I’m always a huge fan.
But The Moons of Vulpana has to be one of the more original takes on the genre that I’ve seen in a while. Emma Reeves imagines an entire society of werewolves with her story. More than that – she adds more than a few hints of a class system with it, too. It allows for The Moons of Vulpana to stand out as a werewolf story very quickly.
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A different side to the new companion
In fact, Reeves makes sure to play quite a few subversive twists in this one. Things don’t always go the way that you expect them to. There are more than a few characters with hidden agendas. And not everything is as black and white as it initially appears.
As a result, we get a very different side to Mags in this one. Whereas in the previous story, she felt very alienated, in this one, she feels much more comfortable. She doesn’t always agree with the decisions that the Packs make. But she feels like she can be more true to herself on her home world, even if it’s hundreds of years before her time. And she learns what it’s like to truly live among others of her kind, too.
The more I hear of Mags, the more I like her as a companion, and that’s down to both the excellent handling of the character from the writers as well as Jessica Martin’s strong performance. I’m already looking forward to An Alien Werewolf in London, and I’m hoping it’s not the last story to feature the companion.
The Moons of Vulpana is another easy story to recommend. It has complex characters, an intriguing society, a great focus on the new companion, and of course, werewolves! Definitely worth checking out.
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Do you enjoy a good werewolf story? Do you think Doctor Who should feature more stories with such iconic monsters? Let us know in the comments below.