Most nerds know Russell T. Davies as the architect of modern Doctor Who, the man who resurrected the beloved but very much abandoned sci-fi franchise for the 21st century, with help from stars Chris Eccleston and Billie Piper. But this wasn’t Davies’ first work on Doctor Who, which was a script titled “Mind of the Hodiac” that seemingly had been lost to time. Now, Davies is resurrecting his story as well, with help from Big Finish and their Who audio dramas.
What makes this story so interesting is that Davies wrote the script when Colin Baker was playing the Sixth Doctor, accompanied by Bonnie Langford’s companion Melanie Bush, and thus it was written with those two in mind. Now Baker and Longford will be able to perform the 35-year-old story that was intended for them, thanks to the audio medium. It’s also interesting is that it doesn’t seem like “Mind of the Hodiac” was tragically lost because the BBC either turned it down or ignored it.
In fact, it’s not clear whether the BBC even asked Davies to write a Who script, or if he took it upon himself to submit a script for the show. According to his Wikipedia, he’s only joined the BBC a year before, and was working exclusively as a graphic artist in the children’s programming department. Honestly, “Hodiac” could be considered fan fiction, at least until Big Finish picked it up. Here’s the synopsis:
“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!”
“Mind of the Hodiac” was actually only the first part of what Davies intended to be a two-episode story, meaning he never wrote part two. Big Finish has tapped Scott Handcock, who’s penned and directed several Who audio dramas in the past, to complete the story using Davies’ notes on what he’d originally planned to come next.
“Mind of the Hodiac” isn’t due til March 2022, but you can pre-order either the digital download or a CD version now over at Big Finish.