What do you think?
Rate this book
The Fourth Doctor Adventures #14A
Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures, Series 14: The Hellwood Inheritance
14.1 The Hellwood Inheritance by Alan Barnes (4 parts) - When the Doctor and Leela are chased through the countryside by a headless knight, it's only the start of their problems. Because they are in the grounds of Hellwood Manor - the first safari park for ghosts! Mistaken for parapsychical investigators, the TARDIS team are shown the mysterious 'ghost catcher' device that's made the whole scheme possible. But it can't really be catching ghosts, can it? What's really happening in Hellwood?
14.2 The Memory Thieves by Phil Mulryne (2 parts) - The colony world of New Pasithea was peaceful for many years. But strange electric pulses started to be detected in its forests... and then they started to get stronger... and then people lost their memories. The Doctor and Leela land in a community in turmoil, doomed to insanity by the mysterious 'Abeyance' unless the TARDIS crew can save them. But with reports of monsters being seen in the locality, this may prove harder than expected. Can they rescue the minds of the colonists? Or will they forget what they have to do...
14.2 The Memory Thieves by Phil Mulryne (2 parts) - The colony world of New Pasithea was peaceful for many years. But strange electric pulses started to be detected in its forests... and then they started to get stronger... and then people lost their memories. The Doctor and Leela land in a community in turmoil, doomed to insanity by the mysterious 'Abeyance' unless the TARDIS crew can save them. But with reports of monsters being seen in the locality, this may prove harder than expected. Can they rescue the minds of the colonists? Or will they forget what they have to do...
- GenresDoctor WhoAudiobook
Audio CD
First published March 1, 2025
16 people want to read
About the author
Alan Barnes
99 books16 followersAlan Barnes is a British writer and editor, particularly noted for work in the field of cult film and television. Barnes served as the editor of Judge Dredd Megazine from 2001 until December 2005, during which time the title saw a considerable increase in the number of new strip pages. Among other strips, Barnes originally commissioned The Simping Detective. He also wrote a handful of Judge Dredd stories involving alternate universes or featuring a young Dredd.
He worked for five years at Doctor Who Magazine and progressed from writing strips to becoming joint editor in 1998 and sole editor from 2000 until 2002. He subsequently contributed the ongoing Fact of Fiction series of articles to the magazine. Barnes has also written or co-written a number of Doctor Who audio plays for Big Finish Productions.
He has written a number of books on cult films (including James Bond, Quentin Tarantino and Sherlock Holmes) and his book The Hammer Story, co-written with Marcus Hearn, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 1997.
He worked for five years at Doctor Who Magazine and progressed from writing strips to becoming joint editor in 1998 and sole editor from 2000 until 2002. He subsequently contributed the ongoing Fact of Fiction series of articles to the magazine. Barnes has also written or co-written a number of Doctor Who audio plays for Big Finish Productions.
He has written a number of books on cult films (including James Bond, Quentin Tarantino and Sherlock Holmes) and his book The Hammer Story, co-written with Marcus Hearn, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 1997.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 26, 2025
The Hellwood Inheritance by Alan Barnes - 3/5
To be able to pay their debts, Ellwood Manor is turned into Hellwood Manor. To attract visitors, they create the world’s first ghost safari. When Leela and the fourth doctor arrive, it’s clear something fishy is going on. Especially as the cruel stepmother and lady of the manor wants to convince people that the ghosts are real, seemingly in an attempt to rid the young earl of his inheritance.
As explained by the writer himself, the concept for this story was: Jurassic Park with ghosts. Which is such a cool concept! And it’s a solid story with some cool moments and some pretty good twists. But we only see flashes of this brilliant concept come to life as the execution of the plot feels a bit overly complicated. It’s a solid story, but it just feels like there was potential for more.
The Memory Thieves by Phil Mulryne – 4/5
Leela and the fourth doctor arrive on a planet and stumble upon a survey team that is researching strange tremors in a forest. These tremors scare the colonists as it seems people are losing their memories. So the question arises: what is causing these tremors?
This story basically does the exact opposite of the previous story. The cast is quite limited and the plot is kept as simple as possible. This works really well. I will admit, this is mostly because of the brilliant performances of the actors rather than the actual plot, as it is a rather short and straight forward story. Though I don’t mind this at all. It’s a simple but efficiently executed story with a good concept at its core.
To be able to pay their debts, Ellwood Manor is turned into Hellwood Manor. To attract visitors, they create the world’s first ghost safari. When Leela and the fourth doctor arrive, it’s clear something fishy is going on. Especially as the cruel stepmother and lady of the manor wants to convince people that the ghosts are real, seemingly in an attempt to rid the young earl of his inheritance.
As explained by the writer himself, the concept for this story was: Jurassic Park with ghosts. Which is such a cool concept! And it’s a solid story with some cool moments and some pretty good twists. But we only see flashes of this brilliant concept come to life as the execution of the plot feels a bit overly complicated. It’s a solid story, but it just feels like there was potential for more.
The Memory Thieves by Phil Mulryne – 4/5
Leela and the fourth doctor arrive on a planet and stumble upon a survey team that is researching strange tremors in a forest. These tremors scare the colonists as it seems people are losing their memories. So the question arises: what is causing these tremors?
This story basically does the exact opposite of the previous story. The cast is quite limited and the plot is kept as simple as possible. This works really well. I will admit, this is mostly because of the brilliant performances of the actors rather than the actual plot, as it is a rather short and straight forward story. Though I don’t mind this at all. It’s a simple but efficiently executed story with a good concept at its core.
November 17, 2025
The Fourth Doctor Adventures was the range I was first introduced to when starting my Big Finish journey, so it's always an absolute joy to come back and listen to new stories. The Doctor, Leela and K9 are back and I'm excited.
The Hellwood Inheritance:
The world's first ghost safari park is about to open, but a fair of scientists are on there to discredit the facility. The Doctor and Leela arrive to find phantoms of the past walk the grounds. What's brought these spirits here and can The Doctor send them back home? What is the ghost catcher device and how does it work? Elwood's family history holds the answers to all these questions, but solving it will unleash chaos.
Alan Barnes has written a fantastic story that feels like an odd but suitable combination between the Hinchcliffe and Graham Williams era' in terms of tone and ideas. It's an atmospheric and spooky tale with a sense of humor, plenty of jeopardy and some unsettling moments of horror. 9/10
The Memory Thieves:
The colony world of New Pasithea is under attack by an unknown force that takes away the memories of the inhabitants. The Doctor and Leela arrive to find that the situation is growing desperately more deadly and if it isn't resolved soon, then all hell will break loose.
Phil Mulryne has written a fun enough adventure about a colony where the inhabitants inside are having their memories stolen by a mysterious enemy, forcing them into insanity. It's an enjoyable story that explores some interesting themes about how memories are very much our identity. It's definitely an interesting idea, but one that could have been better executed and expanded upon, its greatest weakness. 4/10
Overall: 13/20
The Hellwood Inheritance:
The world's first ghost safari park is about to open, but a fair of scientists are on there to discredit the facility. The Doctor and Leela arrive to find phantoms of the past walk the grounds. What's brought these spirits here and can The Doctor send them back home? What is the ghost catcher device and how does it work? Elwood's family history holds the answers to all these questions, but solving it will unleash chaos.
Alan Barnes has written a fantastic story that feels like an odd but suitable combination between the Hinchcliffe and Graham Williams era' in terms of tone and ideas. It's an atmospheric and spooky tale with a sense of humor, plenty of jeopardy and some unsettling moments of horror. 9/10
The Memory Thieves:
The colony world of New Pasithea is under attack by an unknown force that takes away the memories of the inhabitants. The Doctor and Leela arrive to find that the situation is growing desperately more deadly and if it isn't resolved soon, then all hell will break loose.
Phil Mulryne has written a fun enough adventure about a colony where the inhabitants inside are having their memories stolen by a mysterious enemy, forcing them into insanity. It's an enjoyable story that explores some interesting themes about how memories are very much our identity. It's definitely an interesting idea, but one that could have been better executed and expanded upon, its greatest weakness. 4/10
Overall: 13/20
April 21, 2025
Series 14 is off to a good start with these two episodes.
"The Hellwood Inheritance" (4 parts) has a great premise. The elevator pitch: "Jurassic Park" with ghosts intead of dinosaurs. If there's any flaw it's that this absolutely excellent premise sort of becomes something else by Part 3, and in doing so kind of loses its way. Still, an Alan Barnes script is almost always a good one.
"The Memory Thieves" (2 parts) could have used another polish. Again, quite a good premise: , that could have been nailed down a bit better.
Of note: these were recorded four years ago! If the rumors that Tom Baker is no longer recording for BF are true, it makes me wonder how many he's banked!
"The Hellwood Inheritance" (4 parts) has a great premise. The elevator pitch: "Jurassic Park" with ghosts intead of dinosaurs. If there's any flaw it's that this absolutely excellent premise sort of becomes something else by Part 3, and in doing so kind of loses its way. Still, an Alan Barnes script is almost always a good one.
"The Memory Thieves" (2 parts) could have used another polish. Again, quite a good premise: , that could have been nailed down a bit better.
Of note: these were recorded four years ago! If the rumors that Tom Baker is no longer recording for BF are true, it makes me wonder how many he's banked!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews