BBC Radio 4, December 29 and then on iPlayer

The brothers make confessions and Maeve makes plans…

This penultimate part of Dirk Maggs’ adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel sees a lot of pieces start to fall into place for the finale. Rosie learns the truth about who she’s been sleeping with, Spider discovers why he’s being attacked by birds, and Fat Charlie makes an unexpected connection with Daisy. Grahame Coats has decided to head for St Andrews, little realising that that’s whence the majority of our players hail, and Maeve isn’t going to let a little something like death stop her from gaining her revenge. (And nice to hear Mr Gaiman get something a bit bigger than his cameo in Good Omens, as an ever-so-reasonable voice from beyond the grave.)

As with the whole story, there’s a strong mix of the mundane (using the word in both its senses) and the otherworldly – the scenes between Charlie and Daisy, both in her official and off-duty roles, are well observed. The only bit that doesn’t quite ring true (I was going to say “isn’t believable” but there’s a sliding scale for that in a story that features elder gods and their children who can nip around the planet just by holding hands!) is Rosie’s mother taking her off for a cruise at such short notice. Hopefully there’ll be an explanation next time…?

Verdict: In an odd way, I don’t want to listen to the next episode, because I know that’ll be the end of the story – or this part of it anyway. You want to be able to visit the worlds created by Gaiman, Maggs, director Allegra McIlroy, sound designer Wilfredo Acosta and all the cast on a regular basis. 9/10

Paul Simpson