Radio 4, April 25 2018

To go hunting, you need bait…

There have been a few changes in the set up for the second episode of Julian Simpson’s paranormal series and (it’s a drama not a thriller now, according to Radio Times!), with the departure of podcaster Hicks, and the arrival of Cinderella Parker, meaning that the investigative team now comprises two different unusual entities. It also puts Nicola Walker’s Mary on the back foot for the first part of this story, as she’s no longer the one doling out all the explanations – although when she does get the chance to lord it over someone else, she doesn’t hold back. (The discussion as to whether something is real or not had me laughing aloud, with its echoes of Timothy Dalton’s Bond in The Living Daylights.) Phoebe Fox’s Parker and Walker develop a quick repartee with Tim McInnerny as Johnson delivering a number of cutting remarks.

There’s quite a bit of fleshing out of both Mary and Johnson in this one as they find Glamis Castle has a link to somewhere that’s far older (and odder), and Simpson has fun with some of the tropes of the fantasy genre as well as throwing in plenty of SF explanations for magical events.

Verdict: Another very enjoyable tale that proves the power of story. 8/10

Paul Simpson