BBC Radio 4, December 10, 2018

Returning as promised every decade to assist a friend, Pilgrim is forced to assist in dealing with a plan for revenge served very cold indeed…

Like many people, I was disappointed to learn that series 7 of Pilgrim was to be its last – but Sebastian Baczkiewicz has brought him back for this two-part story, airing over two consecutive afternoons, and giving us the equivalent of a Pilgrim audio movie. If you haven’t heard any of the series before, there’s enough backstory provided (both as the opening narration and within the first episode) to be able to pick up what’s going on – although newcomers are, of course, in the same situation as those in the tale encountering William Palmer for the first time.

Baczkiewicz has a knack for melding the more stilted and mannered language of the faerie folk with modern day idiom – Paul Hilton’s Pilgrim slips between the two effortlessly – and for bringing the folklore to life with very contemporary versions of the effects that the greyfolk have on mortals. (You really won’t look at one particular children’s programme the same way ever again after this!)

I’ll talk about this particular plot in the second part of this review after both have aired; suffice it to say that Fenella Woolgar’s Mrs Bronson is insidious in her effects on the village of Melcombe, and one of its key inhabitants, Tony Turner’s Sam Notice – but it’s the way that Baczkiewicz ensures that we are drawn quickly into the village life, and all its foibles that will keep you entranced.

Verdict: A very welcome return for Pilgrim in a terrific tale. 9/10

Paul Simpson