Virgil joins an expedition to the Arctic…

The latest adventure for John Ramm’s 1920s reluctant adventurer moves forward a year from his exploits with the Hellfire Club, a period during which not a lot seems to have happened to him – he’s certainly not progressed his relationship with Dorothy Bell (she makes just a brief appearance in this story, perhaps not surprisingly encouraging him not to go on the expedition), but equally, no one has tried to kill him in outlandish ways.

That’s about to change.

In many ways, this is the best of the Kaylock tales to date. The pacing is done well – the three episodes are of unequal length, each dealing with a very specific part of the story, and being given the time they need. We start with Virgil having a very unusual encounter with the leader of the expedition; the second part follows the journey to the Arctic and ends with a revelation that you might anticipate by seconds; the third is a nightmarish battle on two fronts – against something that couldn’t and shouldn’t exist, and against the conditions. Ramm neatly forestalls a number of queries that arises in the listener’s mind and suggests that we may be nearing the endgame and understanding just why it is these things keep happening to Virgil (and it’s obviously not purely that adventures happen to the adventurous, since that’s hardly a description you’d use of Kaylock!).

Richard Vahrman and Martin Malone’s sound design is spot on, and Neil Brand’s score adds a fresh dimension – listen to it on headphones for the full 64’ organ pipe effect! The interplay between the two incarnations of Kaylock – Nick Boulton as the older narrator and Daniel Fraser as the one experiencing the events – is the smoothest yet and the three guest stars are put through their paces. (I was half expecting Andrew Havill’s Lennox to go the full Joseph Furst – “Nothing in the world can stop me now” – but he reins things in.) John Ramm’s script is respectful of the story to which he is paying homage while giving it a twist (not least in the timeframe involved), and building the characters sufficiently credibly before the more outre elements appear

Verdict: The best Kaylock story, and a good jumping on point. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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