The Monk – now a disembodied brain inside Missy’s handbag – gets a chance to prove his worth…

James Goss kicks off this latest box set for Michelle Gomez’s Missy, accompanied by Rufus Hound’s Meddling Monk, with a suitably convoluted tale that has some laugh aloud moments, a shoutout to a certain Star Trek episode which of course is Missy’s favourite, and one of the most inspired computer names in ages. Missy is at her usual Machiavellian best, with Gomez relishing the chance to lambast pretty much everyone else in the story at some point or other, while the Monk tries to make the best of a pretty poor situation, which starts off gruesomely and ends up even more horrific.

The blurb gives away that the pair end up on opposing sides and it does feel like the world (or at least that particular world)’s largest game of Battleships at times. Inevitably the guest cast feel a little like foils for one or other, but all fulfil their “straight man” role well. Ken Bentley keeps things as restrained, or otherwise, as they need to be, and Joe Kraemer is given plenty to achieve with both sound design and score.

Verdict: Plots within plots within plots – a fun start to the set. 8/10

Paul Simpson

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