Hexford is going to be attacked – and only the Doctor can save the day. The trouble is, the man accompanying UNIT isn’t the Doctor that Mrs Wibbsey knows and trusts…

It had to happen eventually. Big Finish have always maintained that they wouldn’t recast the first three Doctors (even if Frazer Hines’ impersonation of Patrick Troughton is as near as damn it exactly that), so it’s fallen to AudioGo to take the leap, and bring someone else in to play the second incarnation of the Time Lord. They’ve kept it in the family though, with David Troughton stepping up to the microphone and playing the part his father created.

For the most part, it works very well. Magrs has structured the script so that he’s the only Doctor in the first half of this story. We get to see him interacting with a reactivated Captain Yates, and trying to charm the local villagers. But we know that Wibbsey isn’t convinced – and a startling moment between the two of them hints at something deeper going on.

By the time the fourth Doctor arrives on the scene, things are heading towards a catastrophe, and it does seem as if for the first time, we’re going to have a Doctor team-up where they’re working on opposing sides…

Verdict: With a number of surprises, and a recreation of another past era, this penultimate episode of Serpent Crest is one of the most enjoyable in the series to date.  7/10

Paul Simpson

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