Demon Records, out now

When Captain Mike Yates is reunited with his old friend the Doctor, he finds him besieged by a powerful race of insects intent on global domination. As the Time Lord recounts his recent adventures across the centuries, it becomes clear that the fate of mankind is in the hands of the Doctor, Mike and the peculiar Mrs Wibbsey…

Paul Magrs’ five-part series about the Fourth Doctor was released September to December 2009, bringing Tom Baker’s incarnation of the role back to audio, years before his Big Finish plays. These single-disc, 70-minute adventures were originally released individually and then as various collections, but they’ve never looked so good as in this gorgeous, deluxe boxset by Demon Records.

All stops have been pulled out for this weighty boxset, which devotes two 140g vinyl discs to each storyline, pressed alternately in hornet colour scheme of yellow and black. The ten discs are housed (hived?) in a rigid box with die-cut outer sleeve, each disc benefitting from its own sleeve design and full story/production credits. Another welcome addition is the 16-page The Doctor’s Journal, a beautifully illustrated diary of the Doctor’s run-ins with the Hornets across the series. And the icing on the cake is an art print of the Doctor, hand signed by Tom Baker.

Verdict: The ultimate Hornets’ Nest presentation and the very definition of a collector’s/special edition. You might already own the recordings, but this is a whole new luxury presentation. Let’s hope that the other collections in the Nest Cottage Chronicles (Demon Quest and Serpent Crest) get the same care and attention. 10/10

Nick Joy

Click here to order from Amazon.co.uk