No radios. No cassette players. No portable televisions. The Doctor, Constance and Flip arrive at a caravan site with some very unusual rules.

The final main range release for 2017 has some seriously spooky moments, with some no doubt coincidental links to elements of the Christmas special. There’s what appears to be a madman with an axe, strange figures and voices in the mist, an alien race with an Angela Carter-esque method (if I’m remembering Company of Wolves correctly!), and links between the story’s 1980s setting and Constance’s own native time. Jonathan Morris blends these together into a gripping story (and one that perhaps might not have been the best choice of listening when driving through fog late Christmas Eve night and very early on Christmas morning!)

Colin Baker, Miranda Raison and Lisa Greenwood are uniformly excellent in this, Morris emphasising facets of each of their characters to good effect – Flip’s inability to leave someone who’s in trouble, Constance’s devotion to duty, and the Doctor’s dedication to preserving life. There’s real-life tragedy at the heart of the story, and director Jamie Anderson ensures that we never lose sight of that – there’s an early scene between Scott Chambers’ Andy and Pippa Nixon’s Jo that is heartrending, while David Graham’s Percy Till gives the veteran actor a chance to remind audiences that he’s far more than Nosey Parker! Joe Kraemer & Josh Arakellian’s sound design combine with Kramer’s score to produce a suitably eerie and cinematic feel with some neat tricks that aren’t overused.

Verdict: One of the best Sixth Doctor stories, and an excellent end to the year for Big Finish. 10/10

Paul Simpson