The Doctor takes Mags home – and things aren’t quite as she expects.

There’s been some criticism that the first of the “Mags” trilogy didn’t focus as firmly on the Greatest Show in the Galaxy character as you might expect of a story that’s introducing a new companion, but – as with the recent Kamelion trilogy – that doesn’t appear to be what Big Finish is doing here. Rather than add TARDIS travels to the CV of some of the characters, they’re using these stories to shine a light on characters who, because of the necessities of television production, didn’t get as much attention as they deserved. That involves focusing on situations where the characters get a chance to develop and grow – and that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s where they’re the sole focus of attention.

In this intriguing story from Emma Reeves, we certainly see sides to Mags that we perhaps might not expect, and there’s the flavour of a lot of circus story traditions in this, notably when Mags is with the two brothers who are vying for her favours. There’s a certain unfortunate repetition of tropes from the previous story that doesn’t affect the enjoyment of this on its own, but does make for something of a speedbump listened to consecutively – although, to be fair, something similar may occur in the third, and it’s been deliberate all along. (The fact that the scripts for the first two stories have yet to be released to subscribers makes me suspect there’s something on this line going on – and may explain what seems to be a continuity error at the end of episode 3.)

Director Samuel Clemens has again assembled many new voices for this story, eliciting some strong performances to join those of Sylvester McCoy and Jessica Martin, both of whom have fun with Reeves’ material.

Verdict: A more fantasy-driven adventure that highlights Martin’s Mags well. 8/10

Paul Simpson