The Doctor and Romana find evidence of extraterrestrial visitors…

The first of Andrew Smith’s two contributions to this month’s Doctor Who stories from Big Finish returns him to his roots on the show, writing for the Season 18 line up, and as you might expect, he’s got a complete handle on the relationship between the Doctor and the second Romana, respecting what’s come before but continuing Big Finish’s tradition of giving the companions rather more to do than they had on TV. The pair are separated for large chunks of the story as each discovers various relevant facts relating to the Movellans’ presence on Earth.

You don’t need to have seen Destiny of the Daleks to understand this story (all necessary information is supplied – but if you do, you may be pleasantly surprised that this story is rather better than Received Wisdom would have you believe). Smith extrapolates from the information given about the Movellans in that story, giving us a bit of further insight into their society, without making the story all about them.

Director Nick Briggs keeps things moving at a credible pace – various locations are some distance apart, and there’s sufficient time allowed for the characters to get from point A to point B, something that does occasionally get overlooked – and there are strong guest performances from Camilla Power, Polly Walker and Chris Jarman. Jamie Robertson’s sound design and music help sell the scale of some of the sequences (and did I hear a certain script editor as one of the dig personnel?!).

Verdict: One of those stories that slot so well into place that once you’ve heard it, you feel as if they’ve always been part of the canon. 8/10

Paul Simpson