The Monk has captured Missy – but now the Ogrons have captured them both.

Plot, counterplot, move and countermove – this is a story filled with all the convolutions you’d expect with Missy and the Monk trying to carry out their own plans that may or may not have to involve the other. Anything goes if it allows them to get away from the Ogrons, who are catching up with the Master after he stiffed them for their services provided a long time ago (as far as the audience and Missy are concerned).

Director Ken Bentley makes sure that the slow speech of the Ogrons doesn’t allow the pace to flag, and John Dorney has fun creating a number of unusual Ogrons (one in a position of power you might not expect, that gives Helen Goldwyn one of the more outré items for her CV; another in a job that, unsurprisingly, isn’t too demanding). Rufus Hound’s Monk and Michelle Gomez’s Missy’s sparring is a joy to listen to, and the end of the episode suggests that there’s more to come.

Iain Meadows’ sound design and Joe Kraemer’s score infuse the story with the necessary gravitas (there’s definitely a sliding scale of this), making for a fine capstone to this set of adventures.

Verdict: Enjoyable verbal duelling makes for a satisfactory conclusion – for now. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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