Responding to an emergency call from Winston Churchill, the Eighth Doctor and Liv Chenka break off their search for Helen and help investigate a mysterious object…

The new set of adventures for the Eighth Doctor – during his travels before the start of the Time War – obeys what seems to be an imperative for all Big Finish incarnations of the Time Lord: he must meet Winston Churchill. Ian MacNeice delivers his usual strong performance as the Whoniverse’s version of the wartime leader, complete with attempts to find out the future from the Doctor, and to get inside the TARDIS.

The focus, though, is on an often-forgotten part of the Battle of Britain: the involvement of the Polish Air Force. Having spent some years living near Croydon, where there are memorials to those who served, I was aware of their role, but it is something that, particularly in today’s sometimes febrile political atmosphere, tends to get overlooked. John Dorney’s script rectifies that, and captures the frustration of the professional pilots who weren’t being allowed to go to war – and how they’d quickly jump at any opportunity to fight (with consequences that aren’t glossed over, quite rightly, at the end of the story).

Paul McGann and Nicola Walker bounce off each other well, with Laurence Dobiesz and Gyuri Sarossy making excellent foils for them both, and Beth Chalmers providing the alien foe. Director Ken Bentley and sound designer Benji Clifford ensure that we never feel lost during the many aerial moments and Jamie Robertson gives us a suitably powerful score.

Verdict: A spotlight on a forgotten piece of World War II history. 9/10

Paul Simpson