Rose and Jackie arrive on a world where the latter is famous…

Producer Emily Cook contributes this script to wrap up the second box set – and prepare things for the third. It’s a terrific tale that begins as a strong character piece, examining the relationship between the Tylers, and morphs into a taut race against time. It asks a lot of both Billie Piper and Camille Coduri, with them playing the cannon-blasted Rose and Jackie, as well as this world’s Rosie and Jackie, sometimes all within the same scene. The differences are small but noticeable, and more than some of the other alternate universes this series has visited, this feels like a path that our leads might have taken, with Cook taking cues from Russell T Davies’ novelisation of Rose in places. Jackie Tyler has turned up a lot in Big Finish stories over the last few years, but this series is perhaps where we’ve seen the most development, with some strong writing that Coduri has grasped with both hands.

There’s also good material for Mark Benton’s Clive, both back at Control, and in this world, where he’s a professor who’s realised that they are in a lot of trouble. The next set could be in the same reality, given the cliffhanger, and I hope we get to hear a lot more of this version.

Having registered some dissatisfaction with the sound design on the previous two stories, it’s definitely worth putting on the record that here, it blends well, quiet where it needs to be, and taking over the storytelling at the requisite moments. Couple that with Helen Goldwyn’s assured handling of the scenes, and we’re never in any doubt which of the Tylers we’re listening to, and you’ve got an excellent conclusion.

Verdict: The best of the Dimension Cannon tales to date. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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