Jackie Tyler and the Meta-crisis Doctor are trapped on board a Zeppelin by someone who is potentially Jackie (and the Doctor)’s worst nightmare…

What’s effectively the second half of June’s Short Trip is a much lower key affair in many ways, even though there’s a considerable amount of peril involved for the characters. Camille Coduri gets plenty of opportunity to demonstrate different aspects to her range, not just as Jackie and this version of the Doctor, but also in the enemy, who’s not the usual sort of foe.

Joseph Lidster pays off many of the set-ups in the first story while still ensuring that this works as a separate tale in its own right, and a very interesting trajectory is being set up for the Metacrisis Doctor… Given the way that a recent Short Trip paid off in a Companion Chronicle, I’m wondering if this is almost a back-door pilot for a series of adventures featuring the alternate 10th Doctor. Through Jackie’s (somewhat biased) eyes, we see the character try to overcome obstacles from his own past, and by the end, you understand him much more.

Coduri seems to have a great deal of fun with the format of the storytelling – Jackie basically boasting to a friend, not missing a chance to wind her up – and while in pretty much any other character’s hands, this would be incredibly annoying, it works perfectly for her. More please!

Verdict: An interesting and fun tale. 9/10

Paul Simpson