Charlie Sato’s in trouble – but who is the mysterious professional sent to torture him?

In some ways it’s a shame that the covers of the Short Trips give away which incarnation of the Doctor is featured, as there have been a number of occasions – and this is one of them – when it would have been nice to be surprised by which Time Lord is here. The recent Jago & Litefoot story dealt with this very well, managing to keep a surprise regarding appearances up its sleeve right up to the moment the listener heard a distinctive speech pattern, and it would have been nice not to know which version is in this – particularly given the way in which the Doctor’s entrance is built up.

That minor quibble aside, this is a solid tale featuring Yee Jee Tso’s UNIT character, Charlie Sato, with some neat throwforwards into the new series (as well as Robson picking up on one of the plotholes in a multi-Doctor story and providing at least part of a fix for it). Tso doesn’t try to imitate Paul McGann’s accent, but you’re never in any doubt that it’s the Eighth Doctor with whom he’s interacting – and the intriguing ending hints at more featuring the new alien race to come down the line.

Verdict: An enjoyable jaunt for Charlie. 8/10

Paul Simpson