Jamie and Victoria are not best impressed when they have to compete to win back the TARDIS.

Paul Ebbs’ new short story for the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria is a quite light tale, with a couple of anachronisms that may pull the continuity-conscious reader out of the action. There’s a lot to enjoy in the script and Frazer Hines’ performance – although he is narrating it in the third person, rather than as Jamie, there are a number of moments where even the narration seems to get into the spirit of the era, and Hines plays up to them.

The story feels a little like it might be more suited to a comic strip than the TV series – some of the visual images that you get (particularly once Jamie and Victoria start to take part in the games) are more than a little offbeat. I can imagine Hines or Deborah Watling’s faces had they been asked to do something like this on screen, but of course that’s the beauty of audio – the most outlandish ideas can be brought to life, and that’s quite definitely a description that can be used of this.

Verdict: A slight but enjoyable short trip. 7/10

Paul Simpson