New Earth has been an occasional destination for the Doctor. But there are complexities to the planet we’ve never imagined. Until now and until the newly elected Senator Hame and Elevator Guild member Devon Pryce begin to uncover the truth about their world.

First off, this is really good and we’ll talk about why in a second but oh dear God whoever is voicing the Tenth Doctor (I think Kieron Hodgson) is uncannily good.

What makes this set work, and it works really well, is twofold. First off there’s the excellent voice cast which includes BBC TV icon Derek Griffiths, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Adjoa Andoah and Yasmin Bannerman from the original episodes. All of them are great, Bannerman and the chameleonically voiced Hodgson in particular. This is a real, complex vocally diverse world and it’s a pleasure to hear these people talk to, at and over one another.

Secondly, the quality of the script is frequently brilliant. There’s one moment where it’s lazy which we’ll get to. But first up, what works. Hame as the framing mechanism is smart. The cats struggling to fit into the expanded world order of New Earth is smarter still. Over the course of the four stories here we meet the tree people from The End of the World again, a jet pack riding Solar Bear (and he’s awesome) and an insidious and disturbing antagonist who is thematically absolutely in keeping with the version of this world we’ve seen. ‘Death in the New Forest’ by Roland Moore is especially good, exploring the world outside the city with the same cautious enthusiasm as the newly un-gridlocked inhabitants.

‘The Skies of New Earth’ is the standout though, as Paul Morris’ story takes things full silver age with flying cities, corporate shenanigans and the aforementioned Solar Bear. This is cheerfully absurd and knows it and as a result, oddly enough, grounds the world. The emphasis here is solidly on the ‘New’ in ‘New Earth’ and it gives the series an identity and voice many had worried it would lack.

‘The Cats of New Cairo’ by Matt Fitton rounds things off in fine style and brings Toby Hadoke’s golden voiced capitalist very much to the fore. Better still, it uses the audio format to tell a story with a great shape, one that explores the more toxic elements of New Earth culture and finishes with a final explosive collision between science and faith.

And dancing through all these is that astonishingly good 10th Doctor impersonation. Tennant has such a unique diction that it’s almost impossible to mimic without sounding bad. Or, in the case of the Churchill Chronicles, give up any pretence of an impersonation and just form the shape of the role. Here? It’s perfect and gives the stories the exact 10th Doctor feel they need.

But there is the elephant in the room. Not a literal elephant, although we get pretty close but a decision made early on that damages the entire premise. To go into detail would be spoiler-y and the set doesn’t deserve that. But there’s a choice made involving a couple early on which you can see coming a mile off. Because it’s the choice most people make. And it isn’t any righter for that. It’s going to be hard for some listeners to get past but if you can, push through. It’s worth it.

Verdict: That aside, there is a ton to enjoy here. And, more importantly, a ton left to do. New Earth has plenty of stories left and I’d love to hear more of them. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart