The Doctor finds a message in a bottle – in deep space. Who else but River Song would make contact this way?

James Goss starts off this box set – one of the silver linings of lockdown – with a story that will have you laughing aloud (will you ever read certain classic literature the same way ever again?) and then stopping to think. He picks up on the difference in the way that Tennant’s Doctor treats River in the Library story and then how Smith’s Doctor is in his first season, and plots a course that explains some of the apparent discrepancies – as an adjunct, almost, to character notes on both time travellers.

Parts of it are told in epistolary form (and Howard Carter does a brilliant job with the sound design for these particularly) but there are sufficient in-person meetings – and, as you might guess from the cover, not just with the 10th Doctor – that Tennant and Kingston’s quick repartee doesn’t feel avoided. Nick Briggs keeps everything moving at a lightning pace until a key moment when there’s sufficient time for reflection – for listener and Time Lord.

Verdict: A very good start to this set that presents the two lead characters in a slightly different light. 9/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order from Big Finish