An old hack from the British judicial system finds a new She Who Must Be Obeyed in a rather different courtroom from normal.

Or… what if John Mortimer wrote an episode of Rumpole of the Bailey set in space?

James Kettle’s wonderfully fun script works beautifully as an incident from River’s diary, but has an added edge for those of us who have enjoyed Mortimer’s Rumpole of the Bailey since his first appearance forty-five years ago. The reworking of muttered comments, the way in which the judge is referred to, the lifestyle – it’s all a terrific homage to one of the best legal characters created in the twentieth century. David Rintoul plays Hodgkiss with the requisite light touch – even if the story requirements need him to be more steps behind his client than the barrister might prefer.

Alex Kingston has fun with this one too, as does Robert Whitelock as the prosecutor, while I would love to hear a further spin-off featuring Annette Badland’s judge sparring with Rintoul’s Hodgkiss. There’s a murder mystery at the story’s heart that, by pure chance, echoes the last episode of the most recent Father Brown series – but in many ways, it’s the least important part of the story, given the sparring that goes on.

Verdict: One of my favourite River Song stories yet. 9/10

Paul Simpson

Order The Diary of River Song volume 7 from Big Finish here