The time travellers arrive on a flooded street on an alien world where people are going missing…

When The Early Adventures were first revealed, producer David Richardson noted that they would be similar to the BBC Audios of the Missing Episodes – in other words, a key cast member from the time would narrate the story. In those versions of stories such as Fury from the Deep or The Highlanders, the narrator wouldn’t simply recount what was going on visually, but often would add a degree of the characters’ perspective. That element hasn’t always transferred across to the Early Adventures, but it most definitely does in Simon Guerrier’s script for The Outliers, with Anneke Wills’ narrator adding certain nuances to the descriptions.

It very much feels like something from the period, with hints of both The Macra Terror and The Underwater Menace from time to time – and Guerrier has a lot of fun with a small segment looking to the future… Who’d have ever expected Mondas Passing or the Radio Times 10th Anniversary special to be important clues in a Big Finish story?

In the extras Guerrier notes that he wanted to write a full part for Elliot Chapman’s Ben Jackson, and he achieves that, with the combination of Chapman’s performance and Wills’ narration giving a clear picture in the listener’s mind’s eye of the young cockney sailor. Frazer Hines does his usual double duty as both Troughton’s Doctor and Jamie, with Wills always clearly differentiating between narrator and Polly in her performance.

Director Lisa Bowerman has assembled a very strong cast: Alastair Petrie, Debbie Chazen and Matilda Ziegler all give shaded performances, and Toby Hrycek-Robinson’s soundscape and music really help to sell the claustrophobic feel of the tale.

Verdict: Another strong Early Adventure. 9/10

Paul Simpson