Cambridge in the 1930s – a hotbed of many things, including weird disappearances?

Our story opens with two Cambridge men engaged in unusual nocturnal activities… one’s named Kim, the other Guy. This may ring bells with some people – and if it does, it may well lead you down an interesting train of thought as to what this story is about.

It isn’t, and I think that’s a good move on the parts of writers Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky. Kim and Guy are core characters in the story, not for what they may or may not do in their futures (interestingly, I don’t think their surnames are even given), but for the help that they give the Doctor, Steven and Vicki as they try to retrieve the TARDIS and solve the mystery of the disappearing Master (no, not that one)…

Lisa Bowerman has brought together a very strong cast for this, with Mark Edel-Hunt, Sam Woolf, Philip Fox, Richard Braine and John Rowe all creating clearly defined characters (not all of whom they’re credited for – the photographic assistant is a wonderful British eccentric who wouldn’t be out of place in an Avengers episode). Cambridge in that time period feels like an alien world, but for the geography…

We’re always asked not to give away spoilers in reviews, and this is a prime example of not wanting to know too much going in – Peter Purves and Maureen O’Brien are on sparkling form, with Purves’ First Doctor at its best.

Verdict: A highly enjoyable mix of menace, politics and skulduggery. 9/10

Paul Simpson