The Doctor and Lucie arrive on a world where going outside means death…

It’s quite appropriate to listen to this in the week where the Downton Abbey movie is being released – Eddie Robson plays with some of the conventions of the genre (aka Upstairs Downstairs redux) in this clever story that has echoes of some previous audios, but presents itself very differently. Don’t be fooled, by the way, by references to static – there’s no link to Jonathan Morris’ Sixth Doctor/UNIT foe by that name (at least that I can perceive). The nature of the danger faced, however, is as potentially lethal.

I don’t want to get into much detail about the plot but Robson upends certain expectations putting Lucie and the Doctor into unaccustomed positions – which both use to their advantage during the story. Generally, Big Finish productions tend to be well cast, but director Nicholas Briggs has done a fine job with this – all the members of the crucial Horton family, in particular, resonate – and, unlike a number of recent releases, this is one that I’d love to hear a sequel to, to discover how they deal with their new situation.

Verdict: Some clever reworking of familiar tropes in a solid Doctor Who tale. 8/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order The Further Adventures of Lucie Miller from Big Finish