Rory finds himself with an unpronounceable job – and a load of unwilling victims…

Trouble is, the form of unwillingness that the victims demonstrate is that they’re unwilling to save themselves from certain death by leaving Rome, and that in turn means that the Empress’ assassin (try saying that three times quickly) is reduced to trying to bribe them to stay out of sight. Which they spectacularly fail to do.

Sarah Ward’s script bends the focus slightly more towards the dramatic, although there’s still plenty of humour to be found – particularly when Rory catches on to what’s going on around him. Terry Molloy’s Tacitus is suitably pliable, leaving our hero in a rather difficult position at the end and there’s plenty for Joanna Van Kampen, Robyn Holdaway, Ayesha Antoine and Rhys Jennings to do as events start to spiral.

Robert Harvey’s sound design and score once again keep the mood as required (although I’m really hoping we don’t get the same music gag again in the third story) and Scott Handcock keeps things constantly pressing ahead.

Verdict: You half hope at times that Rory’s Auton arm might come into action… but this keeps the SF element to a bare minimum, providing an entertaining hour. 8/10

Paul Simpson

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