The TARDIS brings the Doctor to an encounter with an infamous figure from history – Lady Macbeth. But is all as Shakespeare would have us believe?

Lizzie Hopley’s middle tale for this “Lost Warriors” set is another historical, with Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor encountering Macbeth and his wife. But this isn’t an interpolation of the Time Lord into the events of the Shakespeare play – a sort of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead for Macbeth – but a look at the people who inspired the later writer…

In a script that deliberately confounds expectations, Hopley gives Neve McIntosh some terrific moments as Lady Macbeth, and Eccleston once again nails his Doctor’s combination of awe and realism (think of the way he met Charles Dickens in The Unquiet Dead) as the extra-terrestrial nature of what’s happening begins to become increasingly clear. Anthony Howell, David Rintoul and Maggie Service provide strong support, and Iain Meadows’ sound design adds an extra layer.

Verdict: A surprising and at times touching addition to the 9th Doctor’s adventures. 8/10

Paul Simpson

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