Greenwich – home of the Royal Observatory and the heart of the British Empire. But why is it suffering from ghosts?

The final story in this first set of adventures for the Paternoster Gang sees them looking for a Green Witch based on the word of a drinking acquaintance of Strax… or something on that line. Paul Morris handles all three of the regular cast well in his witty and clever script, picking up on some different aspects of their lives as seen on screen and pitching them against an enemy who is more than capable of giving them a run for their money – with hints of more to come.

Some listeners to this may have encountered the literary adventures of the Saint, aka Simon Templar, and in some of the 1930s stories written by Leslie Charteris, there’s a character called Hoppy Uniatz, basically a third-rate American hoodlum to whom the higher realms of Thought are a Mystery. He prefers direct action at all times and has a gift for picking up on one small part of an idea and completely misunderstanding it. Listening to the way Strax focuses on the Green Witch – and the way that Madame Vastra deals with it – reminds me so much of the Templar/Hoppy dynamic, and it’s a rich vein, not just for comedy but drama coming out of the misunderstandings.

There’s some nice drawing from the Big Finish repertory company in the guest cast – Daisy Ashford, Lucy Briggs-Owen, Joseph Kloska and Trevor Cooper each make good foils for Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart and Dan Starkey. With appropriate sound design and music from Joe Kraemer, director Ken Bentley draws it together to make a strong conclusion to the set.

Verdict: Comedy, drama and high stakes – the Paternoster Gang go out from this set on a high. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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