Years after the incident on the Sandminer, all Anders Poul wants is to be left alone – and certainly not to have interaction with any more robots. But then an old friend arrives…

David Collings has made multiple appearances for Big Finish over the decades – from Sapphire & Steel to playing one of the most unpleasant incarnations of the Doctor for the original Unbound series – yet it was only in the last months of his life that he returned to the role that he was most associated with on the TV show, Anders Poul in The Robots of Death. (To be fair, I’m not sure anyone is crying out for a prequel to Revenge of the Cybermen!) But it really feels as if it’s only a few months, rather than a few decades, since he played the part.

Andrew Smith’s script plays to the strengths and weaknesses of its two lead characters, with Pamela Salem returning as Lish Toos alongside Collings’ Poul. (As if you can’t guess that from the title!) Smith plays fair with the clues so that the audience can follow the various leads and discount the red herrings where necessary. There’s a tip of the hat to the classic Agatha Christie Poirot-esque explanation with the bad guy cornered at the end and all being revealed. Smith also uses the abilities and limitations of the robots well, and there’s plenty of shades of grey within the supposedly black and white rules of what they can and cannot do.

Verdict: In a funny way feeling like a backdoor pilot for its own spin-off series, this is a great showcase for Collings and Salem, and one of the best sequels to The Robots of Death we’ve had to date. 9/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order The Robots Volume 2 from Big Finish