Steed and Mrs Peel must protect a valuable gem…

The latest set of adaptations from the pages of TV Comic begins with a version of the four page strip from the TV Comic Summer Special in 1966 on which Roland Moore turns up the “Avengers”-ness up to 11. This is no longer simply a tale of a villain from Steed’s past wanting revenge and filling a ship’s crew with his people; it’s now an elaborate scheme that ticks all the boxes – a suitably eccentric naval captain (whose anecdotal life is constantly cut short by Mrs Peel), and bad guys who are encouraged (OK, made) to incorporate references to a certain septet in the way they deal with Our Heroes.

Samuel Clemens keeps the pace up as Julian Wadham and Olivia Poulet deliver the witty repartee with élan, while Lara Lemon, Grant Masters and Harry Myers give us a very wide variety of voices for the guest cast. Simon Power’s sound design adds to the bizarre feel of the whole story while Jamie Robertson sounds like he’s having a lot of fun, particularly scoring the fight sequences.

Verdict: A fun tale – with an intriguing reference to Steed’s past… 8/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order from Big Finish