Adam is devastated by the death of Georgina Jones; Simms is trying to keep the crime fighting going – and as for Georgie herself?

Guy Adams rid us of the danger of believing Georgina Jones had really been thrown out of a high window to her death at the very end of volume 1 of his reinvention of the classic 1960s TV series by showing that she was very much alive – but the captive of The Face, Adam’s mysterious enemy. This new story picks up a few weeks later, with Simms on the trail of some very distinctive bank robbers – whose style seems to derive from a couple of centuries earlier – and Adam refusing to leave his apartment. When he eventually does, he’s convinced that he’s made a breakthrough. But Simms is wary that his friend is not accepting reality. But is reality really all it’s cracked up to be?

The first few minutes of this story – and periodically thereafter – had me laughing out loud, with Adams once again using the heightened language that characterised the first box set (and giving himself some juicy lines along the way – and why not?) Blake Ritson continues to entrance as Adam: it’s not just the way that Adam enters a room that’s theatrical, it’s everything about him that captivates those around him – which is helpful when he’s rather underdressed for a pursuit.

I don’t want to give away anything about the characters played by Nicholas Asbury, Martha Cope, Dan Starkey and Andrew Wincott save to say that they all help to build the sense of ambiguity that runs throughout this story, and Milly Thomas’ return is not quite what you might have anticipated. Jamie Robertson’s score and Benji Clifford’s sound design mesh well, and the whole thing ends on a great cliffhanger that draws from the central question of the whole show – just who is Adam Adamant…?

Verdict: Sparkling dialogue, and an engaging plot – welcome back, Adam. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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