Spoiler Alert: Although the reviews of the first three stories in this box set have been comparatively spoiler-free, this review deals with plot points for all four stories; do not read on if you don’t want to be spoiled…

Adam’s former partner and daughter are seriously injured in a car crash, and he rushes to their bedside… which is precisely what others want him to do.

And so Big Finish’s second box set comes to a conclusion with a story by script editor Matt Fitton that takes the series firmly back to its roots in the 1970s series, with Adam, Anne and those on the periphery of Department 7 all caught up with the Omega conspiracy that Adam’s father, Tom Crane, was convinced existed. As we’ve realised in earlier stories, Edward Milton is no longer quite himself – he is now very much the channel through which Edward Drexel has returned to the world.

I’ve not talked much about Gunnar Cauthery’s performance so far as Milton, because I wanted to see how much it altered in this final story. As with Camilla Power and Alex Tregear in the first story, Richenda Carey and Natasha Gerson (who plays the murdered boy’s mother) in the second, and Hugh Fraser in the third, Cauthery takes what could be seriously melodramatic lines and makes them credible. The Omega Factor always trod that fine line, and the original series worked so well because of the strength of the core actors, including Cyril Luckham as the “original” Drexel. Never has evil been so apparently banal – until you were on the wrong side of him.

Drexel’s not the only one who’s back from the dead. Tom Crane is an active participant in at least the last two stories of the set (I’ll have to relisten to see if there’s evidence of him being around in the first two). However, wisely on this occasion, Big Finish have not recast, but used the format of the show cleverly to involve him without actually needing him to speak (although I guess he could via Morag).

You don’t need to have watched the original series to understand what’s going on (although I strongly advise anyone with an interest in British genre TV to do so!) and Fitton gives all his lead actors plenty of strong material. The scenes between Alan Cox’s Doyle and Louise Jameson’s Anne have a black humour running through them as the “boss” discovers who’s really in charge, while both John Dorney’s Adam and Gerson’s Morag are put through the wringer – although again, director Ken Bentley ensures that it never feels overwhelming to the listener. Sound designer Steve Foxon and composer Nick Briggs’ work is front and centre at crucial times, and both rise to the occasion, with material that tells the story rather than batters you with it.

Verdict: A fantastic conclusion to my favourite box set of the year to date. 10/10

Paul Simpson

(although I still want the original theme back)