Well, here we go - probably the second worst story I've listened to so far. Listened to this last year, if I remember rightly, but then forgot all about it until I was going through my notes folder yesterday and I found this review, so, that should tell you everything you need to know about this truly boring story. 1/5, general spoilers all the way through.

'Mission to Magnus's commited the worst crime a story can - it was dull. The music was good and the quick mention of TARDIS sentience was nice, but otherwise it was just. so. boring. Everyone's words were too stilted, Sil really had no point being in that story, and Six and Peri felt quite out of character. It was 80% exposition. From what I've heard about the book it is adapted from, I do not think this is entirely Big Finish's fault.

The ice warriors' plot felt tacked on at the end, like this could have been done with any monster. Martin said afterwards that the ice warriors bringing about climate change is relevant to today, but quite frankly I don't think the climate change element was done in a way that reflects real world politics or problems.

The ending hammered home the terribly sexist messaging of this story. The great revelation... was women taking their 'rightful place' and submitting to men. Anything but equality. Martin may have thought he was simply reflecting the battles of the sexes of the 80s, but to me it simply read as sexist, and as a misunderstanding of feminism. As the actors made clear in the interview, this was very dated - at least they were aware of the story's problems! Now, if only the writers had the foresight to actually fix them...

The interviews at the end were interesting and may be worth a listen - as a disabled person, I especially found Shaban's part fascinating, and both his fanboy past and desire to see disabled people like him cast in key roles very relatable. I have heard people say that this need for representation is a "new thing", but this interview really hammered home that we have been asking for representation as long as there has been media for us to be represented in. Martin and the actors talking about the cancellation of the season - and of the series - was also interesting and worth listening to if you want to know about that era of Who, as was the talk of how an audio is made from the actors' and writer's point of view. (To be clear, the interviews had no bearing on my rating of this story, just thought they were worth mentioning.)

So, overall a dull story with backwards political messaging that I strongly do not recommend. I could see how this story could make someone lose faith in Big Finish. One star, do not listen! (Except to the interviews. The interviews were good).