Well Neverrats, here's your long awaited. The Marian Conspiracy is a story I've had my eye on for awhile now as I've heard quite a bit about it. This is the first Big Finish story to feature their own original companion: Evelyn Smythe; a history professor. Now this run of stories between Six and Evelyn is really hyped up by a lot of fans. It's often talked about how well the two work together, how Six's characterisation gets improved, how good their stories are etc etc. And The Marian Conspiracy is generally considered to be an example of this; kicking off the run really well and being the first properly great story in the Main Range. But does this live up to the hype? I would say, maybe? Just about? This story is rather good. Evelyn is good, she plays off Six well and has some great moments of dialogue, she is a tad stuck up though; works well in a dynamic with Six specifically but is a little tricky on general likability. Speaking of, lets talk about Mr. Stuck Up himself, Six. They have reworked his character here and my god it is so much better. Long gone is the screaming ego maniac, here we get a character actually resembling Doctor Who. They still keep the traces of theatrics and egotism while injecting the character with the compassion, wisdom and kind nature that should always be forefront. Really happy about this and Colin of course plays it brilliantly as he always does. This story is very strong on dialogue, there's some absolutley amazing interactions here, particularly with The Doctor and on the theme of morality; I like how intention vs consequence is explored as a sort of mini theme. Outside of that though, this is story is just alright. It's a fine 60s-esque historical, has a pretty basic plot and makes ok use of the setting. I can see how this could be a springboard for a really good era and dynamic, just going foward I'm hoping for slightly more warmth between The Doctor and Evelyn, however given that this is there first story so I wouldn't expect that off the bat. Overall I would definitely say this story is kind of overhyped but it's still pretty good and it's fantastic dialogue brings it up to an 8/10 / 4 stars.