The Marian Conspiracy was a wonderful listen and an excellent jumping on point if you want to get into more consistently well-regarded Sixth Doctor stories. I love the historical elements of this and Evelyn Smythe is an incredible, outstanding companion - one of the few who has travelled with the Doctor that feels like she is able to hold ground with him and be on his level, to a certain degree.

There's a certain bittersweet element to all this, knowing that we lost Maggie Stables a while ago now, but it makes stories like the Marian Conspiracy all the more special and precious. Stables and Colin Baker are truly outstanding in this audio, and I also enjoyed Anah Ruddin as the Queen. They all do a great job and really make the well done writing around these characters leave that much more of an impression.

The writing and acting around Leaf and George Crow leaves a little more to be desired. The way they repeat each others names got a bit grating after a while, and it was a little less interesting than the religious strife and complex Protestant/Catholic politics that are the focus of the Marian Conspiracy. For the most part, this is a smart and thoughtful audio, reminding me of a few of the Short Trips I recently reviewed that dealt with these historical topics, yet the Marian Conspiracy artfully finds its own little niche and I do quite appreciate this audio on the whole. Definitely one of Big Finish's stronger early outings in the Big Finish Monthly Range.