The Shadow Heart

If there's one thing Big Finish are great at doing, it's taking or making a minor character from one episode and giving them a whole spinoff of their own. I recently finished Graceless for the first time, based on Abby and Zara from the Key 2 Time trilogy, and I really enjoyed that; and I am a huge fan of Counter-Measures which takes the side characters from Remembrance of the Daleks. And this is just two of the many, many, many examples of spinoffs (but really, Big Finish, Narvin spinoff when!?). All this is a preamble to say, I didn't realise that Vienna Salvatori was introduced in the MR at all, let alone in this story. I've only ever been vaguely aware of her spinoff range, and though this episode didn't exactly give me a desire to hunt it down, I can fully appreciate why she is able to hold her own as a main character.

In fact, the side characters are what really make this story. Although I just listened to it, the actual plot of the episode is already slipping away from me - the Seventh Doctor returns to the world of Prince Kylo to find out that his Sixth incarnation's meddling has yet again screwed things up, and the reprogrammed warrior race from The Acheron Pulse are yet again destroying things in the hunt for the Doctor. There's a little bit of scheming, a little bit of timey wimey shenanigans, but for me, the world and characters was the highlight. It felt a lot Star Wars in places, rogue elements and bartering, but that was fun.

Overall, fun is the word I'd choose for this story. By this point, I'm tiring of the Drashani Empire, and especially after not finding the last one too compelling, I can't say I'm sad to say goodbye to this trilogy. And though this story weakened as it went on - really, I'd love to rate it 3.75 but I was generous and rounded up - I was reasonably entertained, and enjoyed the gaggle of characters the Doctor was surrounded by. It was also nice to have a change from McCoy being furious and yelling, and instead just being chaotic and scheming.