Trying to get Cosmo off her tail, the Doctor makes a dangerous move with her TARDIS and ends up in the titular Dimension of Lost Things, a place where the things you lose from keys to yourself go. To find her way out, she has the help of explorer Sandy Irvine, space pilot Athelia, a squirrel-like alien and most importantly of all: herself.

Lisa McMullin closes out the Fugitive Doctor’s first box-set, a writer I’ve admittedly found to be quite hit and miss with her work on the Ninth Doctor Adventures range, but here she brings a story set in an abstract but well-crafted world with plenty of intrigue.

Jo Martin is doing double duty in this story, playing both the Fugitive Doctor and another version of herself who’s already been in this dimension for a whole year, there are a couple of small moments where it feels a little unclear which is speaking, but on the whole this works well and their interactions are both engaging and raise the story’s tension, as questions are raised about the Doctor’s lost memories and finding the answers.

It is hard to discuss in much detail without going into spoiler territory, but there are brief scenes depicting fragments of past events in the Fugitive Doctor’s life. One of these is particularly tense due to a mix of both Jo Martin’s delivery and the incredibly evocative sound design. Additionally, with later revelations of the story in mind, it raises more questions for the audience about just how many layers to the Fugitive Doctor’s situation there are.

The Dimension of Lost Things itself has some interesting locales, with lost souls roaming that seem to drag others down with them, and winds that blow away your memories and this is a story that leaves you wanting more of its world, as unlikely as a return visit may be.

Sandy Irvine feels a little wasted in this story as a historical figure, not being a particular focus of the story and spending much of it simply following the Doctors and reacting. While not an inherent fault, it would have been nice if he had gotten more to do. Though the story does have two important moments for the character which were enjoyed.

Cosmo - having debuted back in Fast Times - finally gets her chance to shine here. While in execution it doesn’t feel wholly satisfying, with the story starting with them sounding so familiar to one another whereas from a listener perspective they haven’t interacted since their first meeting, she’s a very enjoyable character who will hopefully be further explored in future episodes. The way she favours working alone is an interesting mirror to the Doctor at this stage and the interactions she does get with the Doctor are very enjoyable, where this dynamic evolves will be interesting to see.

If you’re looking to explore a strange new world and venture into the mysteries of the Fugitive Doctor, complete with cleverly executed revelations that don’t give away too much but leave you hungry for more, The Dimension of Lost Things may just be the story for you.

Seeking a means to stay hidden from the Time Lords, the Doctor arrives in 17th century Russia, to meet Baba Yaga, a terrifying witch from Slavic folklore. Before she knows it, the Doctor is wrapped up in the story of Vasilisa the Beautiful, sent by her wicked stepmother to retrieve a flame from Baba Yaga.

Rochana Patel knocks it out of the park with this one, it's always nice when a light is shone on cultures that Doctor Who rarely visits and the story of Baba Yaga is a great example, a folktale completely unknown to me at the time of listening, but this adaption of it has opened up an interest in the folklore behind it. The mythology is really given air here, with the story leaning much further into fantasy than conventional sci-fi and it is executed incredibly well. While handled a little directly with the Doctor plainly describing things early on, such evokative imagery is captured and the story is able to effectively hold on to its atmosphere from there, aided in no small part by Howard Carter's score. To this reviewer's less cultured mind, the chicken-legged hut called to mind Howl's Moving Castle, and the story did have an atmosphere not too dissimilar to what you might get from a Studio Ghibli classic, be that intentional or totally coincidental.

In ways we get a very different characterisation of the Doctor compared to the previous story, rather than being reluctant to get involved she's excited about being a part of this legend and meeting the figures from it. She's also a bit worse at the time travel thing, dropping way too many future references in front of Vasilisa, reflecting her placement in the timeline being before the Doctor was a seasoned traveller and more accustomed to Earth. There is also a darker side referenced through the latter half of the story by Baba Yaga, reaching into the Doctor's mind.

Jacqueline King (who listeners may know better as Sylvia Noble) is the standout guest actress and is great in portraying Baba Yaga, it is a very hammed-up performance but not to the extent where it feels out of place, she makes the character a delightful antagonist throughout and leaves you wanting more of her after every scene.

Through this story the Doctor is reflected through both Vasilis and Baba Yaga, in the case of the former it's through her harsh relationship with the people back home and desire to save them regardless (a course of action we'll see and hear the Doctor take many a time through her future lives) and in the latter it's the harsh exterior and the terrible decisions made to survive, yet with a track record of helping those in need regardless. This ties the central cast together in a satisfying way and makes their interactions all the more interesting.

The breadcrumbs laid out by the previous story continue with the Doctor making reference to memories stolen from her, and seeing where this goes will doubtlessly be interesting, perhaps it's simply the history of the Timeless Child as explored on-screen, or perhaps it's something more.

Patel is relatively new blood at Big Finish - with her first stories for them being in 2022 - and if The Legend of Baba Yaga is anything to go by this will be a name to look out for.

Paranoid that the Doctor knows secrets that could compromise them, Division elect to betray the Doctor and try to bring her in. Suddenly branded a fugitive, the Doctor finds herself taken prisoner pn Punishment - a hulk ship - and roped into a prison break.

Robert Valentine kicks off the series with this story and out the gate it presents a vulnerability we never saw in this incarnation of the Doctor on screen. For the first 10 minutes, gone is the confidence and suffer-no-fools attitude she's usually depicted with. It feels like a bit of an unusual choice. Though as characterisation goes, the Doctor here is much less keen to get involved and connect with Fade - a character who is essentially the companion for this story - but begrudgingly finds her compassion get the better of her, even when in a turbulent situation herself.

Fade is not a lot to write home about as a character but she does introduce the Doctor to the villains of the piece. Yes, it's the Daleks. Having the Daleks in the Fugitive Doctor's very first story feels like a questionable decision when, ideally, this series should be presenting something fresh. This does however come with the acknowledgement that this perspective may be skewed by an overall feeling of being burnt out on the pepperpots with their prevelancy, and they don't particularly outlive their welcome in this episode.

The Daleks also give Fade a bit of backstory as a resistence fighter, and make for a quick and easy setup for the Doctor to be tempted to join a resistance, a very classic setup for the character in their earliest incarnations and a strong way to bring her sense of morality out.

There are breadcrumbs throughout pointing to a mystery of why Division turned itself against the Doctor, with the Doctor herself not having any idea what she's supposed to know that could be considered so dangerous to them. The presence of the Daleks adds to her confusion - although the audience is in on the secret this time - as their grudge against her is as strong as ever while she finds herself on the back foot with no idea who they are. Another potential breadcrumb is a possible disconnect between events depicted in the TV series' Once, Upon Time, and what's depicted at the beginning of this story, though it can be taken in good faith that the events of Atropos are something the series may yet circle back to.

There's plenty of action and variety in the story, from the prison break to a crashing spaceship and a trip through history while facing off against the Daleks. Even if not the strongest of openers,  Fast Times certainly won't leave you bored and provides some solid set-up for the Fugitive Doctor's adventures on the run.

We all know the story, Doctor Who went on an unprecedented hiatus, and during that hiatus the Doctor returned in audio drama form. Except this happened twice, what that introduction most likely calls to mind are the Big Finish audio dramas we know and love today, but back in 1985 - during the 18 month hiatus - the BBC brought the Doctor and Peri to audio themselves for a one-off six-part adventure: Slipback.

Following a strange dream and an unexpected materialisation, the Doctor and Peri find themselves boarding the Vipod Mor, a ship captained by a being who is able to make his crew ill by the force of his own will, and operated by a computer with a mind of its own. As the Doctor investigates what brought them here, he gets separated from Peri, who finds herself tagging a long with a comedic duo of policemen.

Penned by then script editor Eric Saward, this is a surprisingly light-hearted and comical story, in stark contrast to the darker tone the TV series had been moving towards in then-recent years. Many of the writer's own stories such as Earthshock, Ressurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks are themselves among the most notable examples of this increasingly dark direction, as well as Saward also acting as script editor for the show through that time. This change of direction works really well for Slipback, and suits the more bizarre nature of its side characters.

In line with the lighter tone, the Doctor and Peri's relationship is at its most amiable, with the usually expected moments of conflict between them being nowhere to be found. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are clearly both comfortable in their roles even moving into a new medium, both putting performances on par with what they were doing on TV at the time.

The ship's computer is the real star of the show however. Played by Jane Carr, it's a performance of two very distinct halves in quite a literal sense, portraying both the computer's bubbly outer voice, as well as the more serious inner voice, with its own agenda. The outer voice of the computer has so much personality and is a joy to listen to, able to bounce between various parts of the ship at a moment's notice allowing it to cross between various plot threads in a way other characters can't, both getting to have a wider variety of interactions and acting as a connective tissue between most elements of the story.

Another notable member of the cast is Valentyne Dyall, who previously portrayed the Black Guardian but is now playing the captain of the Vipod Mor: Captain Slarn. Dyall puts in a good performance, but his character doesn't get a chance to shine, feeling somewhat disconnected from the plot. Slarn never interacting with a character in any kind of opposition to him doesn't do him any favours either, while he still has a role to play it's all tangential and leaves a feeling of lost potential. It's an interesting and less traditional approach but doesn't quite pay off.

The format of the story is also very non-traditional, with each of its six parts only running for ten minutes each. The shorter episodes make the story's progression feel much more incremental, having such little time to develop its characters and move things along. Listening to them in isolation rather than as a complete package doesn't come recommended.

The ending is unfortunately a deeply unsatisfying anti-climax. Without giving too much away, it seems to end rather abruptly, with very little agency from our leading duo. The ending does at least come about in an interesting way, and has a particularly nice moment for one of the side characters.

Slipback is an imaginative piece and a fun listen. You're not getting the most fleshed out plot, owed both to the way it segments off its characters and the shorter per-episode runtime, but you are getting an interesting and entertaining cast of characters and the unique novelty of an audio drama made during the classic series and during its leads' on-screen tenure. It has enough going for it that - to this reviewer - the story has earned its place among the sixth Doctor's televised adventures in future re-watches.

It's a shame that no further audio stories were produced at the time, there truly is a surreal factor to hearing Baker and Bryant in the format as they were in the 80s and it would have been interesting to see what kind of stories would've followed and where they would take the series tonally. Doubtlessly, further audio stories would've helped tide fans over through the rest of the hiatus, still having over a year to wait for the show to return after Slipback concluded. It's an interesting thing to think about, but perhaps in the alternate version of history where Slipback led to many more audio dramas, Big Finish wouldn't have emerged at the tail end of the century, and with the Sixth Doctor and Peri still adventuring together over 40 years later through them, that's not something to wish away.

If this review has sparked your interest, Slipback is available on CD and the third disc of the Season 22 Blu-ray set.

In the far future, the planet Testament is the backbone of the human race, providing them with the vast amounts of power they need to travel the stars and continue to expand. Under pressure to keep profits going up and growing fast, an experiment is being carried out to exponentially increase its power output, an experiment that researcher Ellison believes will go horribly wrong. The Doctor and companion Turlough arrive, and before long all hell breaks loose.

The first part is a wonderful introduction to the world of the story and sets the tone for all that's to come. As high as the stakes are set, the story is primarily a comedic romp. James Kettle's political commentary is anything but subtle and the story is all the better for it. The argument could be made that taking things to such a facetious extreme - from talk of having farm workers sleep in the silos to maximise working hours, to disregarding the imminent end of a great chunk of the universe as something to put off until next Easter, whenever that is - defangs the commentary, but it largely manages to avoid this by providing an underlying cruelty that helps ground the whole thing.

The cruelest of all being the Levison jar, a terrible device used to freeze "saboteurs" in a single moment in time, suspended forever and unable to ever be set free. It's not hard to read between the lines, this is how they handle protestors in this world and the fact that only the Doctor, Turlough and other protestors see this as a bad thing gives a pretty good idea of how they're percieved by the ordinary people of this world, an idea that's aged disappointingly well since release.

When things go disasterously wrong, the Doctor finds himself crushed under the slow-moving wheels of bureaucracy. Having been able to take things to the highest level - the prime minister of the solar system - he finds that no matter what he does to convey the severity of the situation and the need for immediate intervention, the government has no intention to actually do anything until it's too late. You'd be forgiven to think with all the lives at stake - and the prime minister's lack of empathy - this is all a bit of comedic exaggeration, but this story was recorded at the end of 2020 and likely written earlier that year. Cast your mind back to how the British government handled Covid-19 pandemic (which this story has no trouble making me do) and the Doctor's quickly growing frustration feels all too relatable.

One aspect where the story's commentary falls flat is with the Testamentarians themselves, the native population of Testament, where humans have also made their home. The story is definitely going for an allegory for racial inequality, they're consistently depicted in subordinate positions to human characters (even when we meet Testament city's kindly leader, he's answering to someone else), while human characters often make passing remarks that serve to put them down. This aspect of the story doesn't really come into focus though, early on Turlough observes that the human-Testamentarian relationship seems ammicable, and the story doesn't really do a lot to suggest otherwise. Perhaps it would've been too tonally out of place.

Kettle's writing is simply just really funny too, it'd be very easy for this review to devolve into a long list of quotes and exchanges, a personal favourite bit of dialogue is when Ellison is asked by Horobin (her superior) if she knows what the penalty for insubordination is, she in return asks if it's death and Horobin corrects her: "Worse - unemployment!" The line is delivered beautifully by Raj Ghatak, Horobin's voice filled with such abject horror.

Horobin is a great character in general, becoming increasingly unhinged throughout the story unable to deal with his reality being challenged, but the true star of the show is Violet Hardaker, a very manipulative character focused on saving her own skin, with plenty of great lines. Her interactions with the Doctor are her best, especially when helping the Doctor navigate the political system.

Turlough spends much of the story relying on another character - Fionn - to get him out of the scientific installation on Testament. He has a small arc in the story where he appreciates Fionn's courage and wants to find that within himself. It doesn't go too far but it's a nice little addition that feels right for the character at this point in his journey.

If you're looking for a laugh a minute that comes with a bit of a bite, The Blazing Hour is without a doubt the story for you. There are bits and pieces of drama in there that don't quite get to realise their potential but it leaves me all the more excited for what's to come next from James Kettle.

Once upon a time in the early-mid 2010s, Big Finish produced a range known as The Novel Adaptions, taking books from Virgin Books' Doctor Who ranges from the 1990s and turning them into full-cast audio dramas. Due to poor sales it wasn't to last, but in 2024 it has risen from the dead, for a one-off release celebrating 30 years of Goth Opera.

Full disclosure, I haven't read the original novel so this review will not look at how it fares as an adaption, but as its own story.

Originally written by Paul Cornell and adapted by Lizbeth Myles (who wrote personal comfort listen The Grey Man of the Mountain), the story features the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa taking some time to unwind in Tasmania, but another Time Lord - Ruath - seeks to bring back the vampires the Time Lords thought banished long ago in full force. Not only does the team have to stop Ruath and the vampires, but the Doctor and Tegan quickly find themselves in a race against time to save Nyssa before she's turned too.

Peter Davison and Janet Fielding completely crush it with their performances, it must be surreal for fans of the original novel to hear it performed by the actors from the TV series and doing the material such justice. The two spend most of the runtime together so there's plenty of 1-to-1 interaction they don't always get otherwise and their worry for Nyssa comes across as so sincere.

Sarah Sutton is brilliant here as well, there is a lot for her to dig into here with Nyssa's struggle with vampirism and the way that affects her from the distress towards the situation, the way it weakens her and the moments where she seems to succumb to it.

Ruath and Yarven are delightful villains too, both performances are great, each gets their share of more sympathetic moments and big villanous scenes and the characters are very well written. Micah Balfour is given a lot to work with throughout and there is a particular scene late into part two that he absolutely eats up. Natalie Gumede has the unique challenge of playing two incarnations of the same Time Lord, as Ruath regenerates in one of her first scenes and she handles this really well, it very much feels as though a switch has been flipped and she's able to sell that there's been a change, although having another actress briefly in the part may have been better.

Though the issue with Ruath is that while she remains present, for much of the story she feels a bit pushed aside by Yarven, but in the third part she truly gets to shine with some incredible scenes played against Peter Davison.

Unusually, this story takes on the format of 3 hour-long episodes, rather than being further segmented into 6 as would be more traditional. Though this worked out for the best, adapting the story there may not have been natural moments for cliffhangers at these points and none of the episodes as they're formatted keep a really solid pace. The two cliffhangers we do get are incredibly strong, especially the first part's cliffhanger as the story's score itself smoothly transitions into the main theme.

It's fortunate that Goth Opera was afforded a longer runtime than most previous releases in the range, which were typically two hours, as you would lose so much substance and the story would suffer for it. Due to interviews we know that at least one scene was cut at some point after the script was finalised, and Myles has mentioned liking a scene set on the moon absent from the story, instead just being referenced by Madelaine. Though this isn't something you notice listening, I certainly wouldn't have known without that prior knowledge, this is a testament to the editing or whatever adjustments were made while recording that this is seamless, though it makes you wonder if there are any other scenes that didn't quite make it and puts into perspective how packed a story this is even at 3 hours.

Tonally this is quite different from your typical Big Finish story, leaning a little on the darker side as was the case with the Virgin Books novels, even coming with a warning that the contents may be inappropriate for younger listeners. Though I feel it strikes the balance really well, it still feels like Doctor Who. The scene I feel necessitated the warning is around the middle of the second part, involving an apparent cult and a group of would-be vampire hunters, it speaks to the quality of the sound design that it's taking what was probably a very visually descriptive and evocatively so section of the novel and selling all of it perfectly, it feels gruesome and I love that they went for it.

At a couple of points in the third part where the action could be slightly unclear, neither can really be directly addressed without spoilers but it is a shame, one moment involves the evangelist and the other concerns a scene with the Doctor and Yarven. Another misgiving I had with this release was the way that the opening theme version of the theme is also used at the end of each part. At first I thought this was a strange stylistic choice but upon thinking about it further and the way it jarringly cuts to the cast credits I'm not sure it was intentional at all, which would make the second Fifth Doctor release this year to have an issue with its closing theme. If it's a stylistic choice, it's one that doesn't really work, if it's an error it's something you have to question how nobody seemed to have noticed at any stage before release. Neither of these issues are damning, they do bring Goth Opera down just a bit from being an easy 5 star.

Once more we have another Fifth Doctor release without a music suite included and this is potentially the biggest sting yet. Tim Steemson provided the music for this release and it is perfect for this story. The previously mentioned cliffhanger transition wouldn't be possible without Steemson's work, but the music on the whole is very-non traditional for Doctor Who. I'm not the most musically minded, but there is a lot of violin and percussion, and the show's main theme appearing as a musical motif is nice. It's a brilliant score and I hope it's made available elsewhere.

Goth Opera is brillaint, there's no two ways about that. It's no surprise that this story was able to get a whole range of novels featuring former Doctors off to a flying start, perhaps making it something of a predecessor to Big Finish itself, so it feels right to have it celebrated like this on audio. While Big Finish has been clear that this is a one-off release, and that The Novel Adaptions isn't returning, I hope this story performs well enough that they may reconsider, it'd be nice to be able to come back with another one in a year's time. Regardless of future possibilities, this is a story that deserves your attention and for this reviewer, definitely goes into the "favourites" pile.

As this year's run of The Fifth Doctor Adventures features the Doctor's season 19 companions, Vislor Turlough finds himself left out of the action once more, a situation all too familiar to fans of his television stories, and one that this year's entry into the Interludes series plays into. The Doctor and Tegan are out there saving the day but Meanwhile, Turlough......

Written by Jonathan Blum, the story drops you into the deep end of a typical Doctor Who adventure, with the Doctor breathlessly trying to explain the situation - a virus that allows victims to be remotely controlled - to the Over-Secretary, the usual bureaucracy. Unfortunately for Turlough, the Over-Secretary is from his homeworld Trion, from where Turlough is an escaped political prisoner they'd be keen to get back. Turlough has to weasel his way out of being sent home and out of the Over-Secretary's grip, without the Doctor's help.

The story is entirely from Turlough's point of view and Blum has captured the character perfectly. The way he tries to leverage every situation, willing to say just about anything to save his own skin, the little bursts of frustration and the way he views other characters is authentically the Turlough we see on screen, now an open book.

Most of the narrative has Turlough and the Over-Secretary in the same room together, with Turlough's back metaphorically against the wall, struggling for a way out of his grip. It's always great when a story expands on Trion and Turlough's past, a difficult thing to make work and feel natural when the Doctor isn't allowed to actually discover anything. The Over-Secretary with his overbearing threat to report Turlough to Trion is great, but where this exploration really shines is when Turlough meets another like himself.

Gervais is another exile from Trion who Turlough meets along the way, when looking for an ally and met with a mirror you get some really interesting dialogue out of Turlough, trying to get Gervais on-side and venting his frustrations over his own punishment at once. Though without getting into spoilers, the final scenes with Turlough and the Doctor are perhaps my favourite part of the story, coming with some wonderful insight into their relationship, highlighting their common ground and some sombre reflection on how this adventure could've gone, had Turlough been able to take a more spiteful path.

Dan Starkey provides the narration to the story and does an impressive job in portraying Turlough, successfully capturing the vocal mannerisms Mark Strickson had originally brought to the role, . Despite their more limited role in the story, Starkey gets to show his range with the Fifth Doctor, and a Tegan that isn't half bad either.

Meanwhile, Turlough is an interesting listen and a must for fans of the character, this is his moment to shine. Found packaged in The Dream Team - a box set I also view very favourably - you can't go wrong. The Interludes continue to be a sweet extra treat in the Fifth Doctor Adventures range.

On their way to visit Tegan's grandparents, the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa find themselves in a Warsaw nightclub in 1982, just in time for a performance by new punk band "Resistor". The band's drummer has gone missing, the nightclub has been raided by the secret police and something alien is taking people away too.

From the off the story feels fresh, a nightclub is the type of setting less often explored in Doctor Who and as listener's we're even treated to a sample of Resistor's music which feels like the auditory equivilant of having a big set piece, it brings an extra bit of production value to the story. On the whole the sound design is excellent, selling physical action particularly convincingly, even by the high standard set by previous stories, a standout example being a scene involving a motorcycle crash.

It seems like a fun story for the cast too, the Doctor and Tegan get some funny scenes when dealing with the secret police, in one instance involving Peter Davison having to attempt an Australian accent, I can only imagine how entertaining a recording session that might've been if Janet Fielding was present for it. When Tegan's own status as an Australian comes into question, an offhanded reference is made to making a lamington, something I'm choosing to believe is to bring the year's two releases in this range full circle, seeing as Tegan's first scene in the previous box set has her complaining that the TARDIS food machine can't rustle one up for her.

The story is strongest in its first half, when it's dealing primarily with avoiding the secret police, trying to find the missing drummer and band member Roman's moral struggle the story is brilliant. Unfortunately I feel like it loses a lot of steam when the focus shifts onto the alien, I appreciate the way it links to Roman's story, there really is a strong parallel to work with there but I didn't find it quite as interesting. The alien could've done with a little more fleshing out and buildup, and I'm not the biggest fan of the choice of effects on the alien's voice either, it leans a little too much on the generic for my liking. This story might've been able to reach its full potential as a pure historical but I'll set aside my championing for the format for now, as it stands the story is still strong.

The one other niggle is that a small part of the story hinges on the band being familiar to Tegan, having heard of them before joining the TARDIS, the impression I got from this was that Resistor must be based on a real group but they aren't, so it felt a little odd, it's another element that could've used a little more buildup than it got but it's a mostly inconsequential element of the story.

Even though it has an incredibly tough act to follow, Resistor won't leave you disappointed, it's a fun two parter that moves at a good pace and is just generally well produced. I can only hope that my criticisms of it haven't come across too harshly.

Pursuit of the Nightjar is written by Tim Foley, a name I could not have been more eager to see if I tried as he was previously responsible for The Auton Infinity, a story I have made no attempt to hide as my favourite Big Finish adventure, as well as Break the Ice which is one of the best from the Ninth Doctor Adventures range. Such a thing is a double edged sword, it comes with some really high expectations but I'm happy to report that those were absolutely met.

This story has the TARDIS team arrive on a spaceship known as the Nightjar, nearing the end of a historic three year voyage to bring a massive store of medical supplies to save a planet in need, an act of selflessness that will cost the one-man crew Captain Goben his life just weeks after his arrival, but will inspire a new age of universal peace. Throughout the journey, the Nightjar has been tailed by another ship known as the Nemesis, just one step behind, and with such high stakes our protagonists have to make sure history runs its course.

Alien to Tegan, Nyssa and the listener, this is a story from future history that the Doctor is absolutely enamoured with and his enthusiasm is infectious, you'll quickly be just as captivated by this heroic tale and there's so much joy in the Doctor getting to meet one of his heroes. It's all so wonderfully played and that really goes for the whole cast, the two guest performers (Paul Thornley and Fenella Woolgar, the latter of whom will be known to Doctor Who fans for playing Agatha Christie in The Unicorn and the Wasp) bring a lot to the story, but the focus lies mainly with our three leads and they all crush it, each of their characters get standout moments to themselves the actors really make the most of.

An example of particular note is Janet Fielding in the opening scenes of the final episode, I would be remiss to spoil a second of this adventure but the range of emotion you get out of Tegan here is so good and as bold as it is to say, I think this story may just be her best performance, my heart was racing through these moments but credit really has to go to the sound design and music too, as a production this is so well realised.

Cliffhangers are something you don't always think about with Doctor Who, many are deservedly iconic but they can sometimes feel obligatory, especially when you're in the habbit of watching or listening to stories in a single sitting or even just multiple episodes at a time, but this story is packed with standout ones, this seems to be a general strength of Foley's, he knows how to give the action a truly exciting cutoff point and pace plot developments just right and there is so much variety here.

On the whole this story is just so well mapped out, I find myself just as taken by it as the Doctor with the story of the Nightjar itself, every emotional beat lands and the whole thing comes together delightfully. The commentary on fans is really fun and I haven't even mentioned Alfie yet, the robot that Tegan names which even without dialogue you'll grow attached to.

This is the story that sells its box set, without hesitation I could encourage you now to give it a listen and I definitely want to see Tim Foley's name on future Fifth Doctor Adventures. This truly is an all-timer and I will come back to it time and time again.

The Edge of the War was written by Jonathan Barnes, who was responsible for a personal favourite Fifth Doctor audio of mine: Echo Chamber, so I went in happy to see him writing a full story for the range. Fortunately, this story is another good one. Set in a sleepy French village in the 1930s with World War II looming, it opens with a strong mystery as our heroes arrive at different, unclear intervals and you can't quite tell how much Tegan and Nyssa remember who they really are, or how aware each of them are about the nature of the town they've ended up in. The residents seem oddly insistent on their visitors staying long-term, and having them blend in with new lives, cast like characters in a play.

The Doctor is a character initially conspicuous by his absence, arriving late into the first part as the plot is already well in motion, giving Tegan and Nyssa time to introduce the listener to this world through their perspective. The story is all the better for it, the two of them shine as does Matt Addis - playing the suspicious Jean-Baptiste - who is a standout in the guest cast.

The story features a sort of romance between Tegan and a man from the village, something that pains my "Tyssa" shipping heart, subject to bias but I wasn't particularly fond of that element of the story. An unwanted distraction from the real core of the story even if a small one. Though I must admit, it ultimately pays off well.

While it comes quite suddenly, the story features a real gut punch of an ending that does work quite well and the story really does satisfy. I do wish that it hung onto the idea of those in the village being cast in particular roles a little longer though, I particularly wish we got more of that with the central characters because that's what hooked me from the blurb.