STORY BY: Robbie Morrison
ART BY: Brian Williamso, COLOUR: Hi-Fi
LETTERS: Richard Starkings + Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt,
EDITOR: Andrew James, DESIGNER: Rob Farmer, 
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Kirsten Murray 
Released - April 2015
PUBLISHER: Titan Comics

"We are the most necessary of evils. Without us, chaos would seep into your worlds. Why do you stand against us?" - One of the Fractures responding to the Doctor's 'request' to leave.

Following the events of last time, UNIT scientist John Foster, who perished in an accident in our universe, has been replaced by a version who survived in another. That substitute now meets the relatives that he (in turn) had lost in a parallel disaster in the universe of his origin. All the personalities and memories are so authentically the same that the relations Foster and his family have with one another are effectively replicated.

Yet there is trauma too as a feeling of eeriness pervades, and it is only worsened as the malign Fractures continue their onslaught on this particular dimension. UNIT desperately tries to make an impact by combining their arsenal of weapons and defences with their scientific know-how, but even the Doctor's own allies might have their hands just a little bit too full.

The work that Foster was doing relating to breaking through 'multiverse' barriers could be that elusive key to overcoming the fell creatures who cut people down like Papier-mache. But a personal sacrifice may be needed before this latest adventure for the TARDIS crew reaches its end-point. 

The biggest thing to strike me in this particular issue was how well paced this middle chapter was after the somewhat ponderous opening issue. Now the basic groundwork has been set, we can see the consequences of both the protagonists and antagonists actions, and the Doctor's efforts to find a solution are not always as slick and reliable as perhaps his two predecessors' might have been, were this an adventure they stepped out into by chance first.

With a decent amount of time given over to the Foster clan, we are more than just adequately invested in both the fates of the all-too-clearly-flawed adults and the comparatively meek and benign children. The Fractures have proven their heavyweight threat already and certainly offer a disturbing fate to those that cross them at the wrong time. This issue almost decides to have one of the characters we like suffer a tragic end, but pulls away, at least for the immediate future.

Brian Williamson's artwork has also grown on me, after a slow start last time round. The script by Morrison affords a variety of different panel sizes and use of scale to either portray a group of characters, an individual or the particular facial emotion one such person is feeling. Flashbacks are very well done by the creative team and really give a sense of the core emotions driving the participants in these hectic escapades. The art work certainly is not the prettiest that has been showcased by Titan but it is still clearly the product of skill and much hard work and craftsmanship.

As with earlier stories in the Twelfth Doctor range the villains are portrayed menacingly without feeling too obviously one-dimensional. The feeling is that there will not be a pat 'everybody lives' which seems to underline every other story of the Moffat TV era. This is more than welcome, and makes the losses inflicted by the Fractures that bit more meaningful.

The Doctor/Clara team are also very nicely poised as working well together but still having to overcome a bit of aggro every now and then. The references to Danny Pink are at this point such that they now bring some poignancy; it now being some time since he was written out of the parent TV show. The biggest asset the character had of course was his 'anchoring' of Clara to the confines of Coal Hill School and 21st Century London. Thus even without the features of Samuel Anderson in this comic, there is a decent thematic tie between a character's key purpose and the core themes of this story as to people, events and consequences being meant to be in their proper space and time.

Clara's continued proactive stance in responding to the danger facing her home city and indeed the entire universe is once again well done, and a perennial reminder of just why this fascinating character has managed to be granted a relatively long spell abroad the TARDIS, despite a number of apparent deaths and/or tempestuous estrangements from her complex two-hearted mentor.

Bonus Humour Strip:

Silver Screenesis may evoke the name of the rather infamous Sylvester McCoy 25th Anniversary Story, but actually explores what makes a film groundbreaking and engaging to a smart, cosmopolitan consumer such as Clara. Both her and the Doctor are visiting Cinema Paradoxo and trying to agree on a movie that fits the bill for them both. Their eventual reaction to what they do see is one of the best punchlines any humour strip can offer the reader, and I take regular satirical cartoons in newspapers into consideration when stating that.

Written by Alan Barnes
Directed by Ken Bentley
Big Finish Productions, 2015
Stars: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon), Zoe Herriot (Wendy Padbury), Nicholas Briggs (The Cybermen/ Lanky), Lucy Liemann (Curatrix Zennox), Nicholas Farrell (Captain Frank), Kieran Hodgson (Findel)

“Jamie, I’m warning you – I am not the prancing pixie I used to be!”

The Sixth Doctor

Last of the Cybermen is the second instalment of the “locum Doctors” trilogy, which transplants some of the Doctor’s later regenerations into the respective eras of his first three incarnations. The trilogy, which forms part of Big Finish’s celebration of reaching 200 Doctor Who main range serials, is intended by BF showrunner Alan Barnes to showcase how later Doctors would work with their counterparts’ companions (eg the Seventh Doctor in the recent Defectors with Third Doctor sidekick Jo Grant) and how their approach to problem solving also differs markedly from the corresponding incarnations they have replaced.

This middle chapter, which is also written by Barnes, sees the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) deposited into his second incarnation’s time stream – alongside Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) and Zoe Herriot (Wendy Padbury) in an “exciting adventure” with the Cybermen. The Cybermen were, of course, villainous mainstays of the Patrick Troughton era, so there is already a strong sense of ho­­mage in this serial. Further, if you’re a long-time listener of Big Finish’s Doctor Who output, you’ll know this Doctor/companion/villain combo isn’t so unique – some 60 releases back, the Sixth Doctor, Jamie and Zoe also teamed up to frustrate the silver giants in the similarly named Legend of the Cybermen. You could be forgiven for asking, therefore, if Last of the Cybermen really offers the listener the new or refreshing take that the “locum Doctors” trilogy promises.

It is a credit to the main actors and also to Barnes’ writing that the story still comes across as engaging and intriguing, despite the earlier instalment in BF’s Doctor Who run. Like last year’s Sixth Doctor release Masters of Earth (which heavily paid tribute to the 1960s Dalek TV serials), Last of the Cybermen is also an unashamed love letter to the Troughton era Cybermen serials. It features plenty of concepts that were originally referenced in the classic Doctor Who TV series (some of which have been revived in the modern day series): Cyber planners, Cyber controllers, Cybermats, the Cyber world of Telos, the infamous Brotherhood of Logicians, logic gates and puzzles, and the Parapsychology Unit at Girdle House where Zoe herself trained. The serial also fleshes out the Cyber War which all but wiped out the Cyber Race (first alluded to in 1975’s Revenge of the Cybermen).

On top of that, Barnes also subtly makes citations to other Troughton serials (eg Zoe’s unabashed “I’m a genius!” mimics the Second Doctor’s legendary words in The Seeds of Death) whilst also portending the events of the era’s finale The War Games. Nevertheless, the barrage of continuity references is not intrusive – rather than detracting from the story, they reinforce the spirit of the era in which it is ostensibly set. The conviction of the performers and the stakes of the drama – escalated when the Sixth Doctor realises that he has been manoeuvred (in contrast to the wisdom of his earlier self) into triggering the whole serial’s sequence of events – keep the listener absorbed in the plot, not overwhelmed by pointless minutiae.

Colin Baker excels as the Sixth Doctor, maintaining much of the warmth and good humour that his character has developed over the last 16 years of Big Finish – but never losing his intensity in confrontations with the Cybermen or the serial’s other antagonists. Baker’s rapport with Hines (with whom he worked on 1985’s The Two Doctors) and Padbury (who at one time was his agent) is also indicative in his performance; when the Sixth Doctor expresses delight at his impromptu reunion with Jamie and Zoe, one can also detect Baker’s fondness for Hines and Padbury in his delivery. It vindicates BF’s decision to go with this trio for the story.

After Baker, Padbury gets the lion’s share of the adventure, as Zoe proves to be a vital tool for the Cybermen’s machinations (a theme continued from Legend of the Cybermen). Padbury is fantastic as the youthful, scientifically brilliant Zoe, her voice showing none of the years – over 45! - that have elapsed since her departure from Doctor Who. Further, while there were times in the original TV series when Zoe could be the archetypal screamer, the character in this tale shows no such foibles. She is hyper-intelligent, practical and courageous. Padbury is also convincing when she portrays Zoe under Cyber influence.

Hines, by comparison, is a bit shortchanged as Jamie. The Highlander in parts of this serial sometimes comes across as more obtuse than he is. There is an underlying rivalry to Jamie’s relationship with the “new” Doctor that was not evident in their initial meeting in The Two Doctors (which, if you subscribe to the much vaunted “Season 6B” theory, occurs after this tale). He is more suspicious and less receptive than Zoe to the newcomer’s explanation that he and his second incarnation have been “translocated” in time and space. As a result, there are some amusing exchanges between the Highlander and the Time Lord, the best of which is the “Madeleine” joke. Hines, nevertheless, puts in a solid performance, despite his character lacking in consistency.

Semi-regular Nicholas Briggs continues to provide the voices of the Cybermen. However, despite being in hiding for a good proportion of the story, the titular villains’ presence is still keenly felt throughout, thanks no less to a citadel they leave behind that resembles a giant Cyber helmet and boasts their technology and numerous traps for unwary explorers. While the Cyber voices are reminiscent of Earthshock and the later ‘80s Cybermen serials, as opposed to the tones Briggs has delivered for the modern TV series, he at least this time has resisted the temptation to experiment too much (as he has been guilty of doing in past Cyber audio serials).

However, even with the Cybermen being underused in the plot, Briggs’ voice can still be heard as one of the incidental characters – as Lanky, seemingly an over the top Cyberman with a Lancastrian accent! In fact, Briggs is unrecognisable as Lanky pre-conversion – the strong northern accent Briggs puts on is a testament to his acting, as this listener was easily duped into thinking it was a completely different actor.

Lanky is the other half of a duo comprising ace Cyber War veteran Captain Frank (Nicholas Farrell). The prospect of a spacefaring pilot, flanked by his loyal Cyber partner, has great potential (at least on paper). In his writer’s notes, Barnes acknowledges that he based Frank on Dan Dare but sadly, he is the complete antithesis of Dare (at least to me) – sounding too much like a hackneyed 19th century, crusty, stiff upper-lipped British officer and gentlemen to be credible. Perhaps Frank’s character is also meant to be a deliberate contrast on Barnes’ part to Tomb of the Cybermen’s Captain Hopper – but to my mind, the portrayal just doesn’t work and grates with the other incidental characters and the dialogue. This is not to say Farrell himself is utterly terrible but he should have been encouraged to deliver a more straightforward performance.

With the Cybermen relegated to the sidelines, Lucy Liemann (Moving Wallpaper, The Bourne Ultimatum) gets the chance to shine as the serial’s villain, the excellent Curatrix Zennox. In contrast to Frank’s caricatured interpretation, Liemann exhibits a calculating, composed presence throughout the story (though without being a femme fatale). Zennox is essentially the intellectual match of Zoe and almost the Doctor himself. While her motives for allying with the Cybermen are dubious (to say the least), Zennox at least doesn’t succumb to the megalomania of other Cyber allies from the same era, notably Eric Klieg (Tomb of the Cybermen) and Tobias Vaughan (The Invasion).

Much like the aforementioned Masters of Earth, part four of Last of the Cybermen takes us into completely different territory than the first three episodes – and there are a couple of twists to the storyline in the final instalment which seem a little too contrived on Barnes’ part. Nevertheless, the story is satisfactorily wound up before the Doctor and his companions are returned to their rightful times and places.

The serial features some good cliffhangers in the first three episodes. However, there is an unusual disconnect between episodes three and four. Episode three ends with the Doctor, Jamie and Frank surrounded by approaching Cybermen – yet when part four begins, it cuts straight to the Doctor and Zoe on a Cyber ship bound for Telos, with no immediate explanation about what happened to Jamie and Frank and indeed to Zoe herself. While explanations are supplied over the course of the final episode, a simple reprise from the previous episode would have been in order. Indeed, whether intended or otherwise, the cut from the Cyber threat to the Doctor and Zoe suddenly imprisoned on a Cyber vessel, is unintentionally reminiscent of Steven Moffat’s Red Nose farce Curse of the Fatal Death – just without any of the humour and plenty of confusion for the listener!

As usual, Big Finish’s production values are second to none, although I feel Nigel Fairs’ soundtrack (as excellent as it is) and some of his supporting sound effects are not necessarily evocative of the Troughton era. For example, some of the TARDIS sound effects (eg the interior doors opening) are reminiscent of those used in the 1980s TV serials rather than the Troughton era, which is rather odd considering the preceding Defectors utilised the TARDIS sound effects used in the Pertwee era quite faithfully and the next story The Secret History (at least based on a listening of part one) reprises some of the ship’s sound effects from the Hartnell era.

Last of the Cybermen is not a wholly original or inventive tale, being as it is a testimonial to the Troughton era, but it is an entertaining one nonetheless – and a good middle chapter to the “locum Doctors” trilogy. It is still unclear who or what is behind the Doctor’s “translocations” throughout his time stream – and the story deliberately leaves this mystery unanswered. It is now up to the Doctor’s fifth incarnation (Peter Davison) to uncover the mystery in the concluding story of the trilogy The Secret History.

It would seem that SERVEYOUinc have now been conclusively defeated, but as it turns out the consequences of the TARDIS crew's resistance to the corporate entity are still playing out.

This particular version of the Doctor has his hands full with temporal paradoxes more than most of his forebears and his companions likewise are no strangers to a bit of confusing chronology. The mystery of ARC begins to be less opaque as the Doctor surmises that his unusual companion is actually the mental component of the Entity being that SERVEYOUinc were exploiting to their own ends.

With ARC's help the Doctor travels to the time and place it was captured, but then must stop the creature from altering its own history. New complications come to the fore as the long-suffering TARDIS begins to fracture once again. Furthermore the three companions are confronted by a being that presents itself with some kind of personal connection to the travellers which masks the malicious entity within . But the Doctor himself is trapped in the astral plane and seemingly unable to help anyone. Meanwhile the disturbing capture of the Entity unfolds on a small moon, with one of the SERVEYOUinc party having a rather familiar face.

Following a similar vein to the previous story, the Doctor's companions get to have more direct impact on unfolding events than he himself does. The difference this time though is that the Doctor is in a position of complete safety, observing the important events that played a role in the appearance(s) of the Talent Scout over time periods. The others in the TARDIS crew must show their resolution, survival instinct and plain smarts in order to overcome the rather arrogant menace facing them, and as should be expected by now they all are up to it.

Once again with art by Boo Cook, and a story by series regular Al Ewing, there is a feeling of the creative team being confident and sure of what they are going to achieve with this adventure. The words/visuals are indeed so harmonious a match that there is virtually nothing to criticise this time round. I personally liked the deliberate panelling to show the separation of the four heroes and the 'pastels look' was a good innovation for the series .

This story almost could have been told after the fact in a conversation but is presented engagingly and never drags. Thus ultimately having a coda/prequel type of story after the cataclysms of issues nine and ten was a smart move by the creative team. It is also very pleasing to finally have a story where ARC is key to events and gets some further development after verging on being the 'Zeppo Marx' of the TARDIS quartet during most of his appearances.

Bonus Humour Strip:

Time Gentlemen Please by Marc Ellerby sees a first for this writer/artist in being granted two pages to tell his story. The quality remains high from Ellerby, and he uses the extra length to tell a galaxy-trotting pub crawl involving the Doctor, Rory and comical Sontaran Strax.

Written by Jonathan Morris
Directed by Nicholas Briggs
Starring Tom Baker and Louise Jameson
with Rowena Cooper, Richendra Carey, and Claudia Grant
Released June 2015

Set in the former convent school of St Matilda’s College in 1977, The Cloisters of Terror deals with the centuries-old phenomenon of young girls disappearing shortly after they see an apparition of three ghostly Nuns. Young Megan (Claudia Grant, of An Adventure in Space and Time fame) witnesses her friend Lynn (Allison McKenzie) fall under the thrall of the ghostly sisters, and the college’s Dean, politely blocked at every turn by the venerable Sister Frances Beckett (Richendra Carey), she has no other option than to get the police involved.

That Dean is none other than Dame Emily Shaw, (Rowena Cooper) mother of Liz, previously introduced by Big Finish in The Last Post. And Dame Emily finds a police box in her office, as the Doctor and Leela have intercepted her call and elected to investigate.

Dame Shaw quickly gets to know this incarnation of the Doctor, having previously met his ‘very odd’ predecessor - and their repartee is a joy. There’s a gentle nod to absent friends, as the Doctor asks after both Liz and the Brigadier. (Also, UNIT-dating fans - this is set in 1977, and the Brig is apparently in South America, presumably just about to pack it all in for teaching. Can we just say that Sarah Jane bumped her head before she mentioned being from 1980, or was just rounding up?)

Rowena Cooper plays Emily as a formidable but fun old battle-axe, and Tom Baker thrives with this kind of character to bounce off, giving us a slightly less irreverent but clearly grinning Doctor, a man who relishes a good mystery to solve. He’s also excellent when faced with the layered character played by Carey. Clearly all-female casts agree with Tom Baker, who's having fun but is also on his best Doctorial behaviour. He does manage to get a terrible pun about a wimple through, though.

Leela, meanwhile goes ghost-hunting with Megan, and it doesn’t take her long to get headhunted by the ghostly sisters. Everyone very soon gets locked in the crypt with the sisters by the duplicitous Sister Beckett, and it’s all very atmospheric, with reverse-reverbed ghostly voices and echoey cloisters. Perhaps the only criticism of this story is slightly blowing the whole story pretty much wide open a little too early, but Jonathan Morris’s clever script makes it all work. Bits of what could be quite clunky description and exposition are neatly handled by making the sisters only visible to young women, therefore Leela and Megan do a lot of the talking for them.

Classic Doctor Who largely stayed away from the sticky subject of religion. The BBC already had Mary Whitehouse to worry about, let alone complaints from the church - who were remarkably understanding about an alien mass-murderer posing as a vicar, then apparently raising the devil, culminating in an exploding church and a bit of gentle tea-time pagan ritual. The Daemons is a bit of an exception, and can’t be seen as a dig against religion. Bloodthirsty priests do get around a bit in classic Who, but only really in alien cultures or a distant, barbaric past. Nothing too close to the knuckle. Best not to push your luck, when depicting people of the cloth as monsters or villains.

The Cloisters of Terror seems to do just that, but manages to neatly subvert the notion of a sinister sisterhood in what turns out to be a meditation on self-sacrifice for the greater good. To say too much would be too much of a spoiler, even if the eventual resolution is signposted right from the episode one cliffhanger. Let’s just say that the obviously alien threat isn’t actually evil, this is more of a ‘stuck switch’ kind of story. 

This is a thoughtful minor tale, creepy and atmospheric, but somehow fairly cosy, with a touch of the BBC drama Ghost Stories at Christmas series to it. It’s perfect late-seventies contemporary-England Who. It’s not as original as Suburban Hell, but it’s very good indeed.

Written By: Andrew Smith
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast
William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Carole Ann Ford (Susan),
Daisy Ashford (Amyra), Andrew Dickens (Jonas Kaan/Tarlak), Andrew Bone (Pan Vexel/Nebrin)

!

Although I didn’t know much about Big Finish’s Early Adventures range when it was announced, I was curious to see how different it would be to the Companion Chronicle’s, as the two ranges are relatively similar.  I found this review took me far longer than most to write, simply due to the large emphasis on narrative rather than action, which for me somewhat diminishes the impact of a story in many situations.  However, as you will see from my impressions, I did enjoy the adventure in spite of its slight flaws.

The use of the original 1963 version of the opening theme tune, as heard in the Hartnell era of the show, is a nostalgic touch and a fitting opening, giving way to a serene view.  Russell’s hypnotic voiceover sets the scene of tranquillity which is shattered by the familiar wheezing groaning sound of the Tardis.  Here there is an interesting use of repeated sections of the take-off sequence to indicate that the time capsule is, at this point in the show’s history, a very erratic time machine, never truly under the control of its occupants.

The Doctor, Ian, Susan and Barbra discover that they have landed in the middle of a fleet of ships that, they realise later, are ready not to fight, but for flight from the alien race that has decimated so many of their number in a relatively short space of time.  At the flagship of the fleet, The Doctor and his companions meet Admiral Jonas Kaan after encountering his daughter, Amyra.  The two citizens of the planet Hydra, a world covered by a large expanse of ocean, are unconvinced that the Doctor and his companions are just travellers.  However, when the flotilla is attacked they are more than glad of the strangers’ services.  Ian dives down to help as part of a squad sent to identify a contact under water, with The Doctor taking over from a Sonar operator.

With the Voord submersible craft attacking with superior numbers and firepower and the Tardis lost when the ship it was on is sunk, things begin to look pretty dire.  However, that is not the end of the problems for the travellers as the flagship suffers the same fate.

The closure of the first episode comes in what might be considered a classic fashion, with the listener left wondering if The Doctor and his companions will escape from the situations they have become embroiled in.  The second episode opens with this in mind, keeping the emotional rollercoaster up for a good while with room for the gaps to be filled in by the imagination as the characters seem to go out of one scrape only to be thrust into another.

Episodes three and four see the travellers make their way to the main land mass of the planet, encountering the Voord army and resistance groups.  The climax to the story is a fitting one and similar to those in other stories of the era, thus making it feel more at home in that part of the show’s history.  The final lines, as spoken by Amyra, set up the story that follows to be another interesting excursion.

This particular adventure is mostly linear, but that doesn’t stop it from throwing in a few twists and turns along the way.  The scenes progress through a number of locations from on board ships, to an occupied city under militaristic rule, to the shores and crashing waves of the ocean to name a few, with all feeling fleshed out and well-structured.

In terms of presentation, the story works similarly to those of the companion chronicles, with the characters and a narrator, consisting of multiple voices, interweaving relatively seamlessly. This is not as frustrating as it might sound, as the lines that fill in the gaps between actual speech, along with the descriptions, are usually enough to solve any discrepancies.

The musical score that accompanies the various scenes is reminiscent of the show’s past, with little instrumentation.  What it lacks in this field, however, it makes up for in the fact that it is, at least until the final episode, far from an invasive score – it does not make its presence obvious to the listener, merely serving to underpin various events and emerge when necessary. 

The sound design is of good quality, mostly consisting of ambience and movement effects.  However, that does not detract from the presentation of the story, in fact having fewer sounds in a story styled like this is helpful – building an atmosphere whilst not being too intrusive. A prime example of this is during the diving sequences, where the effects used to signify the character is wearing a helmet are appropriately claustrophobic, achieving the goal of making the listener feel as if they are surrounded by the ocean’s depths.

While the pacing is a little slow at times, it is with good reason as tension is built gradually through a series of interlinked events.  With most of the first two episodes being set on board a ship, the lethargic feeling is offset by the nostalgia of the show’s classic tight corridors and cramped spaces given off by the closed setting.

The fact that this story references an earlier adventure (specifically The Keys of Marinus) is a good method of cementing it into the rest of the Doctor Who canon.  Far from limiting those who can make links, the in-story explanations make up for the fact that some may not have encountered the Serial or the titular villain before.  The Voord are portrayed as a formidable foe, with very little that can defeat them for the majority of the story.

Casting-wise, the aforementioned Voord are voiced well, with their cold warrior attitude coming through in what relative little they say as well as their actions.  The other characters fighting to rid the setting of the Voord occupation forces are also well cast.  Russell’s portrayals of Ian and The Doctor are noteworthy simply for the fact that the characters can be told apart.  This is also the case with others in the cast who take up more than one role, with it having little impact on intelligibility of the story.

Over all, this is a good adventure with a well-crafted script and atmospheric sound and vocal effects.  However, the repeated use of the same or similar musical cues as well as scenes sometimes not transitioning as smoothly as they ought to can be a bit of a drag at times.  I’d say for those who liked the Companion Chronicles and wanted more expanded stories, this might be a good way forward.  For those unfamiliar with the companion chronicles, it might be a good idea to visit those first to understand the narrative style.  The writing in this story captures the Hartnell era’s atmosphere well and even though it might feel a little long at times, it’s worth the wait to see how all the loose ends are tied up at the story’s conclusion.  Even though I’m more a fan of the full cast dramas with little or no narrator to speak of, I still found this to be a well thought out and enjoyable adventure.

Written by Alan Barnes
Directed by Nicholas Briggs 
Starring Tom Baker and Louise Jameson
with Annette Badland, Katy Wix, and Raymond Coulthard
Released May 2015

One of the joys of Big Finish's Fourth Doctor Adventures is the licence to take familiar characters and throw them into new and interesting situations. Suburban Hell is one of those times, and it's a bit special. It's a Timey-Wimey tale that takes in a monstrous suburban housewife, a hen-pecked husband, a delightful old dear over the road that hunts witches, boorish party guests, eerie fog, and a coven of taloned blue creatures conducting a black mass - all of this set against a backdrop of horrid wallpaper, garish art, prawn cocktails, golf clubs, fondue forks, and Pong. 

At first glance, it's a riff on Abigail's Party, and writer Alan Barnes goes to town with a witty, clever script full of all the minuitae of the bad taste late 1970s, with the Doctor and Leela dropping in as unexpected dinner party guests when the TARDIS vanishes on them. The party is hosted by the quite ghastly Belinda (an excellent Katy Wix, clearly channelling Alison Steadman) and her luckless husband Ralph (Raymond Coulthard). It appears to be the late 1970s, decor, dress, and menu included - but all is not what it seems.

It's difficult to say too much more about this plot point without revealing all through spoilers, but the use of time travel here is some of the best in Doctor Who ever. Mundane elements (a prank phone call, Belinda asking Leela what she fancies to drink) become pivotal, penny-drop moments. The creepy reveal of the true nature of the 'prank' call is positively Moffatesque. This story may also finally explain all those strange, kitsch paintings of blue/green women from the 70s that crop up in charity shops.

Tom Baker and Louise Jameson have been on very good form this series, and continue to excel here. The Doctor is having a fine old time, with Baker clearly relishing Barnes' script. Leela gets plenty of good lines and jokes at the expense of just how ridiculous the 70s could be. Jameson is pitch-perfect as ever, and sells a small, hurt-sounding nod to her recent loss of Marshall in Death Match with quiet economy.

They're well matched against hostess-from-hell Belinda. Comic actress Katy Wix is inspired casting, delivering Belinda's acid-tongued dialogue with expert comic timing. The real highlight though, is Annette Badland as 'Thelma from over the road' - a fantastic character in the mould of Miss Hawthorne and Amelia Rumford, perfectly played by Badland as a terribly meek elderly lady who just happens to be a witchfinder with psionic powers. She's never quite fully explained, and Big Finish should bring her back for a rematch, her scenes with Baker are marvellous, and a lot of mileage could be had from Thelma and the Doctor meeting again.

Suburban Hell is another excellent entry in this very strong series of Fourth Doctor Adventures, it's very funny, very well-written, and full of memorable characters. Definitely a party worth attending. Just watch out for the fondue.