Audio CD review
Starring the voices of Colin Baker, India Fisher, Nicky Henson
Big Finish
Release date Out now

The sixth Doctor and Charley discover that fiction can actually be a lot stranger than truth...

After a not particularly inspiring debut, the new pairing between the sixth Doctor and Charley Pollard comes into its own with this fun romp that in many ways is highly reminiscent, in tone if nothing else, of the earlier sixth Doctor story, Doctor Who and the Pirates.

The concept of unreliable narrator is taken to new heights, as the world around the Doctor and Charley is altered to fit in with the "reality" of a Victorian rewriting of history concerning the highwayman Dick Turpin, which turns the real petty villain into a highly romantic anti-hero. India Fisher gets a chance to go through various archetypes – swooning heroine, long lost sister, rough riding gypsy villainess – and Colin Baker has some highly comedic moments when he succumbs to the prevailing madness.

Writer Jac Rayner makes some serious points beneath the light frothy exterior of the story. Given that Doctor Who as a series has often presented the popular version of history as historical fact, it's good to have a story that makes the audience question such things. Peter Quentin

VERDICT: 8/10
An enjoyable tale.