When the Ship lands in pre-revolutionary Russia, it’s down to Ian Chesterton to piece together a difficult puzzle and preserve the timeline.
A nicely atmospheric tale from Richard Dinnick is given a very wide soundscape by director Lisa Bowerman, which really helps sell the setting for this intriguing story.
It’s a bit of a shame that any savvy Who fan will guess the full identity of Grigory a little earlier than perhaps they might otherwise have done, thanks to some other recent adventures from other outlets – and indeed it’s a little surprising that Ian doesn’t twig sooner than he does. However the character, who suffers from manic mood swings, is brilliantly brought to life, sometimes chillingly enough to send a tingle up the spine, by Big Finish newcomer Tim Chipping. It’s no surprise that some of the maddest scenes were done in one take as maintaining that level must be exhausting.
I criticised Dinnick’s Short Trip story for giving the Doctor more control of the TARDIS than he would have had, and this time he’s made an ability to fly the TARDIS accurately a key plot element. He also picks up on the many hints as to the growing ease between Ian and Barbara that come to a head in John Dorney’s The Rocket Men, and William Russell captures that relationship perfectly – his final line transports you back nearly 50 years.
Verdict: With some neat plot twists and continuity links to the whole series, this is a thoroughly enjoyable tale. 7/10
Paul Simpson
IF YOU HAVE COME HERE PLEASE REDIRECT YOUR BROWSER TO WWW.SCIFIBULLETIN.COM 
Great review! Thanks, Paul!