Daniel Mansfield reviews the second instalment in the Trespassers series
The Paternoster Gang are back for three more adventures! Having had an adventure involving mysterious doppelgangers in the previous boxset (review here), the Gang look back on similar cases from their past for clues.
James Kettle‘s Anne of a Thousand Light Years seems, on the surface, a little similar to the previous story in the Trespassers series, with deadly doubles, literary references, ill-fated marriages and a cameo from the Doctor. None of these similarities make it any the less good, however, with Kettle’s script proving a pacy, sometimes laugh-out-loud hilarious affair with lots of great moments for Jenny, Vastra and Strax.
Central to this story is Anne (Anna Crichlow), an aristocrat whose hawkish mother (Karen Archer) disapproves of her love affair with stableboy Albert (Richard Reed). While Vastra and Strax are determined to uncover the alien conspiracy they suspect to be at the heart of Anne’s family, Jenny takes a characteristically more human approach, trying to help Anne and Albert with their relationship. This makes for a story that feels perfectly tailored to this particular set of characters, Kettle ensuring that their individual contributions to the narrative and reactions to what’s going on feel totally authentic to who they are as people.
Tom Baker‘s appearance as the Doctor here feels a little more inconsequential to proceedings than Paul McGann‘s did in the last set, but there’s no denying it’s great to hear him. Though he’s only in a handful of scenes, Baker makes quite the impression here, giving a truly outrageous performance which feels perfectly in keeping with the more heightened, comedic tone of this series. It’s a shame we don’t get to hear him interact with Strax, though – I would have loved to hear the two butting heads.
With gooey aliens; attacks from sentient furniture; and the Doctor posing as a family solicitor, this is certainly a madcap adventure, that’s what makes it so appealing – the perfect way to start off this new boxset of adventures for The Paternoster Gang.
Next up is a far more serious affair, Gary Russell‘s Pater Noster, which sees the gang descend into London’s sewers to investigate a series of disappearances. While there are some good moments here, particularly with regards to Vastra, whose past not only gets explored, but who has a brilliant (and well-performed by McIntosh) confrontation with the story’s villain, it never really feels like this tale gets going, lacking the sense of fun and adventure of its predecessor.
Finally, there’s The Gentlemen Thieves by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle, which sees Cassian Bilton‘s Rackham enlist the Paternoster Gang to help with a very peculiar case indeed. How can Rackham have committed several crimes at once, have been arrested and yet still be walking free? As you might expect, the answers involve yet more doppelgangers, and lead to a surprising little emotional arc for Dan Starkey‘s Strax, whose more introspective, emotional side gets explored here.
This is another strong tale, not only in its own right, but in the ways it ties back into the central arc of the Trespassers series. By the story’s close, Vastra and Strax have become aware of what’s at stake, and there’s an excellent cliffhanger which will leave the listener dying to know what happens next. Let’s hope volume three, coming this December, is just as good as this one.
The Casebook of Paternoster Row is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com
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