Review by Daniel Mansfield

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The third instalment of Big Finish‘s new Ninth Doctor Adventures range rounds off a trilogy of adventures that sees the Doctor and Rose face alien threats on the Powell Estate. This time, they’re up against Hellion, a mischievous gremlin who can get into people’s heads and make them do things they really, really shouldn’t.

It’s a fun premise that starts off comedic (Jackie finding herself arrested after giving into the impulse to collapse a pyramid of baked beans in a shop), before developing into something quite sinister as the Doctor falls under Hellion’s dastardly influence and threatens to unlock a dangerous, primordial force.

It’s in this latter part of the story that Dare You really shines, giving us a look at the darker side of the Ninth Doctor, and the way Rose steps up to pull him back from the edge. Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper give powerful performances here, making up for some slightly odd characterisation in the story’s earlier moments.

Meanwhile, Camille Coduri gets to plumb Jackie’s more emotional depths as Hellion causes Rose to come clean about how she really feels towards her mother. While we don’t initially hear what Rose says to Jackie, which feels like a bit of a cop-out, Coduri’s performance really sells the heartbreak her character feels at hearing her daughter’s harsh words, which makes up for this somewhat. I do maintain, however, that it would have been more powerful to hear Rose properly go off on her mother, raising the stakes by showing just how out-of-character Hellion has made her behave with his bewitching powers.

Harry Myers does a great job as the villain of the piece, expertly toeing the line between sinister and silly, and even imbuing Hellion with some surprising pathos at the story’s climax which makes him feel like a more well-rounded villain. Lisa McMullin‘s writing should also be commended; she turns what could have been a quite comedic, lightweight villain into a shocking exploration of what happens when we give into our most intrusive, dangerous thoughts.

All of this is aided by a versatile score from Howard Carter, whose music imbues the frothier earlier scenes with a delightfully playful energy, before really selling the peril of the climax with a much darker suite of music, all pulsing synths, crashing percussion and ominous strings.

Overall, this is another success in a range that has impressed from its very first release, even if it doesn’t quite hit the heights of Snare.

Dare You is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com

The Ninth Doctor Adventures continue in February 2026 with Cloud Eight