Review by Daniel Mansfield

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After a trip to 1920s London in The Violet Hour, it’s back to the future for the Thirteenth Doctor Adventures as, in the midst of the Aegis intergalactic defence expo, the secret of the mysterious Tourist following Team TARDIS is finally revealed.

Noga Flaishon‘s Aegis has a lot in common with earlier story Ride or Die, commenting on the future of warfare and how the rich and powerful can exploit the innocent in unimaginable ways, all just to make a quick buck. Perfectly encapsulating this theme is villain Athena Nikos- brought to life with a cold, cruel performance from Juliet Aubrey– who shows listeners that a ruthless businesswoman with no moral scruples is just as scary as any monster.

Central to Athena’s plan is the aforementioned Tourist, played by Maddison Bulleyment. Just who (or what) the Tourist truly is is bound to both surprise and appall, Flaishon using the tragic nature of the character to further denounce the exploitation of the innocent by powerful warmongers.

There’s a little less for Jodie Whittaker‘s Doctor to do this time around, but Yaz is given plenty of focus, taken over by the Tourist and forced to do their bidding. Mandip Gill captures Yaz’s sinister new persona with a subtle but effective performance that once again proves we didn’t get to see the half of her talent on TV.

Though competently written, Aegis lacks the strong focus on character that made previous Thirteenth Doctor Adventures so compelling, largely prioritising plot over emotional beats. While certainly not a bad way to spend an hour, Aegis doesn’t quite live up to the strong precedent set by the rest of the series.

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