Reviews

Writer: David Llewellyn
Director:Barnaby Edwards

 Featuring: Peter Davison: Matthew Waterhouse:
 Sarah Sutton: Janet Fielding: Samuel West:
 Phil Cornwell: Sophie Winkleman:

Big Finish Productions - First Released March 2018
Running Time: 2 Hours Approx
Available on General Release from 30th April 2018

The latest trilogy of adventures for the Season 19 TARDIS crew concludes with a whodunnit from David Llewellyn which brings the four travellers to space tax haven called Argentia. The story borrows its main gimmick from the 1949 classic comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets with the excellent Samuel West playing a number of members of the Mazzini Family, one of whom appears to be prepared to kill to obtain a significant inheritance. Unlike its Ealing Comedy predecessor, Serpent in the Silver Mask keeps the identity of the murderer behind the silver mask a secret until the play’s closing act. This gives the story much more the feeling of an Agatha Christie style mystery as the number of victims grow and the pool of suspects dwindles.

Peter Davison’s Doctor fits naturally into the role of detective, even to the point where he delights in keeping everyone in the dark until the killer’s identity is finally revealed. As ever they are ably assisted by Matthew Waterhouse's Adric and Sarah Sutton's Nyssa. Janet Fielding as Tegan has an enjoyable arc through this story as she develops a friendship with Joe Mazzini. Samuel West clearly has a ball playing the various Mazzini family members, with his flirting with the Doctor being a particular highlight. The cast are also ably supported by Sophie Winkleman as Sofia alongside Phil Cornwell as Superintendent Galgo and the robot Zaleb 5.

Unlike the average whodunnit the conclusion has an enjoyable twist. As ever there is excellent music and sound design, this time from Andy Hardwick.

After a couple of rather standard entries, this is a definite return to form for the main range. However, from the next release onwards, it seems Big Finish are about to mix things up a bit and move away from trilogies of consecutive releases featuring the same TARDIS teams which has been a regular pattern for the last ten years or so. After nearly twenty years it will good to see some new ideas coming into the main range which has been in danger of growing predictable. To start this off, the Fifth Doctor returns for a fourth consecutive release, but this time without any of his regular companions in The Helliax Rift.