Doctor Who: Harry Houdini's War

The Doctor and Peri meet Harry Houdini in 1917 New York and are rapidly thrust into a plot involving German spies and alien technology. The story starts in media res which is initially a little confusing, but turns out to be essential, as a large part of the drama is provided by the mystery of the listener not knowing how the Doctor got to that point. In some ways, it might have worked better as a 7th Doctor story, with the Doctor refusing to explain his plan to Houdini for no terribly good reason, and manipulating others along the way.

Houdini is, of course, a major element in the story, which does a good job of bringing together various elements of his real-world history. He comes across as gung ho, throwing himself into the thick of things and bringing his stage persona as the man who cannot be imprisoned to the fore - a good fit for Doctor Who, when you think about it. It's also clear that he's met the Doctor at least twice before, although the details are vague and don't refer to any previous story from the spin-off media (the anniversary audio Smoke and Mirrors features Houdini, but it's set later in his life). This is probably to give him reason to trust the Doctor when the latter is manifestly acting untrustworthy, but it also leaves the door open to further stories.

It's a decent enough story but there isn't much that's special about it either, and the narrative seems to jump around at a few points without much indication as to why things have changed. Houdini outshines Peri; although she does get a key role in the plot towards the end, she's mostly just along for the ride and to occasionally be menaced by the Germans. And I'll also add that the scene with the aerial dogfight over Germany is surprisingly well done for audio. It's probably worth no more than 3.5 stars, but that rounds up.