Doctor Who: The Flying Dutchman / Displaced

Two one-hour stories that share a similar theme of apparently ghostly goings-on where the explanation isn't quite as it first appears. This seems to exist mainly to fill a gap in the release schedules and isn't even loosely connected to anything else, as well as having the oddity of being set earlier in BF's own 7th Doctor continuity, in that it still features Hex.

The Flying Dutchman - The first story is set on an 18th-century sailing ship in an unspecified location far out at sea, and features the appearance of the eponymous ghost ship. Which, since this is as fictional in this setting as it is in reality is a bit of a puzzle. (The myth doesn't appear in print until sometime after this story is set, but presumably wasn't new then, so it's plausible enough that the sailors would be familiar with it).

This seems a decent premise, but the story that results is let down by not really making much sense. It's hard to see how the villain could have carried out some parts of his plan without anyone noticing, and the guest characters don't act consistently - something that's particularly noticeable after the resolution of the halfway cliffhanger. There's also confusion on Arrowsmith's part between phosphorus and phosphor although that's perhaps easier to forgive. The acting and the sound effects are as well done as ever, making it really sound as if we're on a ship at sea... but it's hard to take the story seriously. 3 stars.

Displaced - The second story is the better of the two, being set in what appears to be a haunted modern-day house, with Alexa/Siri (obviously called something else here) as the closest thing to an inhabitant. Hard-to-understand ghostly voices keep intruding, although these are probably not something the characters are supposed to be hearing, since they don't really react to them... but at times, this isn't always clear.

It's a decent mystery, if not one of the greats, and, unlike the previous story, it does all make sense in the end. Plus, there's some good interaction between Hex and Ace, in a story where the difference in their respective personalities is a key element shaping what happens. Indeed, all three characters are well-written, and the fact that they're largely on their own gives Armitage room to explore them a little more than an author normally might in a story of this length. 4 stars.