Vienna: Retribution

Vienna is trying to go straight in this standalone 3-hour story. This makes her more emotionally vulnerable than she has been in the previous multi-episodes “series” which may, or may not, be something that a given listener would approve of. Otherwise, however, there's plenty of the usual action and thrills and a story about mental manipulation - although memories are only tangentially affected in this one.

It opens in media res with Vienna being accused of murdering her partner. Much of the first hour is taken up by an interview with a smug prosecutor in which we see flashbacks to the events leading up to the opening scene as Vienna tries to piece together who the real murderer might be. (And this does, of course, mean that Samantha Béart is in it as Trexie). The remainder is taken up by a prison drama set on an asteroid, as strange things start happening that may have a connection with the original killing.

This being Vienna, not everything is as it seems, and there are some twists in the plot. One of them I spotted quite a long way in advance, but another I didn't really see coming at all, so I'll count that as a success. There are some good guest characters, too, notably a couple of the other prisoners who take Vienna under their wing. It's not the strongest of story in the series, but it's still pretty good, with the usual themes about free will entwined with a decent mystery story, and some elements of humour provided by Vienna's ever-cheerful computer.