Worlds of Big Finish

Intended as an introduction to some of the lesser-known Big Finish series, this is a compilation of six 30-minute stories, each belonging to a different one of those series, but linked by a single plot arc and occasionally crossing over with one another. The overall premise is perhaps, debatable, since, outside of this collection, it's not at all obvious that the different series belong to the same ‘universe'. At any rate, the strength of the collection is that the stories do contrast effectively in terms of tone, showing BF's range and versatility; the weakness is that the format often prevents them from being truly effective introductions to the individual series they are based on.

• The Archive (Graceless) – The Graceless visit a near-infinite library where they become embroiled in a murder mystery and first encounter the MacGuffin that drives the plot arc. The mystery elements are confined to the motive, rather than the identity, of the killer (there are only two guest characters) and the story is more of a scene-setter than anything else. While it does have some connection to the rest of the Graceless series, it is necessarily blunted by both the short length and the lack of the usual “adults only” rating, nor is there adequate time to explain who the Graceless are for those unfamiliar with them, although the story does at least try.

• The Adventure of the Bloomsbury Bomber (Sherlock Holmes) – The latter problem doesn't exist for this episode, even if somebody hasn't listened to any of BF's other Holmes stories (as I haven't); we all know who the central character is. Sensibly, the story steers clear of any supernatural or science fiction elements, although these are clearly implied by the rest of the arc. It's a decent enough Holmes story, with the now-retired detective investigating a series of bombings in 1911, without the presence of Watson. But it doesn't inspire me to seek out the rest of the audio series it's based on.

• The Feast of Magog (The Confessions of Dorian Gray) – From detective fiction, the tone switches to horror. The central element of the story is a séance, but, as with the Graceless episode, the lack of an “adult” rating limits what can be done in terms of the horror elements. As a result, it's toned down from the usual stories and, moreover, Gray acts more heroically than usual, not really letting his true self shine through.

• Kronos Vad's History of Earth, Volume 36,379 (Iris Wildthyme) – This time, we switch to comedy as the scatty old Time Lady finds herself tasked with preventing the end of the world. Again, I've not listened to the rest of this series, but the basic idea of “bonkers pastiche of Doctor Who” is probably clear enough to newcomers – although I confess to having no idea who the companion character was, since he isn't the one Wildthyme companion that I'd previously heard of. The story does have a few decent laughs in it and is appropriately mad; it's one of the better ones in the set.

• The Lady from Callisto Rhys (Vienna) – The interstellar bounty hunter is hired to track down the MacGuffin in a story that, once again, doesn't have the opportunity to bring the series' usual strengths to bear. While it does do a reasonable job of introducing the character, the twists of perspective that normally characterise Vienna stories aren't appropriate here, both for reasons of length and for fitting in with the plot arc. So a new listener is perhaps getting a half-way introduction to what the series is normally about (which, to be fair, is still quite good). Perhaps also for reasons of length, the story is partly narrated and, for some reason, there's a positive slew of fake American accents.

• The Phantom Wreck (Bernice Summerfield) – The story that wraps up the set is fortunately, another good one, and closer in tone to what its regular series normally offers. Tying together a number of threads from the earlier episodes, it concerns Bernice supervising an archaeological dig on an ancient crashed spaceship and concludes with a fair amount of action and drama once the main villains actually turn up in person (albeit briefly). Given that they share a similar interplanetary milieu, it's also good that both the specific settings and, perhaps more importantly, the personalities of the lead characters, contrast clearly between this and the Vienna episode.