Mitchell Kane committed murder on Mars – but why does the evidence not add up? 

Star Cops arrives at episode three of Conflict with escalating international tensions in the background while the team deal with the arrival of an apparent murderer on the Moon.

Prisoner and Escort

The story begins as we catch up with Inspector Alice Okaro (Lynsey Murrill), returning from a two-and-a-half-month stint on prisoner escort duty. The prisoner in question, found robbing a dead body on Mars, claims to have killed the victim but the facts don’t quite add up. Meanwhile, Devis and Kenzy are on the case, looking at a suspicious death with an unexpected link to that Martian murder…

More so than most, this is a tale we’d not dare to spoil by even hinting at. Suffice to say that the core cast are all on terrific form – hearing Nathan continue his low-key remonstrations with Box is always a joy!

Director Helen Goldwyn brings in two voices to join the regulars, both impressive. Hannah Bristow is Samantha Curran, an inquisitive Moonbase technician with secrets, while Homer Todiwala is terrifically irritating as Mitchell Kane, a suspect whose plausibility unravels under examination.

As ever, Steve Foxon’s exemplary sound design fills out the world with familiar sound cues from the series, and Howard Carter supplies a haunting score.

In Summary

‘Prisoner and Escort’ shares its name with the pilot for the classic sitcom Porridge, but it’s far from a comic affair. Instead, writer Roland Moore crafts a tense mystery to bring us to the series midpoint. It doesn’t end with a cliffhanger but instead delivers a dramatic gut-punch.

While the story doesn’t appear to push us much further into the Conflict storyline directly, it does illustrate the threat Commander Nathan Spring and his team face in vivid detail. We’re not sure how it all knits together, but we can’t wait to find out in the autumn.

Star Cops – Conflict: Prisoner and Escort is available for download now from Big Finish. The series plays out across three further monthly releases, beginning in September 2026.

For more on Star Cops, check out our coverage of the previous audio releases – as well as Paul Watts brilliant book on television series ‘Above the Law‘.