The final chapter of this second E-Space trilogy begins not by resolving the cliff-hanger from ‘Equilibrium’, but rather with the TARDIS returned to our universe and the Doctor keeping an appointment.

He comes as the bearer of bad news and begins to tell his tale; the TARDIS was in pursuit of Tegan, who had been taken from the ice realm of Isenfel by pirates. Their ship crash-landed and the Doctor followed, his time machine drained of its last vestiges of power.

They discovered a world on the edge, celebrating the end of their universe as its inhabitants watched the lights in the sky go out. With no electrical power, a desperate scientist Pallister (Robert Duncan) and his steam powered robots guarded the CVE, the portal to N-Space, and demanded horrific tributes to open it for refugee ships to go through. Meanwhile the desperate population suffered both the ravages of entropy pockets and the menace of the deathly Sandmen.

Jonathan Morris’ script grants each of the principals a turn at narration duties and it is a clever device, allowing us to progress with one, then skip back to see events from another point of view. It creates a very character driven tale and we enjoyed spending time in the thoughts of each of the TARDIS crew.

We also enjoyed the nod to ‘Death to the Daleks’ which came when the Doctor had to open the powerless TARDIS doors with a crank handle.

For those familiar with the Davison era, and with all the talk of sacrifice in the story’s promotional material, the outcome may come as little surprise as it closes a chapter. Suffice to say it is done in an entirely fitting manner, far more so than the original attempt on screen.

Extras: Over fifteen minutes of interviews with cast and crew on the making of this tale.

Released in March 2015 by Big Finish.

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