After two futuristic adventures, with the guiding hand of the Time Lords felt in the choice of destination, the TARDIS has brought the Doctor and Leela to the present day.

That is to say our present day, rather than the natural habitat of this 1970s pairing, and to the delights of a wintry seaside village named Eastwold.

At the local bookshop, Laura Corbett is selling parts of her father’s collection. She has recently returned to the village after his death and is in the process of clearing and renovating his house with her husband Simon, seeking to start a new life together with their infant son.

When the bookseller is killed, grotesquely stuffed with pages of fiction from his own shelves, the Doctor forgoes his search for a stick of rock and assists the local police man. This death is the most recent in a spate of killings and the Doctor and Leela begin investigations which lead them to some very peculiar characters including an aggressive television celebrity and a little old lady with a dangerous line in cake.

Both the regulars put in solid performances, but the stand out role here is that of the titular villain. With a rasping voice and eccentric manner, Silk star Neil Stuke manages to combine both creepy and camp, like a darkened version of Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang’s Child Catcher.

Sarah Smart, whose television credits include the role of Jennifer and her ganger double in 2011’s ‘The Almost People’ / ’The Rebel Flesh’, brings a warm emotional performance as Laura, with Richard Earl turning in the role of an amiable local Bobby who is utterly out of his death.

While the continuing development of the Doctor and Leela’s relationship is not so overt here, writer John Dorney does employ her literal nature to great humorous effect; a reference to the paparazzi swarming has Leela assuming they are insects. Perhaps our favourite gag comes early on though, when the time travellers are described as a “loony in a scarf and a girl who doesn’t seem to realise it’s winter!”

As the story develops there are some nice references back to the television show, and fans of the 1990’s Virgin New Adventures books may also enjoy the nod to the fictional ‘Professor X’ series too.

Markedly different in tone to the previous two stories, ‘The Crooked Man’ is both completely bonkers and genuinely scary.

Much like the television series has done in recent years the plot revolves around the theme of parental love. In this case, it is done cleverly without resort to mawkish sentimentality and its resolution comes with a satisfying twist.

Extras: 9 mins of interviews with cast and crew, discussing the genesis of this tale and its casting.

Released in March 2014 by Big Finish Productions Ltd.

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