Counter-Measures: Series 1 Box Set

The Counter-Measures team, a sort of forerunner to UNIT, appeared on TV only in the 7th Doctor story Remembrance of the Daleks, but, although they never appeared again, did feel ripe with possibility. Here, they are given their own series, starring the original actors that portrayed the (surviving) members of the team. The result is a sort of '60s Torchwood without the bonking.

Set in 1964, rather like Big Finish's earlier spin-off series Jago and Litefoot this oozes with atmosphere. It's not just the nods to events and cultural reference points of the time, which one would largely expect, but also that whole thing rather feels like a British TV show of the period, with shades of The Avengers or Adam Adamant Lives!. I have to give particular praise for the theme and incidental music, which is absolutely '60s TV, and almost makes you feel that this must have been made, if not necessarily in black-and-white, at least in the bright tones of the early colour era.

This, the first season of many, consists of four hour-long plays, connected by a loose story arc, but largely standalone.

* Threshold - The team gets back together to investigate the case of a missing scientist. They are joined by a new regular character, the scheming and manipulative civil servant Toby Kinsella, who immediately makes an impression as the group's boss. Indeed, everyone is well fleshed-out, appearing as believable, three-dimensional characters from the off. The monster in the story is, for the most part, unseen, taking clear advantage of the audio format. It's never wholly clear what it is, which is logical enough (there's no reason the team would have any way to know), but perhaps a little unsatisfying. Even so, it's a great kick-off to the series. 4 stars.

* Artificial Intelligence - The second story is even stronger, based around an espionage training facility employing the sort of weird tech that feels like its straight out of The Avengers. There's also great use of the main character's backgrounds, with all four of them having a personal connection of some kind to the people involved, and it being unclear at times just who they can trust. Out of all the four episodes in this season, it's the one that most feels as if it could actually have been made in the '60s, and is all the better for it. Nice touches of humour also help to offset the personal drama. 5 stars.

* The Pelage Project - This is the most clearly standalone of the episodes, having no real connection to the other three. The team investigates a secret “new town” with vague overtones of The Prisoner, although it's really more of a play on concerns of overpopulation and Cold War paranoia. Kinsella does seem to be written rather differently here than in the first two episodes, making him a less ambiguous character, which, while it was inevitable in the longer term, does slightly dent the episode that follows. Nonetheless, it's an effective story taken on its own terms. 4 stars.

* State of Emergency - Plot seeds laid in the first two episodes come home to roost in the final instalment, set in the days following the 1964 general election that saw Labour return to power for the first time in 13 years. Much of the story is political in nature, with a fair chunk of it taking place inside 10 Downing Street, and with obvious parallels to real-world rumours about MI5 plots to unseat Harold Wilson as Prime Minister. Around this, there is a fair bit of action going on, which audio is not particularly suited to, and also a lot of betrayal and skulduggery, which it is. Overall, though, it's a nicely done story with a decent twist in the tail. 4.5 stars.

On average, that's 4.4 stars, which rounds to just short of the full 5.