Graceless I: Alone in Time and Space

Abby and Zara are “sisters” artificially created by pan-dimensional mega-beings The Grace, and originally appearing in the Doctor Who audio trilogy The Key 2 Time. Now they are given their own mini-series of three 60-minute long episodes, closely linked to form a single story arc. (Abby, incidentally, was called Amy in her first appearance, but the 11th Doctor had debuted on TV in the interim - there is an in-universe explanation for the change, but the real reason is obvious). As a spin-off of a tie-in, it's ostensibly set within the DW universe, but features no characters, alien races, etc. from the TV series, and mostly stands on its own.

It's worth noting that, unlike most Big Finish releases, this carries a “for mature listeners” label. This is due to a number of mild sexual references, and not (for example) bad language, but there's nothing explicit.

The Sphere - in the first episode, Abby and Zara are re-united on a vast station that's essentially Las Vegas in space. Trapped with no money in a place that thrives on nothing else, they have so struggle to survive. The episode is rather dark, focussing on “good sister” Abby's steady moral corruption by the environment, and building towards a shocking climax.

The Fog - perhaps the episode that most resembles a DW story, although definitely at the “dark and creepy” end of the scale, this finds the sisters in a village from which nobody can escape, and in which people are being snatched one by one. It feels like a supernatural story, although the ultimate explanation uses scientific language, and the central characters, for all their powers, seem helpless in the face of the creeping threat.

The End - the final episode begins with an almost space opera tone rather at odds with the previous two episodes, but soon becomes a murkier tale of events in the sisters' pasts, as they face the consequences of their decisions (especially in the first episode) and have to deal with their creators.

Taken as a whole, the arc of the mini-series is focussed more on emotion, and in particular, on the sisters' relationship with one another, than it is on traditional action - although there are elements of the latter. Although it's far from light and fluffy, it isn't depressingly gloomy either, and repays close attention to what can be quite complex plots.

4.5 rounded up to 5.