The Eighth of March

It probably says something about Big Finish's stories these days that, when I first saw the cover for this, I thought “oh, that's a good mix of characters”, without noticing what they all had in common, or recalling the significance of the date. In fact, not only are all the main characters of these stories female but they're all written and directed by women as well. Each of the stories in this anthology features a different pairing and they are otherwise linked only by the fact that they all take place on the eponymous date.

• Emancipation – The first story pairs River Song with Leela as they reluctantly team up to try and foil a kidnapping. There are some twists along the way, but it all feels rather run of the mill, with a stereotyped villain and some rather clumsy plot devices. River, for example, has acquired an overly convenient piece of technology with an entirely arbitrary limitation that will surely never be mentioned again. There is some sparring between the two leads, largely caused by River refusing to explain anything about herself or why she's on the scene in the first place. Unfortunately, the ending is overly twee, as well as forgetting something that had just happened a couple of minutes earlier. Certainly, there's some fun, and it's notable that the cast is almost entirely female, but it's hardly standout. 3 stars.

• The Big Blue Book – The second story is stronger, featuring Ace and Benny in ‘90s Liverpool while the Doctor is off somewhere else for no particularly clear reason. People are disappearing, and Ace sets off to investigate, wandering into a particularly surreal plot as she does so. A downside is that Benny is one of the people who has disappeared (before the title music) which means that most of the story doesn't feature her, instead pairing Ace with a male university student. Which is a pity, as Benny is arguably the more interesting character of the two, and we get little of her distinctive personality here. It's also a very strange story, where what's happening is described as science (it has something to do with a starship drive) but might as well be magic. A curious mix that's entertaining but isn't quite as good as it could have been. 4 stars.

• Inside Every Warrior – This marks the Big Finish debut of Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint and, as such, could be seen as a pilot to the Paternoster Gang series that followed just two months later. As befits the team, it's a mystery story that features a suitably Gothic threat. Strax also features, primarily in his comedy role, but is side-lined early on in order to focus instead on the core duo. Victorian attitudes play a significant role in the story, especially with regard to social class, but so does Vastra and Jenny's love for one another. It's a good investigative piece that makes effective use of the time period, although the action scenes are sometimes hard to follow. 4 stars.

• Narcissus – It seems (at least to me) that they saved the best until last. This final story features UNIT, primarily Kate and Osgood. (The only genuinely male character in it is Josh, who's basically a damsel-in-distress). However, it's notable for a couple of reasons. One is that, for the first time, the story addresses the existence of Zygon Osgood, with both human and alien versions of the character appearing and interacting with each other – it's not always obvious which is which, but I'd argue that that's a strength. Secondly, however, we have a major role for Jackie McGee, UNIT's journalist contact. She gets some significant character development here that adds to a story that's already a good allegory about perceptions of beauty. 5 stars.