The New Counter-Measures: Series 2

Four more hour-long stories, unconnected beyond being set (probably) in the same year. This was the last ‘season' of the series to be released as a single set, with Big Finish switching to individual releases thereafter. This, it seems, was due to poor sales, which is a pity as it's generally been strong and the ‘60s/'70s ambience provides a contrast with, say, Torchwood, which otherwise has a similar premise. Whether by coincidence or design, three of the four stories in this collection involve themes of mind control, although they're done rather differently.

The Splintered Man – A weakness of the previous ‘season' was that most of the stories didn't really evoke the 1970s setting. The first offering in the new set, however, is rather more clearly set in the era (1976, so far as I can tell, which is three years after the previous season) although it's probably more identifiable as such to Brits than to listeners of other nationalities. This is because it's partly based around the boom in Spanish holidays at the time – complete with half-finished hotels. The main theme also has connections with the concerns at the time about solving world hunger (also a key element in, for example, the Doctor Who story The Claws of Axos).

The team are tasked with investigating an explosion at a partly British-run laboratory in post-Franco Spain. Naturally, this turns out to be connected with the top secret project the laboratory was running, which is initially elusive but soon becomes of deadly significance. It feels quite a lot like an episode of The Avengers (which is hardly unusual for this series) that just happens to be set near a holiday resort. As a result, it's a lot of fun, even though it doesn't do terribly much new with the main characters, beyond introducing a limp subplot with an old flame of Rachel's that doesn't go anywhere. 4 stars.

The Ship of the Sleepwalkers – We're on holiday again, as the story starts in media res on a cruise ship in the mid-Atlantic where the team wake up with no memory of how they got there. Although this adds an air of mystery to the initial investigations, it turns out to be a plot device to get us quickly into the action, rather than anything to do with the main story. Unfortunately, it's clear to the listener what the bad guys are up to from the teaser sequence before the theme tune, meaning that you're mainly waiting for the protagonists to catch up and figure it out.

This is certainly a spy story and does make references to Cold War paranoia and a certain real-world CIA operation, although the main story would probably work as well in the modern day. (In fact, the ship is owned by a billionaire businessman running for President, despite the fact that we're well before Ross Perot, never mind the current outgoing incumbent). It's a decent enough tale, and fits with the general theme of the series, as well as luxury cruises being a relatively new thing in the 1970s, but it doesn't have much that's special to it. Characterisation is largely limited to pitting Gilmore's old-fashioned chivalry against the stereotyped American villain, leaving the episode feeling rather like filler. 3 stars.

My Enemy's Enemy – A villain from the previous ‘season' turns up at Counter-Measures, claiming that they are the only people who can save her from somebody more dangerous. What follows is a story about infiltration and betrayal as we question to what extent she's telling the truth and whether Counter-Measures itself may have been subverted. The science fiction elements are relatively limited, with the focus being more on the characters, but there's plenty of peril especially once the details of the plan become clear.

The ‘70s theme here is the inclusion of a subplot about the arrival of the punk rock scene in London. Of itself, it's more atmosphere than anything else, although it does eventually feed back into the main plot. More importantly, it provides a contrast between the differing attitudes of members of the team towards change, even if Alison's pro-punk attitude is a little hard to swallow (she's in her mid-30s and her rebellion has always been middle-class). Sir Toby, of course, fits rather better as the voice of the establishment and is, perhaps, closer here to the version in the first four seasons than we've seen for a while. 4.5 stars.

Time of the Intelligence – Although Counter-Measures has always been set within the Doctor Who universe, it has only ever used new threats, with direct references being kept to a minimum in the main series. That obviously changes with this concluding story, presumably in the hopes of boosting the sales. As is clear from the cover, it's a sequel to The Web of Fear with Yeti once again loose in London and the Doctor nowhere to be seen.

It works surprisingly well, given that we know what the threat is before most of the characters (Sir Toby, perhaps unsurprisingly, turns out to have been involved behind the scenes in the previous London incident). The ties with the Second Doctor story are strong, with one of the characters making a repeat appearance, albeit played by a different actor. More importantly, the story has a real sense of menace, playing up the mind control aspects of the Intelligence and its sinister repercussions more than the Yeti themselves, which don't work so well on audio. 4.5 stars.