The New Counter-Measures: The Hollow King

Unlike the previous seasons this, presumably the final one, consists of three individual releases, rather than a box set. The '70s ambience for this first story is provided by it being set at a New Age retreat, during the initial wave of popularity of such things. (Well, that and one minor character being a '70s era sexist). The exact year is never stated, although one line in the dialogue implies either 1978 or 1979, so we've moved on again.

The story concerns an investigation into the retreat, some of whose visitors have unaccountably gone mad. Are aliens involved, or some secret scientific project, or have the New Agers just been at too many of the magic mushrooms? It's the sort of territory that the series has visited before, and arguably the '70s New Age wasn't that different to '60s counterculture aside from some changes in terminology. But what's going in here is new and does at least feel appropriate for the era in which it's set.

The short length doesn't allow for much development of the characters, many of whom are largely going through the motions. Sir Toby is used the best, a clear holdover from an earlier era out-of-touch with ‘modern' culture. On the other hand, Potter seems to forget that Alison would be around 40 by the time this is set and, while Rachel is key to the resolution, she doesn't get much to do up to that point.

But I'm nudging it up to four stars for the unexpected twists in the plot, which makes for a good investigative story. There's also, even at this late stage in the series, foreshadowing for something that's presumably followed up in the final two stories.