The Paternoster Gang: Heritage 4

The final release in this series has a somewhat different format than the others, consisting of only two stories, both of which have a Silurian theme. Perhaps surprisingly, it's the weakest of the four volumes, as well as being less standalone, but it's still a good listen.

Merry Christmas, Mr Jago –As the title indicates, this story sees the gang meeting up with Henry Gordon Jago, last seen encountering Strax in his own audio series. He's mostly teamed up with Strax and, indeed, the Gang spend much of the story separated, allowing them to interact with other characters more so than each other. The Silurian-based element of the story is almost incidental, with the threat being one that's native to Vastra's time but that probably would have worked as well had it been an alien. Instead, we get something that's firmly on the comedy side of things, largely thanks to Strax's overenthusiastic security measures. Otherwise, yes, like much in this series, it's little more than a run-around... but it's a decent one and it's good to hear Jago again. 4 stars.

The Ghost Writers/Rulers of Earth – The final story is a double-length one that ties together multiple elements from some of the disparate tales of the previous volumes. It's more serious than most others in the series, dealing with a threat to the existence of life on Earth and an incidental one to the British throne (which, admittedly, is less significant in the grand scheme of things). The latter seems tagged on, perhaps as part of the Victorian flavour and doesn't really add much, although the build-up to the main plot, with mythic creatures threatening London works rather better. It's a big dramatic conclusion, with some pay-off to various elements elsewhere in the series but perhaps lacking in some of the whimsy we've had to get us this far. 3.5 stars.