The Violet Hour

Of course, we know effort is involved, but it feels natural—perhaps because their enthusiasm is so palpable. This time, Yaz and the Doctor find themselves at the turn of the century, where women working as mediums seem to be disappearing with alarming speed and without explanation, only for their bodies to be found days later. It is macabre, it is gothic, and it reworks the very idea of ghosts in exactly the misty séance atmosphere one hopes for.

Everything the characters encounter on their way through this almost Sherlock Holmes-esque mystery is introduced with an impressive degree of structural control. It works on every level. All of the supporting characters are magnificently embodied by their performers. At times, it almost feels like a television episode of which only the audio has survived, so easy is it to imagine it slotting into a season 12B that, sadly, never existed.

We also finally meet the antagonist, who has gradually revealed themself before at last stepping fully into the Doctor’s view. And she does not seem pleased—quite the opposite, she is genuinely frightened. But is she going to run? Of course not… the Thirteenth Doctor is far more likely to charge straight towards the danger. By the end, this audio leaves you with only one desire: to know what happens next. What is brilliant is that it does not feel at all like filler, but like a complete story in its own right, one whose final beat is anything but gratuitous and instead propels us with tremendous energy into the continuation I am waiting for so impatiently…