The Split Infinitive written by John Dorney and directed by Ken Bentley

What’s it About: A criminal gang appears to have recruited a member with time-bending powers. It’s a case for the Counter-Measures team – in the 1960s and the 1970s! The Seventh Doctor and Ace have their work cut out to save the day twice over, and make sure Gilmore, Rachel and Allison don’t collide with their past, or their future.

The Real McCoy: Gilmore isn’t sure that when the Doctor explains anything that it makes it any clearer. I know what he means. What lovely organisation exists in both the 60s and the 70s does he know? He’s talked a Dalek to death and so he can’t imagine too much opposition from an East End gangster. Like the proverbial bad penny the Doctor always turns up. One of the disadvantages of hanging with time travers is that things can get very complicated. The Doctor is not entirely sure who Punshon is but he’s certain he finds out in the future, or perhaps the past. Coming from any other Doctor this would unbelievably cheeky – pointing out that not everything has been explained but don’t worry you’ll find out by the end of the box set – but McCoy’s master manipulator has probably already listened to it.

Oh Wicked: I laughed my head off when Ace showed up and Gilmore exclaimed that things were about to get a whole lot worse. You said it mate. I suppose it couldn’t be an anniversary release without Ace showing up. Much as I am completely bored with the character by now – her Wikipedia page lists 129 stories featuring the character across different media and I’m sure some of them are missing – she has been a staple of Big Finish for 20 years now and that deserves recognition.

Countermeasures: There’s a glorious Archer feel about the Countermeasures team, a professional spy organisation steeped in 60s clichés. There’s none of the explosive wit of Archer but that feeling of James Bond is there, cases coming from the most unusual of places and having to perform all manner of subterfuge to solve them. It’s headed up by Gilmore, Jensen and Williams, played by Simon Williams, Pamela Salem and Karen Gledhill respectively and they are exactly the sort of solid British actors who fronted these kinds of shows in the 60s. It’s an authentic, lovingly created recreation of the 60s Britain spy genre. Gilmore believes that without stronger evidence it isn’t really a case that belongs with Countermeasures. It’s not often that Rachel gets to bag out the destruction and she finds it a little bit exciting. Only Rachel truly gets her head around the temporal madness of this story; if they die in the past, they die in the present. Alison suggests they have had a bit more experience since Ace last visited and that they can look after themselves these days.

Standout Performance: You could highlight any of the performers here but Pamela Salem takes the crown for my money. And that’s just because she’s Pamela Salem and she has gloriously rich voice for audio.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Elementary temporal theory. Time doesn’t stop existing because its passed. The events of that time are happening now. Just then.’

Great Ideas: A number of high-level institutes have been raised and ransacked in the last six months and no one has been able to figure out how. They have the best security that money can be but it has been proven worthless. Bob Kazon is a new thug in town with no past. There’s no trace of him beyond the past few months. He wears the cloak of the legitimate businessman but in reality he is brutal gangster. There’s’ two occurrences of temporal distortion afoot; one on the 60s where the Doctor sent Ace and one in the 70s that he is investigating. The temporal anomaly is drawing the two years towards each other, crunching time down towards a singularity. When the two ends of the time distortion meet they will act like a black hole, only in time. The Doctor won’t know the precise ramifications of what happened ten years ago until they have finished happening. The anomaly has manifested in human form suggesting it is somebody injured in a time travel experiment.

Musical Cues: I love the music from the Countermeasures series, all 60s piss and vinegar. Sometimes it feels like you are immersed in an Avengers story.

Standout Scene: ‘Retiring in their seventies but working in their 80s, that sort of thing…’

Result: ’In space/time terms, the 60s are being dragged towards the 70s!’ Devilishly clever and complex, The Split Infinitive manages to be both a fresh Doctor Who story and an effective Countermeasures one. I don’t pretend to know too much about the spy series (Big Finish’s output is so prolific that some spin offs have had to fall by the wayside) only that it features three gorgeous, recognisable characters and that it recalls the 60s in all the best ways. If the material is anything like this I may be trying out the four series in the future. My only experience of Countermeasures is their original outing on television and the audio The Assassination Games but I certainly saw enough potential in those two to suggest that the spin off has buckets of potential. This is the fourth story in Dorney’s Rocket Man narrative and they continue to deliver the goods, this time turning up when you least expect them. I love how this tale begins by apparently celebrating one element of Big Finish’s back catalogue and ends up glorifying in quite another. Two for the price of one and with any luck it will encourage those listeners who haven’t heard the riches of these two distinct elements will be hungry for more. That was probably the idea. But this isn’t just a marketing exercise with John Dorney at the helm. Very unusually for the seventh Doctor he explains everything as they go along…which is a blessed relief because this is an extremely complicated story. Ace gets to be young and bolshie and guide the action in the sixties with Gilmore making sound military choices, Rachel grasping the temporal mechanics and Alison there to remind our regulars just how far Countermeasures have come. Smartly plotted, with lots going on. Keep your wits about you and you’ll get a lot from this: 8/10