Review: Grand Theft Cosmos

Many years ago, in another incarnation, the Doctor thwarted an alien posing as a human artist under the name of Claudio Tardelli, whose creations could damage the fabric of reality. Now, the Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller are in Sweden in the late nineteenth century, travelling on Stockholm's electric railway, where two other time travellers are attempting to steal one of Tardelli's works for their own gain. The culprits are the Headhunter and Karen, last seen in the two-part epic Human Resources, and when the Doctor discovers their plan, he and Lucie must race to get to the bounty - the mysterious black diamond - first.

This is Grand Theft Cosmos - Eddie Robson's return to the new Eighth Doctor adventures - and it's thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. The story is a light-hearted piece of simple entertainment, full of movement and energy. The plot moves around at great speed, giving us a jaunty heist adventure with all of Hustle's knowing humour, but none of its ridiculous complexity, and only a hint of its more fantastical moments. It's also one of those rare stories that could conceivably be adapted for the current television series.

The Headhunter and Karen, portrayed by Katarina Olsson and Louise Fullerton respectively, are both superb. Juxtaposed with the Doctor and Lucie, they're the perfect foils, travelling the universe for personal benefit rather than simple joy or to help others, and engaging in a much more hostile relationship than that of our heroes. Their scenes also yield a lot of comedy, which both actresses handle comfortably, without making such moments farcical or absurd. The "cream cheese" sequence is a perfect example - it's mad, absolutely mad, but it's also hugely funny and unexpectedly believable - and it's Olsson and Fullerton who pull it off.

Whilst Olsson and Fullerton are perhaps the stars of the show, regulars Sheridan Smith and Paul McGann are also rather brilliant with this fluffier material. McGann's Doctor shows his more endearing and excitable side here, best in some just-plain-cute exchanges with Lucie. Smith is good throughout, especially when playing posh, under the hilarious alias of "Miss Palmer-Tomkinson", and in her laugh-out-loud funny first encounter with Karen. In fact, her work on this story becomes even more impressive in light of the CD's bonus interviews, which reveal that she recorded her scenes independently from the rest of the cast, on a separate day. This comes as a complete surprise, and it's to Smith's credit that the finished version is absolutely seamless, and Lucie's chemistry with the Doctor suffers not one bit.

The cast list is rounded off by Doctor Who veterans Colin Spaull and Christopher Benjamin, both of whom have starred in the Classic Series and the post-2005 revival as different characters. They're great, entering into the playful spirit of the story with gusto, clearly having quite a bit of fun with their respective roles.

The music and sound design, which have been consistently good over the course of this season, are particularly impressive in Grand Theft Cosmos, enhancing and maintaining the mood of the piece, and bolstering its pace. In terms of the vitality added by the sound, this story hits the ground running, and never slows down: it's a full-throttle romp, with a soundscape polished to perfection.

The only complaint I could make about the release as a whole is that there's never really a strong sense of jeopardy, because of the witty tone of Robson's script and the campness (in the best possible sense) of the performances, but that's really irrelevant because this story is just so much fun to listen to. After devouring it for the first time, I listened to it again immediately afterwards, so impressed was I with the entire production.

The aforementioned extra interviews follow the evolution of the story from pitch to disc, with contributions from Alan Barnes and Eddie Robson, who also hint that the Headhunter and Karen will be back, which is great news. Nicholas Briggs also reveals the original plans for this second season, which is fascinating, but is accompanied by an awkward-feeling run-down of the first season - helpfully illustrated with clips from the stories' respective trailers - which is ultimately an unnecessary extended advertisement.

Essentially faultless from start to finish, Grand Theft Cosmos isn't just the highlight of this season so far; it's one of Big Finish's all-time best. Superb.