The Astrea Conspiracy [AUDIO/2019.2.28]

★★★☆☆

  The very first Twelfth Doctor audio drama from Big Finish is a cute little tale about setting history right and foiling assassination attempts to correct its course. These Short Trips leave very little to be said (in my opinion), but that's not a bad thing; they're overall very consistent in how fun they are, and Lizbeth Myles cooks up a very entertaining runaround for the Doctor. She captures that impish spirit of the later-years Twelfth Doctor very well -- that unmistakable quality of barging into someone else's business like he owns the place, without a care in the world. You don't get to hear Neve McIntosh try a Peter Capaldi impression that often, but she makes for a damn good Twelve (could it be because she's also Scots?); I wouldn't mind her coming back as narartor for a few more of these Twelfth Doctor audios until Capaldi himself is tempted to join. The Astrea Conspiracy provides an ample amount of enjoyable moments, and continues the Short Trips tradition of using a main character specific to the story to center the narrative around.