(AudioGo �9.99)

IN the latest instalment in a new series of exclusive audio adventures featuring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, the Time Lord and his friends Mrs Wibbsey (Susan Jameson) and Mike Yates (Richard Franklin) continue their search for vital TARDIS components which have been scattered throughout time.

Their adventures bring them to Central Park, New York, in 1976, arriving in the wake of a fireball from outer space which brings with it a remarkable new identity for literary secretary Alice Trefusis…

Each of the various Demon Quest episodes have been designed to represent a particular theme, and this fourth volume admirably captures the bombastic drama of 1970s American comic books – in particular the work of Marvel supremo Stan Lee - while also moving the ongoing story arc towards its inevitable conclusion.

Writer Paul Magrs proves adept at capturing the feeling of any era or literary genre, while also playing up to the strengths of his cast members. His Fourth Doctor is as much a reflection of Tom Baker’s own madcap personality as it is of his screen personae as the Time Lord, enjoying the odd snifter of sherry and with a discerning eye for the ladies, but in the context of these stories this works admirably.

Like all good quests, it’s not the destination which is important, but how you get there, and in that respect DQ follows that tradition perfectly, with each adventure being largely a framing device to celebrate Baker’s Doctor and Magrs’ remarkable use of the English language.

But all things must come to an end, and Starfall sets things up ready for the big finale in the next episode, when it will be possible to judge the series as a whole rather than merely a collection of tentatively linked adventures.