He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not (Time Lord Victorious).

Audio  Judging by the added content, the fact this even exists is a miracle.  Recorded during lockdown with all of the actors in isolation, it's to their credit and Scott Handcock the director that it didn't once occur to me that this wasn't all created during a typical Big Finish recording day on either side of a massive lunch.  The logistics of this are mind-boggling, especially when characters who're supposed to be in love are emitting such chemistry.  

With Brian the Assassin Ood from The Knight, The Fool and the Dead also in this new Big Finish series we're clearly on the road to explaining why the Eighth Doctor cropped up at the end of that novel, with the current Ninth Doctor strip in the parish circular setting up his side of that reveal.  Having originally been a bit skeptical of this whole endeavor as a mild case of franchise hubris, the ingenuity of exec producer James Goss and his umbrella story has sucked me in.

Carrie Thompson's script is also incredibly strong.  The Doctor, perhaps still hiding from the Time War, can't seem to be able to land in any of this old haunts and when he finally ends up in what he thinks is going to be a beautiful tourist attraction, it turns out to be a dust bowl, populated by the tropes of a spaghetti western.  Cast as the man with no name he stumbles into town to try and save a couple of the run from their home and Brian's murderous orders to kill one and kidnap the other.

Comparisons with A Town Called Mercy are inevitable, although the Doctor is on a much clearer moral foundation and even specifically says he doesn't like guns which delights the younger version of me.  The parallel story adds depth.  Has the Tenth Doctor somehow changed history and Eighth is experiencing the ramifications?  How does that effect the Time War?  See what I mean?  I'm fully on board now.  I might even end up buying the Titan comics.

Placement: Before The Knight, The Fool and the Dead.