After the excellence of the opening story, Storm Warning, and the return of the Cybermen in Sword of Orion, comes The Stones of Venice. And I'm afraid I didn't like it as much as the other two.

After stirring up a rebellion on an alien world, the Doctor promises Charley a relaxing holiday in Venice. Only trouble is they arrive in the 23rd Century, one day before Venice is due to sink under the waves.

With revellers gathering for a final wild party, Duke Orsino is hoping his long dead wife will return to him and save the city. While cultists and gondoliers make their own plans for the death of Venice, the Doctor and Charley become involved in the complex politics and history of the city. And all the while, the hour of its destruction ticks nearer.

I'm not sure why I don't like this play in particular, it just doesn't float my gondola. Paul McGann gives his usual breathlessly excellent performance, while India Fisher is once more very good as Charley Pollard. There are some good performances from the guest cast, including Michael Sheard as Duke Orsino and Mark Gatiss giving an exceptional turn as the melodramatic Vincenzo, High Priest of the cult of Estelle.

I suppose the problem for me is the fact that so much is signposted from an early stage. I knew from episode one how Estelle would return to the proceedings. Then there was the revelation of the alien paintings among the art collection. The obvious, staring us in the face. Well, it was staring me in the face anyway. And the revelation about the gondoliers was just something else I was sure everybody would have noticed already.

I'm afraid I am not a huge fan of the work of Paul Magrs. While his first eighth Doctor novel, The Scarlet Empress was quite interesting, I've found both The Blue Angel and Verdigris very heavy going. And while I don't dislike his character of Iris Wildthyme, I'm glad he doesn't use her in Stones of Venice, as that would be taking things rather too far.

Maybe I'm being too hard on Stones of Venice. It does try very hard but originality has been a feature of a number of Big Finish audios so far. Stones of Venice just doesn't seem, to me at least, all that original.