Long Shot

"I will not help you to execute my father."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: July 2021

Series: Lady Christina 2.03

Featuring: Lady Christina 

Synopsis

Royal Northcote: highlight of the racing calendar, Lady Christina hopes for a win, as do Sam Bishop and Jacquie McGree, looking into some mysterious deaths. With secret agents and rogue family members on the scene, an assassin closes in on their target. But Lady Christina is at her best when the odds are stacked against her.

Verdict

Long Shot was a decent episode to conclude the second series of Lady Christina! I thought this was a soldi conclusion but I must admit that after the first two stories, I thought this was slightly underwhelming when it came to the story arc spanning the entire series. I thought things started in a fun fashion with Christina narrating events and the idea of a day at the races seemed a good basis for a story in the Doctor Who universe. Alfred attending was a little unexpected given his condition at the end of The Wreck but here he was with Sam as a fake waiter providing him with refreshments. That was quite a fun set up although I thought Jacqui could have made a better effort in getting into the racecourse as a reporter. She didn't seem to be trying hard! The mystery of illegal bookies going missing around the racecourse was good and playing against the law felt right for Christina. The fact that jewels were everywhere immediately led me to think that Alfred was the culprit and when we found out that he was on the books as owing the bookies the most money of any of their customers, the link was complete. Alfred was trying to tie up his debts in the cheapest way possible. Sam trying to get rid of Jacqui was never going to work and I liked how she found Christina coming from the scene of a burglary at a film institute. Stephen made for a fun character for Jacqui as her ex and contact in the police and their pub date was nice, although I wasn't buying that she saw Alfred in the crowd at the TV coverage of the horse racing! That was too far fetched for me. Sam's efforts at feigning being a bookie was amusing and his eyeing of Alfred and then being driven straight at was quite sudden. The explanation of the UNIT vehicle going missing because it had been shattered into jewels by Alfred's touch was good although more definitely should have been made of that threat from Christina's father. I loved how our Lady managed to find her way into UNIT by enlisting Ivo to take on a disguise of Sam and she had obtained his biometrics from their drink a few nights earlier. The assassination incident at the races was good and Christina bugging Sam to find out about Messingham was nicely done. The moment where Christina and Alfred finally confronting one another was good and I liked how he was still intent on getting his fortune back. He believed he was holding off the transformation but in actual fact it's what was controlling him and causing his path of destruction focused on money. Alfred going to the last day of racing and the threat of the Queen being there was amusing as it sparked Christina into apparently shooting her father! I never believed she had gone through with it and she'd actually just stunned him with an alpha-wave gun. Ivo being the one to have stolen it was amusing and it was a nice tie up with the fake blood and bullets being what Christina was stealing from the film studio at the start of the episode, but it did just seem slightly odd. It was all a fake and was what the story was building towards, which just felt slightly off. Sam not believing that Christina had shot her dad was excellent though and the final moments with Christina setting him, Ivo and Jacqui up with the offer of sexual relations and a picture opportunity was terrific. Overall, a decent episode to conclude a fun second series! I just feel like that Alfred still being alive and not cured leaves us incomplete and with some questions. I hope a third series is coming! 

Rating: 7/10