Infiltration: 1957 - Double Agent

"You will welcome us."

Writer: Trevor Baxendale

Format: Audio

Released: January 2025

Series: Zygon Century 1.03

Featuring: Second Doctor

Synopsis

In an England gripped by Cold War paranoia, wounded MI5 operative Caldwell is itching to rejoin the fray abroad. 

So why are the service sending him to a remote Cornish island? Can the future of the world really be at stake? Will he be able to complete his mission without falling foul of the hideous monsters stalking the caves? And who exactly is the island's other new arrival: an operative of quite a different kind, known only as the Doctor. 

Verdict

1957: Double Agent was an excellent episode to conclude the first series of Zygon Century! I say the first as whilst there is no second and beyond to pre-order, we cannot be concluding a series with this title after just fifty-seven years! I think it's also clear from the way things ended with a sensational cliffhanger that we are from done and this episode really got the series going in fine fashion. It's been something of a strong but soft build to reach this point and I quite like that with the idea of the Zygons patiently plotting. They're developing new tactics though and the umbrella title of Infiltration became profound in a massive way! I thought Agent Caldwell from the MI5 was a strong character and the perfect kind of person to bounce off the Second Doctor. His arrival into the story was as humorous as you might expect from this clumsy incarnation and I am loving the post-The War Games continuity that Big Finish are having with the Second Doctor. He's being sent on numerous errands and missions and we even heard him turn up in the Paternoster Gang too, so just what do the Time Lords want in saving the Zygons on the Cornish island from the radiation? That was left unanswered and hopefully is something we come back to in the near future, but it was a fun dynamic with Caldwell sent to do the very opposite. I loved the links back to The Miracle of Pendour Cove with how Vorvoren as an isolated Zygon was the key to finding out where the rest of the species were hiding out. That was excellent. It was nice to have that continuity running through the boxset. I thought the inclusion Harriet was really good and whilst it wasn't a surprise that she was actually a Zygon, the human version being kind of complicit in events was! That was really good. I thought this was fun as the Second Doctor's first chronological meeting with the Zygons as he marvelled at their organic technology. That was fun to play around with and it was equally nice for the Zygons to admit that the Doctor carried great intelligence. I thought the threat of radiation towards the island was good and it worked well to have the bulk of the Zygons ignoring it. That wasn't the case with Jorost though but this just seemed to make Krozon even more of a villain. That was good. Again, I was surprised with how little the Zygons actually featured in their own spinoff series but I completely understands what is happening here. The setup is good and the quiet nature of the Zygons behind the scenes almost is working a treat. The Doctor leaving involuntarily was good with the time ring and I can't wait to catch up with where he is at next, but he saved the Zygon base as instructed. The episode title came into fruition nicely as Caldwell reported back to Dawson with some false information. Harriet and Vennix seem to have not survived the ordeal and his claim of destroying the base was shocking because it didn't happen! Caldwell wasn't a Zygon, but the infiltration happened in another way as the Zygons toy with reconditioning. That's an exciting prospect with them being in official positions in government organisations. The Zygon Century has over forty years to go and I'm all here for it! Overall, an excellent episode to conclude a really strong series.

Rating: 9/10