Party Favours

"We are so happy to finally feast."

Writer: Georgia Cook

Format: Audio

Released: October 2025

Series: Halloween 1.01

Featuring: Kate, Osgood

Synopsis 

All Bev wants to do is host her yearly Halloween party and heal her fractured relationship with her girlfriend, Annika. Unfortunately, her reclusive upstairs neighbours have been invited to the festivities, and all they want to do is feast.

Verdict

Party Favours was an excellent audio to continue my way through the first Halloween boxset! I was very excited by the prospect of a Kate and Osgood story as it feels like a long time now since I delved in the modern UNIT audio series so hearing that familiar opening theme felt like a real treat. I love the pairing and just the dynamic of UNIT at this time is great. Osgood is a sublime character who can manage to fit in just about anywhere and that was the situation here with the Halloweeen party. It was an easy way in to investigate the spikes that they were tracking and the prospect of Kate showing up in fancy dress was very amusing. She obviously was never going to and made it a condition of her attending with Osgood, but just for a second that image was very fun. I had no idea that the Weeping Angels would be returning in this episode so that was a real treat! I thought this very much had vibes of The Angels Take Manhattan with the way the entire building was being used as a nest, and it also just feels right that UNIT would get a Weeping Angel story. The contained setting of the flat was really impressive in adding to the atmosphere which very much suited the Halloween theme. It was certainly chilling and that's exactly what you want. I think the story being set at a Halloween party also helps in capturing the series' ambition, but it went further which was a delight. I thought UNIT being a tad behind on things when it came to how far along the Weeping Angel nesting was worked well and added some urgency to the situation to say the least. The Angels were ready to feast, and they had started long ago. I thought the horror that came from the revelations surrounding Alice and Tim was extraordinary as we discovered they had been dead all along. They were already part of the building's foundations and that was pretty terrifying. The realisation for Bev and Annika that they had been talking to their friends who were actually dead was quite something! The pair of Bev and Annika were superb and they were really likeable together. They were a couple that felt distant and there was always something between them which was a little sad as it was clear they really did care for one another. You don't get that angry about something at someone if you don't! Bev claiming that they didn't actually love each other because of their arguing that had been ensuing for months had an air of the Seventh Doctor about it in that I didn't really believe her, but Annika did which was everything I needed. She was pretty distraught so it was a nice moment towards the end where they could kiss and make up. Literally. They belonged together and needed to make more time for each other instead of being consumed by their very different employment roles. That love and connection actually proving too powerful for the Weeping Angels to handle was very good as the resolution and I like the ambiguity of the building going on to potentially become anything, anywhere. The Angels weren't entirely defeated, but they were certainly setback. I did think the jumping around in time could have been done with slightly more finesse, but overall this was a magnificent audio to continue the series! A fantastic returning monster, a great use of the Halloween setting, and a very enjoyable hour! A great listen.

Rating: 9/10