This may have been the first Eight/Lucie play I had listened to, and it would probably have made more sense in sequence: it features two returning villains, The Headhunter and Karen, who were of course completely new to me. It wasn't bad - some decent sf ideas, and Christopher Benjamin appearing out of (almost) nowhere as the mysterious artist whose works are being collected by the King of Sweden, and a hilariously hypnotised guard. Sheridan Smith is fine as Lucie (apparently she wasn't actually there for the recording but had to be patched in later), and there's some nice sparkly dialogue. However the biggest problem for me is that the concept of Tardelli's pocket universe is rather drastically underused - happens entirely off-stage, as indeed does Tardelli's ultimate fate, so it's a little disappointing as a drama. ( )