I’m going to keep this review fairly short and perfunctory.  Long time readers of my marathon will be aware of my opinions of the Nest Cottage audio dramas featuring Tom Baker, Richard Franklin and Susan Jameson.

In a nutshell – I think they’re crap.

If you want a bit more detail, feel free to peruse my previous reviews of the fourth instalment (set in 1039) – A Sting in the Tale; and the third instalment (set in 1832) – The Circus of Doom.

The Dead Shoes is set in 1932 and is the second instalment of the adventure.  It is the part of the story that details Mrs Wibbsey’s origins and also ties into The Circus of Doom (which I reviewed before this, but is set 100 years or so after this story).

In The Dead Shoes, the 4th Doctor recounts a story to Mike Yates of enchanted ballet shoes at the seaside.  Whilst at the seaside, the Doctor visits a Museum of Curiosities presided over by a hornet-controlled Mrs Wibbsey.  Inside he meets Ernestina Stott, a dancer who is performing a show at the end of the pier.  She becomes possessed whilst talking to the Doctor and smashes a case containing a pair of ballet shoes with mummified feet inside.

At her show, she wears the shoes and becomes possessed by the hornets.  They are attempting to find a new host and Ernestina is their prime target.

The Doctor stops them.

I can’t really say much more that I haven’t already said about this series.  It’s so over the top as to almost be surreal.  In the mix are some great ideas but everything is given such an eccentric sheen that I just can’t engage with it.  Again, Richard Franklin is thoroughly wasted as Mike.  I do wonder what Nick Courtney’s role would have been in the original plan for these because, if it was, like Mike, to just sit and listen to Tom Baker tell a silly story about haunted ballet shoes, that too would have been a huge waste of a Doctor Who legend.

I won’t be back with the nest of hornets for quite a while with the final two instalments being set in ‘modern’ times and, frankly, that’s a blessed relief.

Avoid.