N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

“Topping day, what? Spiffing. Top hole.”

Well, this was way more fun than I remembered! Yet again, Donna seems to be having the best of it, inadvertently giving Agatha Christie ideas for characters and novels along the way. In truth, I’d probably find this more irritating were it not for the fact that good old Ags would soon lose her memory, so it’s not quite Doctor Who (or in this case, one of the Doctor’s companions) taking credit for giving writers some of their most famous ideas.

“Never mind Planet Zog! A party in the nineteen twenties, that’s more like it!”

Donna, The Unicorn and the Wasp

The Unicorn and the Wasp boasts a super cast too, with Felicity Kendal and Christopher Benjamin (Henry Jago himself!) excelling as the party hosts, although it’s Fenella Woolgar as the famed Dame who deserves the most plaudits. I don’t know if Agatha Christie was anything like how she’s portrayed here, but Woolgar is so good in the role you really hope so.

In among all the homages and references to and parodies and pastiches of Mrs Christie’s work, there’s even time for a bit of innuendo — “family jewels” are flashed and the Doctor’s exclamation of “ginger beer” to the by-necessity-in-the-closet Davenport remains a particularly cheeky example!

And while there’s sadly no cricket here to distract the Doctor early doors, like Black Orchid before it, The Unicorn and the Wasp remains an enjoyable slice of twenties-style whimsy. Or should that be hokum?