Big Finish’s ‘Vienna’ Season 2 audio boxset review

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The impossibly glamorous bounty hunter Vienna Salvatori (Chase Masterson) often sits on the wrong side of the law, so it was quite a shock to discover her in a new position for her second run.

Vienna’s first season saw her revel in technological tricks, using memory boxes to disguise her motives and threatening to off those who knew her identity. She spent time undercover at the heart of a space war and exchanging banter with her AI ship’s computer; it was all high octane fare.

This trio of stories transplants Vienna into a more stripped down situation, one where she relies on her street smarts and deadly wit to unpick the mysteries around her. Allied to CrimeCorp as a consultant, she is based on a futuristic, ultra-corporate Earth.

James Goss’s ‘Tabula Rasa’ finds Vienna and a gentleman friend waking in a hotel room without any memory. Relying on gut instinct, she has to both solve a murder and piece together how she got there without getting killed.

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With memories restored, and equipped with a partner of sorts, Cavan Scott’s ‘Underworld’ takes Vienna beneath the city to investigate violent outbursts among the people who dwell there.

Finally, drawing together threads from the first two tales, Jonathan Morris treats us to ‘The Vienna Experience’ as we go behind the scenes of the series protagonist and discover the true reason for Vienna’s move to CrimeCorp.

These are smart, fast moving stories that take you for a ride and keep you guessing all the way through – frankly it would be a crime to say too much more.

The addition of a sidekick, namely Samantha Béart’s jaded Jexie Regan, gives us another perspective on our heroine and the pair are well matched as Vienna’s cool wisecracks meet Jexie’s laid-back New York drawl.

With a third season already in the works for 2016, we look forward to finding out where Vienna is headed next.

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Released in February 2015 by Big Finish Productions Ltd.

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