Brian Blessed, Nicholas Courtney and Terry Molloy headline a terrific audio adventure…

In 1923, ebullient adventurer, archaeologist and scholar Sir Basil Champion is exploring the tomb of Queen Nefertiti.

He becomes stuck in a particularly snug passageway.

Suddenly his companions Longbarrow and Pickering succumb to a plague of boils.

Sir Basil has apparently been eaten by a rhinoceros.

He bequeaths some small, grotesque and frankly useless antiquities.

Solicitor Mr Griffin, as executor of the will, keeps a mysterious puzzle box.

When it is opened the box releases a plague of boils, killing everyone in the office.

MI-13s Lionheart and Professor Dunning are assigned to investigate the outbreak of the plague.

Soon afterwards the puzzle box is stolen by a giant.

The man tells them strange tales of people having their trousers burnt off in what Dunning terms supernatural debaggings.

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Lionheart and Dunning are taken to meet the Laird, an American billionaire called D.D.

Denham the self styled fastest man alive.

The castle museum is full of priceless artworks and flying contraptions.

Denham imprisons Lionheart and Dunning in his dungeon using his huge henchman Hamish to guard them.

Denham sets off for El-Amarna in Egypt with his girlfriend Kitty and the puzzle box.

From there they intend to charter a boat to Egypt.

During an Arctic adventure in 1931, disaster strikes Sir Basil Champions party the food runs out.

After playing cards to decide their fate, Championeatshis companions Jock and Snowy.

Champion is a cannibal.

Waghorn gives Dunning a letter from his colleague Humphrey Beamish.

Before succumbing to plague himself Ravenscroft found… an alien!

Denham believes the Black Comet may be a spaceship.

Denham and Kitty force Lionheart and Dunning to launch the tomb.

Dunning and Denham are left behind in the tomb.

Kitty forces Lionheart and Champion onto a U-boat or sub-maureen, as Champion calls it.

Refusing to be contained, Champion uses dynamite to escape from the U-boat.

Champion and Lionheart man a lifeboat.

Reading the hieroglyphics, Dunning discovers the fate of Queen Nefertiti.

Champions puzzle box suddenly comes to life and starts to move across the floor of the tomb.

On the submarine, Kitty commands the spacecraft be shot down.

The spacecraft lands in the same stretch of water as Lionheart and Champions boat and begins to sink.

Dunning and Denham together with Andy escape and are rescued by Lionheart.

Pursued by the U-boat, the men row their boat at speed.

Hamish kills Kitty and the U-boat implodes.

Andy swims onto the boat but Champion squashes the hand.

This is a first-class romp by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris.

Blessed is again on top form here, stealing every scene hes in by sheer force of charisma.

If you want an enjoyably over-the-top performance full of vigour and gusto, Blessed is your man.

Regular supporting artist David Benson exploits his vocal range as three different characters, most notably D.D.

David Bickerstaff is suitably imposing as Hamish.

Lizzie Roper seems to enjoy herself as Kitty Smith and Alex Lowe puts in a well-judged performance as Waghorn.

He also manages to sound remarkably like Nicholas Parsons when playing the publisher Herbert Crane.

Champions companions in the Arctic are Jock and Snowy, a tribute perhaps to Dick Barton?

Once again, Cosmic Hobo has created a delightful comedy drama which has a real sense of period.

Without a doubt, this is one of the bestScarifyersstories yet.

The Scarifyers: The Curse of the Black Comet can bepre-ordered.

Rating:

4 out of 5