Savouring the sublime: Colvil and Soames (Full-Cast Audiobook review)

Contains mild spoilers

Savouring things is a constant problem for me. It basically means delaying the moment I reach the end of a story—sometimes to the absolute limit. I was savouring Colvil and Soames, an audio drama starring Amanda Redman and Christopher Benjamin. But I was worried I’d lose the thrust of the story if I savoured it—if I delayed it—for any longer.

Henry Colvil (Benjamin) and Alex Soames (Redman) are MI6 intelligence officers investigating the suspicious death of a priest who had a heart attack after chasing off a burglar. Manslaughter or murder?

Colvil is a devout Catholic who happens to be close friends with the deceased priest (Father Dominic) and takes a personal interest in the case.

When Colvil receives tapes of a confession recorded by his friend shortly before his death, it seems the old priest knew something about a terrorist plot involving a secret weapon. As the story unfolds, there are more deaths and further revelations about the dead priest—testing everything Colvil thought he knew about his best friend. The sleuths have to solve the mystery before the terrorists put their plan into action.

The story zips along at a crackling pace, giving the listener just enough time to digest the latest events before moving on to the next. It’s a tight story with a compelling mystery, but I have to admit it took me one or two episodes to really get into it.

The narrative neatly merges the terrorist threat with the murder investigation, and Colvil’s connection gives him a real personal stake.

Christopher Benjamin makes Colvil quite fruity: he refers to people as “dear heart” and is prone to the odd soliloquy. I think Christopher Benjamin would just be pleased that someone remembers it, because this is a real obscurity in which he gives a very sparkling performance. As usual, I suppose. He was Henry Jago in Doctor Who and in the Big Finish spin-off audio series Jago and Litefoot, and I’ve basically seen him in tons of things over the years.

Amanda Redman is brilliant in everything she’s ever been in (personal favourites include New Tricks and Hope and Glory), and this is no exception. Soames has a darker edge to her character than Colvil. She’s hard and resilient, but not as unshakable as she’d like to think. Her strong character also makes her occasionally vulnerable—often rushing out on a hunch, without wasting any time. The rest of the cast is almost entirely male, but Redman—along with her character—stands her ground, driving the plot forwards and providing some of the wittiest one-liners.

The duo are fiercely protective of each other, and their bond seems to go back some years. But there’s little time for details. Instead, we get snippets and tantalising tit-bits of information, giving the listener a sense of their shared past.

Some of the verbal exchanges between the characters took a little getting used to. After an episode or two, I found that the sardonic dialogue added an extra layer to what would otherwise be an intriguing but ordinary procedural. In places, the dialogue is positively flamboyant, which makes the series feel slightly offbeat.

There are two series, each telling a different story over six thirty-minute episodes, so there are twelve episodes overall. Both series star Christopher Benjamin and Amanda Redman, and series one also co-stars Dudley Sutton and Stephen Thorne in major roles. Dudley Sutton’s character has some terrific lines, but you can hear that the actor was quite old when he came to record the series. Still, he gives a fun performance.

I’ll be listening to series two of Colvil and Soames at some point. This was always going to be a winner for me. If you like detective stories that are offbeat, a tad obscure, and a bit of an odd-couple, then you’ll definitely find Colvil and Soames one to savour.

Available on Audible and You Tube

If you like offbeat mysteries and slow-burn suspense, explore my fiction on Amazon:

Morrison’s Ghost — A novella filled with twists, dark secrets, and the twisted machinations of the state affecting ordinary people (available now in multiple formats).
Phil’s Marvellous Machine — An upcoming collection featuring two crime/detective stories.

Copyright Martin Gregory 2026

The Man in Room 17