Although there is some video noise, the picture quality is generally acceptable. Bearing in mind that the principal foe is Darkness - there are no real problems with compression artefacts and the like. Its slightly better than the VHS release but does not really offer much incentive for anyone still reluctant to leave VHS behind.

The sound quality is reasonable. The soundtrack is in its original mono, but the main thing is that both the score and the sound effects are very effective. Cyril Ornadel scores the incidental music for this story. And what a score it is - probably the best score for the entire series and the haunting whistle has stuck in mind ever since I first saw the story back in 1979. Every time I hear "Pack Up Your Troublse" I think of this story and a chill goes down my spine.

In short - an acceptable transfer and soundtrack, but it could be better!

The extras are not only quite basic, they are fairly static. To put it simply, all you get are a series of transribed notes with the odd still (and some of those aren't relevant to the story). Overall, I would rate the extras at 25%.

• STILLS GALLERY
  A selection of stills - promotional stills for the series and scenes from Assignments 2 and 3.

A man in his 50s, Tully is setting up equipment in a derelict train station. He has stretched wire across stairs leading to a footbridge straddling the tracks. A candle is the sole source of illumination and he has an open-reel tape recorder at the ready to pick up the voices of the ghosts that haunt the station.

Sapphire and Steel arrive at the station. From the outset it is clear that Steel has little time for Tully and sees him as a stumbling block to their own investigation. Tully thinks of the ghost as a poor tortured soul, seeking someone to listen to him.

For the two time agents there is more to deal with than just the ghost of a dead soldier from the 1914-18 war. An entity, a Darkness is using the soldier and others who have died to further its own ends. What links these dead men and what does the Darkness want? Sapphire, Steel and Tully soon discover how easy it is to experience the final moments that these ghosts suffered when they were alive. Can they hope to survive or will they too fall victim to the Darkness?