ok so I finished the latest fifth Doctor trilogy; thus, spoiler cut
Well then. Hanna Bartholomew is probably the most pointless companion in Big Finish.
Not boring or uninteresting, mind-- she kind of grew on me, I think she would've been an interesting addition to Team Five & Nyssa, but-- she really doesn't get time to gel as a character, I think. Oh yes, she has a very distinct voice, but we know so little about her, she doesn't develop, we don't see how her presence affects the Doctor and Nyssa (or her departure, for that matter, despite the fact that she's supposedly had several adventures with them in the gap between Tomb Ship and Masquerade). She's just kind of... there, and then she isn't.
It just makes me wonder: why? Why was she written into the stories in the first place? Unless she comes back somehow, which I don't think is that unlikely, she's really a mayfly companion of sorts. We've had those before, but in the case of for example Gemma and Samson, or Oliver Harper, they have been extremely important to the plots and/or the other characters. There has been a point to their presence-- if anything, when you have companions with such a "limited lifespan" it's been important for the writers to make their part in the narrative all the more poignant. There doesn't seem to have been any deeper thought as to why Hanna was included at all.
Maybe I wouldn't be so hung up on this if it wasn't for the fact that her "departure" is really horrifying, and feels like it should've had an emotional impact, but it just made me feel kind of... meh. Actually the entire audio made me feel that way-- like something with an interesting concept, and not technically badly written, but lacking heart. I don't even feel like she was written out the way she was for shock value.
Overall this trilogy was extremely underwhelming to me, with Moonflesh being ok but not memorable and with a super racist trope, Tomb Ship a very safe and standard "avoid traps to get to final level" video game-esque plot, but well-written and with interesting enough additions cast-wise to make it enjoyable (I liked it best of the three) and Masquerade technically well-written but with nothing to engage me (made all the worse because I felt like I should be engaged), plus kind of offensive villains. Again.
TL;DR the latest fifth Doctor trilogy is kind of rubbish imo.