The Doctor, Mrs Clarke and Flip crashland on a planet whose native avian lifeform is about to have its First Contact…

Darren Jones’ tale for the Sixth Doctor and his motley crew is a rarity in Doctor Who – a story where the Time Lord and his companions are the only humanoids. Luckily this isn’t an audio equivalent to The Web Planet – it’s a fast-paced serial that deals with paranoia and xenophobia and throws in the Ice Warriors for good measure.

In fact, it’s only when you listen to the extras that you realise that the story was always intended to feature the creatures from Mars; it wouldn’t have surprised me to learn if they’d been added into the plotline instead of a different original alien. That’s not to decry Jones’ writing of the creatures, building on the extra layers we learned about them from their last TV appearance, and it’s great to hear Adele Lynch return, alongside Nicholas Briggs’ many and various Warriors, but Jones builds the world of the Vultriss carefully that they definitely feel like the primary species involved. This is helped by very strong performances from the other guest actors, notably Natasha Cowley as the paranoid Queen Skye.

Colin Baker, Miranda Raison and Lisa Greenwood are on form, separated at different times, with Jones writing to the characters’ strengths. Simon Power’s soundscape is nicely done, with some interesting choices by him or director John Ainsworth regarding scene breaks and the use of the title music that set the release apart. (Don’t just skip a track when you get to the titles – you’ll miss out on 4-5 minutes of material!)

Verdict: A welcome return for this TARDIS team in a well written and produced play. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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