The Doctor arrives on Solis Kailya just in time to help Callen and his (talking) dog…

Roy Gill wraps up this box set with a story that has some callbacks to earlier audio adventures for the 9th Doctor, but which stands very well on its own. It starts as something of a base under siege tale, which morphs into something even more dangerous, and ends with a twist that for any other Doctor would seem natural, but for Eccleston’s incarnation isn’t.

This isn’t one to listen to as darkness falls around you – Gill, in tandem with director Helen Goldwyn and sound designer Iain Meadows, ratchets up the tension almost to breaking point, and the particular angle that he comes at the monsters from means that all bets are off as to how the Doctor is going to deal with them. There’s one moment where a character is threatened that is surprisingly powerful – and it’s one told through sound effects alone – and the conceit of the talking dog allows for a very different set of sensory inputs (and a good read on canine behaviour both in the scripting and Harki Bhambra’s performance).

Verdict: Another strong set finale from Gill. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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