After choosing to stay on Kaldor for a year, Liv Chenka has to find work – and her old hospital seems a good place to start…

Roland Moore kicks off this new spin-off series from the Eighth Doctor Adventures, that fills in Liv’s “gap year” during the Ravenous saga. She’s decided to remain on her home planet and have a chance to catch up with her sister, Tula – amongst other things. But it doesn’t take her long to find trouble, after she realizes her old mentor is not at the top of his game.

You really need to have heard the Ravenous episode that sets much of this up to get the most out of this story – the fractious sibling relationship, notably, not to mention the use of Tula’s voice for some of the SV robots (which is used to good effect here). However, even if your only knowledge of Kaldor and its art deco robots is the original 1977 story by Chris Boucher, you should enjoy this mystery. Moore creates some intriguing new characters who seem set to make the Chenka sisters’ lives difficult over the coming months, with Robert Whitelock’s Skellen demonstrating more shades of grey than the black and white morality that he claims.

Joe Kraemer and Josh Arakelian’s sound design give Kaldor a distinct aural feel, and Ken Bentley’s direction keeps things taut. Kraemer’s musical score isn’t quite what I was expecting – in a good way.

Verdict: A strong start. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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