This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Apocalypse Element

Charles Darwin and the Silurians, a pair so perfect for each other that they're doing it again in a book coming out this month. This story is actually really interesting in how it handles Darwin encountering the Silurians, at the start he's skeptical of God, but still believing in him and by the end he believes that religion is a lie. It's fascinating to hear this happen over the course of the story and Miles Richardson's excellent performance as Darwin really helps this story stand out. Colin Baker and Maggie Stables remain an extremely fun pair to listen to.

I was surprised to find out that this was one of few Classic Silurian stories on audio, they feel like such an iconic villain that you'd expect them to appear in more. I do really like how accurate this story is to the sound design of the Silurians. The voices are on point and this story even includes the infamous third eye laser noise responsible for so many ridiculous Classic Who cliffhangers. While the inclusion of Darwin definitely makes this story stand out, it still follows the typical format of a Silurian adventure. There's always one good Silurian and one bad one that argue a bunch. The Doctor tries to be the voice of reason. Somewhere along the way a virus gets released and it ends in explosion.

Overall, I like so many things about this story (the atmosphere, the way it uses Charles Darwin, the accuracy to the TV show no matter how silly) but I can't help feeling it's a bit derivative.

Next Story: Project: Twilight