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

Previous Story: Warriors of the Deep

Turlough might be one of the most interesting companions in all of Doctor Who. His dynamic with the rest of the TARDIS crew is so unique to that of any other companion. This interlude is a superb example of that, subverting the usual format of a Doctor Who story and having it all be focused on Turlough. It's a great way to play off the all too common trope of Turlough getting seperated from everyone else. This story essentially makes his usual B-plot the main focus and it's brilliant. Turlough gets to be scheming and slimy and the story as a whole serves as a great insight into his mind and behaviours.

There's also some great exploration of other characters too, Tegan specifically. Turlough coming to all sorts of realisations about her was a great moment, as was their entire conversation in the TARDIS. The Doctor is not given that much considering he's not there for a majority of the story but even then Jonathan Blum manages to explore the dynamic between him and Turlough, drawing parallels between them both and coming to the conclusion that Turlough reminds the Doctor of a younger version of himself.

Dan Starkey's reading of this is excellent. I've already spoken about his impression of the Fifth Doctor in a previous interlude and it's fairly decent, though a bit too jumpy and excited. His impression of Turlough though, at times it felt like it was Mark Strickson himself reading. He captures all the slyness and condescending perfectly. We get to see a more unexplored side of Turlough, having to face up to his own past. He's noticeably different knowing that he's talking to one of his own people and it's details like those that make this story, Blum's writing and Starkey's reading stand out. This is the definitive Turlough story in my opinion.

Next Story: The Awakening