I was really not going to bother with this story, considering how I utterly despise The Talons of Weng-Chiang, though I thought it best to at least try and get it over with. My expectations were considerably low, and I actually came out somewhat surprised!

I think it's fairly obvious we don't have to go through the obligatory condemnation of what the original story included in a disturbing abundance, but one thing I am relatively disappointed by is the fact that they were still insistent on including Mr Sin. He was one of the many racist aspects of The Talons of Weng-Chiang, and I don't necessarily think he was mandatory to involve in such a way as this story presents him?

However, to reach the reasons why I became pleasantly surprised by this story, I found the political aspects all quite fascinating. Things such as these warring states, and a further insight into what the Earth was like during the 51st century. We know about some of this stuff, primarily from the likes of Captain Jack and such in New Who, but to have a story that greater details it kind of had me excited.

I do also appreciate the fact that, while you would anticipate that this would be a more Tegan centric story due to it being set in her home city of Brisbane, it's actually much more in favour of Nyssa. She is sort of the catalyst for some of the events, throwing herself in the line of fire by marrying Magnus Greel himself and we get to see her intellect and cunning that's so rarely used outside of this story.

Anyway, overall, I am rating this 3.5 stars. It's an enjoyable enough story, and some of the political intrigue had me quite hooked. All three companions get something to do in equal measure, which Marc Platt seems to be good at doing in these audios.