I think we have a tendency to want things made by bigots to be bad, so that we are never inclined to say a good word about something so heavily involved with that person. That is why I went into this expecting - or perhaps, hoping - that I wouldn't like it. However, to my surprise, I am here today giving this story a 4/5. So, let's put aside the Baxendale bigotry for the sake of an honest review. Minor/vague spoilers; erring on the side of caution and spoiler-warning just in case.

At first, I wasn't enjoying the story much, finding it difficult to get into. The dialogue was fun and engaging, but other parts of the story felt a little clunky at times. The humour was very succesful at lightening the otherwise really quite disturbing situations, and I found myself laughing at every other line.

I found the part two cliffhanger disappointing, with no foreshadowing, and both the delivery of the line and the actual event being entirely obvious all of a sudden in a highly unsatisfying manner. There were parts of this audio that felt creepy in a sexual way. A bit needlessly - the whole thing with the cult and decay is plenty without adding perviness into the mix.

"Girl? A long time since I've thought of myself as a girl" For a transphobe, he sure writes some trans lines! I love the way Ace's militarisation, politics, and personal experiences of travelling with the Doctor have changed her gender, and the way this evolution has been shown in her last couple audios (such as in the Rapture, with this element being one of the many things I loved about that story!)

Not all of the technobabbly stuff made complete sense - I'm a little lost on things like how the skull became parachronic/how the Dark Flame reached Vilus Krull in the first place, but I don't feel like that lack of understanding impacted my view of the story.

Both Sylvester and Bowerman's performances in this one were truly terrific, and I think this is the seventh Doctor at his best... His speech about how the flame was just an unthinking power, manipulated by a coward, was exceptional. Quite a neat ending. A dark story with a more or less happy ending; a treat to listen to. 4/5.