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

Previous Story: The Cloisters of Terror

With the sheer amount of stories that Briggs puts out, it's not a surprise that most of them are fairly mediocre, but when he strikes gold, he strikes gold. This story is fun, but it doesn't completely shy away from being serious either.

It's got a small cast of characters, the main focus is on the core three as they explore a seemingly normal planet. Unbeknownst to the Doctor and Leela, K9 is interfacing with the TARDIS when he finds something seriously wrong. The planet outside isn't around for long and this leads to an arguement between the Doctor and Leela about the morality of saving the planet, which the Doctor attempts to brush off. It's the usual "companion begging the Doctor to save [insert thing here]" but I just can't complain because it's acted so well by Baker and Jameson. While all this is happening, K9 gets taken over and this sets up a brilliant cliff-hanger.

I think Briggs is at his best when he doesn't put nonsensical action sequences into his stories all the time, they just don't work on audio. This story, however, is full of intrigue, surprise and drama. Overall a very good, low-stakes story.

Next Story: Return to Telos