This story draws heavily on A Christmas Carol and I would consider it practically required viewing to properly understand The Top of the Tree.

I didn't expect much out of this audio given this set isn't exactly well-regarded by fans, but I have to say it worked so much better for me than The Calendar Man.

The presence of Danny Horn reprising his role of a younger Kazran from A Christmas Carol was what really made the story for me. It allowed Jacob Dudman to really focus on his excellent impression of the Eleventh Doctor and the narration, both of which he is great at, while also not having him do Amy Pond, which is a relief since I found that distracting with the first chronicle.

It is also a brilliant slice of writing to return Kazran like this. There's plenty of room for adventures like this to occur within that episode, and I was thoroughly impressed by the idea and how much energy Horn was able to put into the role.

The rest of the story is fun, too. Kazran and the Doctor find themselves on a very strange jungle planet and must escape a series of dangers. It's the kind of thing that would either look terrible or cost and absolute fortune if done on television, making it such an excellent choice for an audio adventure. The sound effects really brought me into the setting and the narration let me really picture what was going on scene to scene, even if it all was very imaginative and alien.

I definitely think Top of the Tree is a bit underrated. It even has a great ending that I found nicely tied into Kazran's character in a fun little way. It was nothing game-changing, just a fun little detail to punctuate the audio adventure in a way I found effective and memorable. Definitely recommended and I am glad to know Horn had returned in another Big Finish, which I will definitely be checking out myself later.