Creepy horror story... probably shouldn't have listened to this at midnight...

The Doctor loses a lot of his charm and wit in this dark story (no pun intended), which allows Tom Baker to show off his more aggressive portrayal of the Doctor. This reflects the tone and monsters of the story, which are very primal and... well, monstrous. His resolution to the problem is extremely bleak, and makes the listener consider their trust in the Doctor to make the right decision. Additionally, it seems that 11 wasn't the first one to yell "Geronimo." In contrast, the listener gets some well-deserved insight into Leela's mind, showing off her strained relationship with the Doctor and how she must work to repair it, but how she still respects him, using her education and warrior instinct to overcome her opponents, which highlights how much she's grown over the course of her travels. Leela is further represented as desperate when without learning about her opponents with the help of the Doctor, as she is hysterical when running from Morandi.

As I've previously mentioned, the monsters are incredibly vicious, and it's very scary when they're running about, and even talking to the Doctor, teetering on transforming. It's a horror element that feels claustrophobic and makes the listener feel uneasy when with the Doctor and Leela. The revelation that Leela could also have become one of them was a very clever trick, as it meant that there were no boundaries between the heroes and the monsters. The plants were a nice red-herring, as the listener is made to believe they're the monsters when it sets up the real enemy. However, something I felt was unearned was the plot twists that started in the middle of episode 2 - there was no buildup to it and was unfortunately sudden.

The sound design in this story is phenomenal. Absolutely stellar. The music, the "vines", and something that always made me feel creeped out were the Harvesters' machines. I've never heard anything like it - I'm in love with the hard work that Jamie Robertson has clearly put in to make this sound stunning.

If anyone is looking for a Big Finish audio to listen to on Halloween, this is the one! Creepy, claustrophobic, dark - and deeply looks into the Doctor and Leela in a way we've never seen before.