When I saw the trailer, this reminded me of a few things - the title reminded me of the Sontaran Experiment, and even includes the Sontaran name Strang, and the cover reminded me of the Egyptology theme within Pyramids of Mars. Despite this - it is able to stand on its own two feet as an original and fun story.

I think this story would work extremely well as a Companion Chronicle. Whilst Tom Baker does feature in this heavily, the Fourth Doctor does not and his imaginary counterpart could easily have been replaced with anyone else in Leela's life - her father from the Face of Evil, as an example. It's a thrill to have Jameson take the lead role for this story, because she is absolutely killing it as Leela. When I first met her in the Face of Evil, I wasn't overly keen on her, and if I hadn't been experiencing Big Finish's audio range at the same time, I probably wouldn't have had the same opinion of her, but almost every story just knows her character and manage to portray it so well, within both the writing and the acting!

There's not really a villain, per se, unless you count Crowmarsh and the robots as villains themselves. Each "antagonist" has a personal connection to Leela, such as the forgettable Marshall from an untold story that definitely does not exist at all in any Fourth Doctor series ever, but it's fantastic to see how they all tear Leela apart to see them.

I was expecting a more Egyptian vibe from the location, but the story itself completely subverted my expectations, being in a laboratory - it's clear that each writer knows just the right location to suit Leela - jungles and wildernesses bring out her instinctive side, whereas she's a fish out of water in places like hospitals and cities, and it works so well as she tries to fit in for the Doctor's benefit.

This story is a standout in the Fourth Doctor Adventures - it doesn't rely on 70s nostalgia, but it would fit into the era so well as developing Leela's character!

S7 of the 4das are off to a weak start I liked the concept of this but hated the execution of it

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

Previous Story: The Sons of Kaldor

The first part is very experimental, having voice actors play different characters than usual is not new to Big Finish, but it usually doesn't have any explanations in-story which easily makes this story stand out. It's also nice to have a story where the Doctor doesn't really play an active role in the story, he talks to the characters through various methods, but isn't actually physically present as himself.

The names of the false characters being based on other characters from the 4DAs is a nice touch that I nearly missed at first, and it allows them to develop Leela's character and her romance with Marshall. This feels reminiscent of stories like the library two-parter and "Amy's Choice" with the involvement of too-good-to-be-true fictional realities that the characters have to choose between.

Overall it's a very heartfelt story, with a solid mystery running through and it plays with the format a bit which are 3 things I really enjoy in these stories.

Next Story: The Mind Runners