The latest of the Big Finish "Lost Stories", based on a storyline by Peter Ling and Hazel Adair, and turned into an audio drama by Paul Finch. Given that Ling wrote the amazing Second Doctor story "The Mind Robber" back in 1968, and that Finch wrote
Leviathan, the best of the series of Sixth Doctor lost stories produced by Big Finish a couple of years ago, my expectations were high. And I am glad to say that they were largely met; the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa, finding that an old friend of Tegan's (played by Toby Hadoke) has been abducted by aliens, pursue him to a planet off Proxima Centauri which is ruled by a mysterious and slightly insectile queen, played by none other than Jacqueline "Servalan" Pearce. 'Orrible things are going on beneath the surface, and the plot largely successfully balances the politics of the queen's court with the insects' master plan, giving both Tegan and Nyssa some romantic tension along the way. I think for once it is a play that would be entirely accessible to listeners outside the core constituency.