(special thanks to Big Finish for providing me with a review copy!)

Eight slash Q Panenka, a craggy comet with a 13km circumference, has an elliptical orbit that takes it between Earth and Jupiter. Which, in the year 2329, makes it a cheap means of space freight – the second class postal service of the solar system.

But when the TARDIS lands on Panenka, the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa discover a community falling apart at the seams – plagued by thefts, and mysterious disappearances among the ‘piggybackers’ who eke out a desperate existence on the comet.

While Tegan and Nyssa suit up for a dangerous excursion into the comet’s Unstable Zone, the Doctor and Turlough find themselves pawns in a game that could lead to tragedy for both Earth and Jupiter alike…

Starring: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), Mark Strickson (Vislor Turlough), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Rebecca Front (Patricia Walton), John Cummins (Anton Falcao), Ellie Burrow (Chica St Jude), Zoe Lister (Violet Silvaner), Ben Porter (Major Nash), Simon Blake (Manny), Philip Pope (Jovians)

This particular audio was one that I had reasonable hopes for. Good cast with one of my favorite Doctors and one of my favorite companions (Tegan). And, indeed, for the first two parts, everything was quite good and interesting, with a wonderful mystery, a fascinating setting and interesting characters.

But somewhere mid-way through part three, it totally lost my interest. I’m not sure why. I know at least part of it was because the various revelations about who were the good guys and who were the bad weren’t all that surprising, and the concept of sentient gas creatures seemed a tad unlikely to me.

The cast is, of course, their usual great selves, and I’m happy to see that events that effected Nyssa in last month’s audio are being addressed, though I’m still unclear as to why BF had the older version of Nyssa turn up back a few stories ago if they were only going to youthify her.

Overall, if I did star ratings on here, this one would probably get a three out of five, because those first two parts are quite good, but they don’t really make up for the last two.