Audio CD review
Starring Paul McGann, Sheridan Smith, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Steven Pacey, Lynsey Hardwick
Big Finish
Release date Out now

Meeting up with Lucie's Aunty Pat once more, the Doctor stumbles on a secret invasion...

Paul Magrs' writing is an acquired taste, sometimes coming across as too clever for its own good. That's not the case with this story, which is surprisingly linear and straightforward for Magrs, albeit containing a moral ambiguity at the end. While maintaining continuity with the Zygons' previous appearances (including their Victorian encounter with the eighth Doctor in the novel The Bodysnatchers), a few extra powers are given to the creatures, one of which allows for a bending of the Web of Time.

The only problem with the Zygons is that, to all intents and purposes, they possess people, and Lucie has already been possessed this season. Sheridan Smith tries to give a different performance, but it's hard to find yet another angle to the character.

The audio guest stars Blake's 7's Steven Pacey in an unrecognisable role as Trevor, the eponymous creature, with Malcolm Stoddard and Tim Brooke-Taylor as the other Zygons. Brooke-Taylor occasionally comes across as the prissy Tim from The Goodies, although his character Mimms might feasibly have modelled his human self on Timbo, given the 1984 setting. Patrick Holm

VERDICT: 7/10
A good standard eighth Doctor and Lucie adventure.