Doctor Who: The Emerald Tiger

Set in Bengal in 1926, this story is most obviously reminiscent of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, with a good dash of H Rider Haggard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and, of course, Kipling's The Jungle Book thrown in for good measure. (There's some inspiration from the Mahabharata too, but it's far more peripheral). It's a rollicking adventure that takes the Doctor and his companions from the streets of Calcutta to... well, a lost world at the bottom of a crater.

The pace keeps up all the way through, with some dramatic set pieces and wonderful imagery. The latter is helped by some good soundscaping, with both Calcutta and the mysterious jungle well realised. The plot is multi-layered, with more than one villain, although the core of it is a threat to Nyssa from an alien infection. The cast is also larger than usual, with a number of guest characters, but I never found it confusing, as can sometimes be the case in audio.

The regulars are on top form, with all of them being well written and bringing out their characters from the TV series. Especially given the large cast, it's notable that they all have something to do, although Tegan is largely left out of the third quarter, when the others believe her dead. (Obviously, given where we are in continuity, she isn't, but the suspense is in trying to figure out why not).

This is a good example of the common theme of throwing the Doctor into a different genre and seeing what happens, and here it works splendidly, managing to be a good fit for both, an evident love for the inspirational material married to something that still feels absolutely like a Doctor Who story. It's a good fit for Five in particular, with his mix of youthful enthusiasm and compassion.

If there's a weakness, it's that the very final scene is a bit fan-wanky, and really rather unnecessary, but it's far too brief to stop this getting a full 5 stars.