As with so many stories which have had literary suffixes added, Planet of Evil is neither in need of extension nor the most inspirational source for a sequel. There may be some attempt at postmodern irony in having the characters inhabit a world where Planet of Evil is worshipped as a religion and indeed, it's a very '90s sequel which will present characters watching the original on TV at one stage. However, very little is made of this so it seems rather pointless, and having the Doctor as a mythological figure whose identity is questioned because he doesn't resemble his legend is not new.

Morestran society is obviously based on Italian culture, right to the papal depiction of the church. I'm not entirely sure why this leads to the Doctor's Italian nomenclature when the majority of the text is in English - perhaps Time Lord translation abilities allow for local colour in dialogue with natives. The technological restrictions and caste structures of the civilisation are uninspiring - though typical of the era, perhaps, recalling State of Decay and Castrovalva. Tegan's feminist shtick response to a male-oriented society acts against this, seeming more a feature of the Pertwee era.

Sentences are short and staccato - pulp shlock - and certainly early on the technique of opening sections with a short, enigmatic statement intended to intrigue the reader is overused. Amateurish mistakes permeate - as one characters enters a room another addresses him by name and adds "the famous zealot" which, one might imagine, the famous zealot already knows. The flow is, admittedly, nicely broken up by the presentation of official meetings in transcript form. Numerous deleted expletives provide a vain attempt at humour, which really only works in the intermittent, credible editorials from a local subversive newspaper.

Despite the Doctor and companions supposedly being endangered virtually from the start, it never feels as if they are in any real trouble. For instance, when the Doctor is supposedly suffering under intense, teeth-gritting agony, we are told he is determined "not to give [the pain] the time of day". Comedic understatement, or just a total failure to emphasise the intended point? Hard work to finish, Zeta Major is a dull story told in an uninteresting way.