After an earlier 7th Doctor adventure, The Shadow of the Scourge, Big Finish take another side step into Virgin territory.*

Journeying through the vortex to collect Bernice from a break on the Orbos Facility, the Doctor and Ace receive a telepathic warning from the Facility's director, who is also an old friend of the Time Lord.

But when they arrive, nobody seems to know anything about this warning. Indeed, most seem far more concerned about their upcoming experiment, a controlled black light explosion.

What links this experiment to the supposedly extinct cult of The Dark Flame? Could it have something to do with the ancient skull unearthed by Benny's missing friend Victor under the surface of nearby planet Marren Alpha? And can the Doctor and his friends defeat an evil from the end of time?

This is an impressive audio debut from Trevor Baxendale, author of three acclaimed BBC novels, including the recent 5th Doctor tale Fear of the Dark.

The story is helped by the interaction of the regulars. While Sylvester and Sophie are very familiar with how each other works, this is only the second time they've been joined by Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield. But this isn't apparent, as the three of them bounce off each other so well.

As for the guest cast, much kudos to Michael Praed as the silky voiced villainous Professor Slyde. With his urbanely menacing tones he stands head and shoulders above the other non-regulars.

A test of a good audio play is the listener's ability to visualise the locations and this script succeeded in that respect for me. Plus, the gloomy caverns of Marren Alpha and the stark corridors of the Orbos Facility would be well within even the BBC's budget, were they to consider producing such stories on TV again.

A couple of things for the listener to enjoy. Benny's first meeting with a regular from her solo audios. And her reaction to Ace while possessed. Methinks she enjoyed that far too much!

An enjoyable tale highlighting an exceptional, at least on audio, TARDIS team. Highly recommended.

*If a joke is worth making (on the CD cover) its worth repeating!