The second part of this Sixth Doctor and Flip Jackson trilogy begins with the Time Lord planning to do some recalibration of the TARDIS systems.

Dropping into random space, in a star system declared off-limits to all traffic, he soon draws the attention of a band of imp like creatures called the Drachee.

Hailing from the nearby moon of Erys, these inquisitive child-like creatures swarm over the TARDIS exterior. Against his better judgement, Flip lets them in and their curiosity soon turns hostile as they try to claim the ship for their own. Fending off a mental attack with his own telepathic powers, he is unable to stop the Drachee abducting Flip and taking her home to Erys.

Before the Doctor can go to the aid of his companion, the situation is further complicated by the arrival of a space yacht. Saving its only passenger, an amnesiac named Sarra, the Doctor soon finds himself compelled to solve the riddle of Erys, and its hold over the planet it orbits in order to save his companion.

In ‘The Brood of Erys’, writer Andrew Smith (‘Full Circle’, ‘The First Sontarans’) has fashioned an emotive tale, with the characters all driven by familial bonds of one form or another.

The relationship between Erys and the Drachee is most unusual and creates a highly challenging problem for the Doctor to tackle, as well as some great surprises too. We particularly enjoyed the episode two cliff-hanger, which separated the Doctor from his TARDIS in what seemed a very final fashion.

As the story concludes, Smith reaches back to Hartnell and the Doctor’s feelings for his granddaughter Susan, who he locked out of the TARDIS in order that she should live her own life rather than his. It is a moment of continuity that is entirely fitting with the self-referential nature mid-1980s Doctor Who and yet, unlike a tale such as ‘Attack of the Cybermen’, it fits beautifully here and helps to resolve the problem in a tidy fashion.

The tale also provides another reference to Peri, with the Doctor reminded that he still has to discover her fate.

Colin Baker is well served by the script with some unusually reflective moments, mixed in with his usual bombast, as the Doctor shows great compassion in dealing with Erys.

Flip’s impulsive nature provides Lisa Greenwood with a fair slice of the action, including crash landing the TARDIS, and Flip’s fabulously blunt delivery is hilarious at times. Of the guest cast Nicola Sian, who played Clara’s mum in ‘The Rings of Akhaten’ really shines as Sarra and Brian Shelly is impressively lunatic as the voice of Erys.

Credit must also be given to the story’s impressive sound design, from the squelchy noises within the living moon to the high pitched voices and cacophonous chatter of the Drachee.

Extras: The story is accompanied with 14 minutes of interviews featuring director Nicholas Briggs along with the writer and the cast.

Released in February 2014 by Big Finish Productions Ltd.

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