‘Moonflesh’ begins a new trilogy of stories starring the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa. Arriving in a Suffolk forest in the autumn of 1911, the Doctor is intrigued to hear an African elephant’s trumpeting call and sets off to investigate.

Danger soon presents itself and the pair are rescued by a Native American named Silver Crow. Welcomed to the home of the local landowner, they meet his employer, the bombastic explorer Nathaniel Whitlock (Tim Bentinck) who is host to a hunting party weekend. Whitlock has brought a menagerie back from his travels and treasures too, one of which is a mysterious red rock known as the Moonflesh.

Writer Mark Morris has created a great group of characters, all of whom are larger than life and given with gusto by the cast. As events unfold, the tale becomes a house under siege with Whitlock, his daughter Phoebe, Silver Crow and three visiting guests; the bumptious industrialist Edwin Tremayne, his nervy son Hector and Hannah Bartholomew, a gung-ho feminist.

While we feared the play might descend into a bunch of comedy toffs shouting at each other in broad accents, there was thankfully enough difference between the characterisations to stop this. Whitlock is loud but likeable enough, whereas the Edwin Tremayne (Hugh Fraser) emerges as a desperately self-centred monster.

Francesca Hunt, sister of Big Finish’s own India Fisher, provides a hilarious performance as Hannah whose interference with the Moonflesh, when she attempts scratch its surface to take samples, unleashes its terrifying true nature.

The regulars are well employed; Davison is paired up with the ever talented John Banks’ Silver Crow to explore some of the Sioux mysticism elements of the story, as well as holding his own against the guest cast.

Sarah Sutton’s Nyssa, though fighting the inevitable sexism of the time, asserts herself despite being inevitably paired off with Phoebe Whitlock. Nyssa clearly benefits from the room to breathe afforded by the absence of Tegan, this story nestling within in the Australian’s faux departure between seasons 18 and 19.

With some surprising twists in the plot, including a tremendous upping of the ante at the end of part two, it fell to the younger Tremayne to ask all the dumb questions for us. We found ourselves rooting for Hector throughout, not only for him to best his oaf of a father, but also to act on his feelings for Phoebe Whitlock.

With some terrific sound design for the encounters with the wild animals and plenty of references to Sioux legends, Moonflesh put us in mind of the more off beat Davison tales such as ‘Kinda’ and Snakedance’, and that is always a good thing.

Extras: Nearly 16 mins of cast interviews and an 8 minute incidental music suite.

Released in April 2014 by Big Finish Productions Ltd.

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