Wonky plotting, some silly ideas and inconsistent characters prevent this story from really succeeding but Raine continues to be an interesting addition to the cast and it's a joy to hear Brigadier Bambera back in action. For fans of the Seventh Doctor's TV era this is a fun blast of nostalgia and an accurate recreation of the time (negatives included).

There is a missed opportunity here and quite a serious one. While the possibility had existed to give us an intelligent drama that considered both sides of a potentially complex debate, what we get is a presentation showing that whalers are unintelligent and cruel pawns of a faceless corporation, while whales simply must be saved, with no reason given. The story feels like left wing propaganda and in that sense it is typical of its time period and would have been a perfect fit for the season it wasn't in.

If you compare this to the Beast Below you get two very different stories. Beast Below looked at the needs of the English people and gave us a reason for harming the whale. It gave us characters who saw what they were doing and accepted the need to do it, no matter how sickening it was.

If you can put the political propoganda aside, what remains of the story is still rather flat with lazy acting and ideas stolen from Moby Dick and pinochio.

This is the story that was replaced by Terror of the Vervoids, meaning it was intended for Mel and should have had the Valeyard adding comentary. It also would have needed a more damning ending.

Instead, we get Peri, a rewritten intro, no Valeyard and a simpler ending that would not see the Doctor being found guilty of anything other than mediocrity. You'd have to seriously tamper with the maxtrix to convict him with this story.

Background aside, this is quite a good story with Doctor and Peri sneaking on board a luxury day-spa/holiday resort that smells more suspicious than the Essendon Football Club. Its dangerous, mysterious and has Peri playing a really good role as she does most of the investigative work.

The voicework is good from the various players; even the minor roles were fun, while the major ones were very well defined.