Winter for the Adept

"Do a job badly enough and nobody will ask you to do it again!"

Writer: Andrew Cartmel
Format: Audio
Released: July 2000
Series: Main Range 10

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Nyssa

Synopsis

When a teleportation experiment goes badly wrong, Nyssa finds herself stranded on the freezing slopes of the Swiss Alps in 1963. But it is mere coincidence that she finds shelter in a snowbound school, haunted by a malevolent poltergeist?

When the Doctor arrives, Nyssa and the other inhabitants of the school soon discover that the ghost is merely part of a darker, deeper and more deadly game involving rogue psi talents and something else... Something not of this Earth.

Verdict

Winter for the Adept is a good, solid audio adventure. It starts off uniquely with the Fifth Doctor absent having teleported Nyssa from the TARDIS! She isn't happy with her landing space which is quite humorous, would she really expect the Doctor to have her land in comfort? The plot was good and never seemed dull which is obviously always good. I really liked the reference to The Land of the Dead audio and Nyssa being alone allowed her to show how good she really is as companion. The eventual arrival and mention of the Spillagers was great and thought they were terrific enemies. The guest cast were a great highlight; Alison and Peril being the standouts. The plot itself was very good and I enjoyed the climax a lot. I liked the comedy between the Doctor and Nyssa once the Time Lord finally arrived, somewhat delayed. There just needed to be an added sense of danger or plot twist to take this audio from being very good to the heights of greatness, but good nonetheless! 

Rating: 8/10