Creatures of Beauty

The Doctor and Nyssa arrive on the planet Veln and are immediately entwined in the intregue surrounding one of the richest women on the planet. Secret operations are being conducted on Lady Forleon's estate where the genetically wounded are being rehabilitated and cured; the planet itself has been polluted with deadly toxic waste as a result of an accident in high orbit. The Veln have been contaminated and their bodies mutated and twisted; Lady Foleon's secret operations restore them to their original state, or make them "beauties". But how did it all happen? And does the presence of the Doctor and Nyssa actually influence anything?

Creatures of Beauty is structured a little differently than other adventures, starting with the Doctor and Nyssa already in the thick of things and then the storyline hopping back and forth between the start and finish of the adventure. This is the sort of structure I did not enjoy in print with The Eye of Heaven but this time it actually works; to tell this story in a linear way would really deny the listener of the tension of the script and give away the details of the story too soon. The transition between different scenes is handled well with extended segments of incidental music, and the odd chilling whisper of "beautiful".

So it's an environmental story, really, the risks of improper waste management held up for all to see. And over four generations of mutation the people of Veln react to any outsider with parinoia and suspicion, but they also resent those amongst them who partake of the surgical procedure and restore their bodies to normal.

Hm. It all seemed so much more detailed when I was listening to it, now I see it's a pretty simple adventure... probably why it was done this way. Clever clever.

NEXT EPISODE : THE GAME