This was an average story, but it's jarring as a followup to the emotionally intense Scherzo. And it's very unfortunate that Charley spends most of the story turning into an insect breeding machine. ( )

It's a fairly good job that Gary Russell asked Philip Martin to make the titular monsters insectoid rather than reptilian, otherwise this would seem even more of a retread of Martin's 80s TV scripts. Rapacious aliens, companions transforming, a Doctor pretending to cooperate with the enemy while encouraging a rebellion and a lot of corridor running? It's definitely been done before. This time though, there's no particular depth, lacking the sort of moral question Varos (TV violence) and Mindwarp (genetic engineering) posed.

It's saved to a degree by one of the best thought through and realised races to appear in the Big Finish range, writing, acting and sound design combining to present a convincing alien society. Martin's script is at times overly focused on the Kromon society to the detriment of the story. He also doesn't quite seem to have the hang of writing audio drama, falling into melodrama and the trap of having the characters tell us things we can't see. The acting rescues this to a large degree though, Dan Hogarth and Steven Perring being particularly good in multiple roles. If you want a Doctor Who story that fairly slavishly evokes what the series was remembered as, Kromon is ideal. Not bad, but appropriately for a stereotypical story, fairly average. ( )

The Creed of the Kromon takes us back into proper DW territory, slaves revolt against their oppressive rulers, and Doctor gains another companion. Decent, if standard, stuff. C'rizz is OK and balances out the core cast a little. ( )