Deep space mining expedition? Check. Creepy jungle? Check. Antimatter monster that looks like an angry lava lamp? Double check.
Short Synopsis
The Doctor and Sarah land on Zeta Minor, a planet on the edge of the known universe where a mining expedition has gone very, very wrong. Turns out, the miners have been tampering with antimatter, and the universe itself has decided to send a smoky, glowing monster to tell them: “Stop touching that!”
Extended Storyline
Our heroes arrive just in time to find that almost everyone in the mining crew is dead. Cause of death? Being clawed apart by something invisible, until it isn’t invisible anymore and shows up as a glowing red outline that screams “BBC visual effects budget, 1975.”
The lone survivor, Professor Sorenson, is a well-meaning but slightly unhinged scientist who has been experimenting with antimatter samples from Zeta Minor. The problem is that antimatter doesn’t like being borrowed, and the universe reacts about as kindly as someone nicking your car. The result: a giant, roaring antimatter guardian stomping around the jungle, ripping apart anyone who gets too close.
Naturally, the Doctor insists on returning the antimatter samples before the entire universe collapses into itself. Sorenson, however, has other ideas — like keeping his samples, mutating into a snarling “anti-man,” and menacing Sarah through the undergrowth. Imagine Dr. Jekyll, but glowing red and with worse hair.
Meanwhile, a rescue ship arrives, led by Captain Salamar, whose leadership style can best be described as “angry, suspicious, and doomed.” He thinks the Doctor is behind everything, which means lots of arguing while people continue to get picked off by the monster.
Eventually, the Doctor convinces the antimatter entity to chill out by returning Sorenson and his samples. Sorenson is cured, the universe doesn’t implode, and Sarah doesn’t get eaten by antimatter goo (though it was a close one). The Doctor, scarf flowing dramatically, declares victory — mostly because the laws of physics haven’t been broken beyond repair.