A disastrous test of new technology wipes out all animal life on Earth, with only Frank, Olga, Owsley and a major from the base they're visiting left alive. As they attempt to return to Project Backstep to set things right, it seems one of the group has other plans.

To be honest, there's nowhere near enough plot to keep this episode going and way too much of it feels like padding, from Parker and Olga's visit to an underground base to the extended footage of pretty scenery as the group head back to the base. With no-one else around in the world, there's no tension aside from the saboteur in their midst. It's a clever idea to use Owsley in his radiation-sick state as the enemy, but although Kevin Christy does some fine acting work becoming increasingly unbalanced, he never feels like much of a threat. His demise is satisfying more through using knowing he'll be back, as it certainly isn't necessary to the plot.

The major travelling with the others is a lightweight character, wanting to see his girlfriend and generally helping out on the way. With little to play with, he's merely there to die for dramatic effect rather than to serve any grander purpose. The whole episode is too staged and obvious; it takes far too long to reach Backstep (albeit making the trip more realistic) and there's nothing more to the story than the bare bones of the road trip plot. Then again, it's not like anyone's still alive to tell a sub-plot is it? Peter Farriday rather wrote himself into a corner there...

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