Doctor Who........of car crashes, parralel universes, rotating restaurants and punk rocker Daleks
Sep 29 '04 (Updated Nov 09 '04)
The Bottom Line Here are two Doctor Who reviews.
For this I am going to review two of the books from all the various Doctor Who novel and audio series'. Specifically two Doctor Who books that Epinions does not have in its catalogue. The first is an audio book, the second a straight paperback.
Edit:
Pending Epinions adding the CD product to its catalogue, my review of Evil of the Daleks Audio CD can now be found at the link below:
http://www.epinions.com/content_161154567812
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Doctor Who; The New Adventures- Bloodheat (1993)
written by Jim Mortimer
published in paperback by Virgin books
The Story:
Retreading old episodes of the Pertwee era, the TARDIS makes another of its rare forays into a parralel universe(re: Inferno, Day of the Daleks and Pyramids of Mars) and like the afforementioned episodes, its one where humanity is on the brink and Earth is doomed.
The reality that the Doctor (now in his seventh incarnation) and his companions, Ace and Bernice find themselves in is one based around the events of the TV episode "The Silurians" (for those of you that haven't seen that story, spoilers ahead).
Whilst the Doctor was in his third incarnation and was stranded on Earth in the 1970's he became scientific advisor to a specialist military organisation called UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) led by Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, which specialised in discreetly exploring phenomenons and combatting the threat of alien invasions, since it became apparent to astronomers and scientists that not only were alien intelligences existing in the heavens, but that Earth's deep space probe technology had attracted their attention.
The Silurians however were an indigenous life form to Earth- an intelligent reptilian biped species who's vast civilisation existed on Earth whilst Mankind had not yet evolved beyond being a simple ape. The population went into hibernation to survive the volatile evironmental gravitational and tidal effects of the Earth's growing proximity to an approaching rogue planet. Since this rogue planet remained in orbit of Earth rather than passing by, and became the familiar Moon, the Silurians were never revived by their machines and remained in stasis until the present day.
However when a nuclear power plant in Derbyshire was built near the caves the Silurians lay in, the elders of the Silurians were awoken one by one and began draining power from the plant to power their machines that would revive the race. UNIT was called into investigate and bloodshed arose as the Silurians refused to accept that the planet belonged to man now. The Doctor tried to negotiate peace between the two races so that the planet could be shared but both sides were too afraid and hostile of one another, and eventually the Brigadier gave the order for the Silurian caves to be bombed and obliterated, thereby exterminating the species.
However in this alternative reality, the Silurians survived and their forces spread, using biological warfare to kill humans in their millions and destroy mankind's civilisation. The Brigadier and the UNIT soldiers have survived, as has the Doctor's old science assistant, Liz Shaw, as they maintain a fight for survival safeguarding a hospital to the surviving refugees and the wounded in action. The Doctor is disturbed to learn that in this universe, his own counterpart died in the caves at the hands of the Silurians.
Analysis:
This book was part of the New Adventures series of novels in the 1990's which continued the TARDIS adventures of the Seventh Doctor and his companion Ace, following on from the last point in the TV series which was cancelled in 1989. In this new series, the Doctor and Ace met a new companion in archaeologist Bernice Summerfield, had many encounters with new supernatural beings and forces, including a trip to the afterlife of all places, and Earth was revisited in the far future as a dystopic cyberpunk culture strongly reminiscent of the 80's sci-fi novels of William Gibson. Furthermore these novels were very liberal about sexual references and profanity which in both the TV series and the novelisations had previously been a no-go zone.
The way the Doctor is rendered in the book feels so right to the 7th incarnation. When I read the Doctor’s words, in my head I can hear Sylvester McCoy speaking them, the rugged texture to his intonations, the quick spitting of hypersyllable words of science and politics and poetic quotations in his verbally spontaneous manner. He has the characterisations of a veiled Doctor who cloaks himself in mystery and is subtle in his way of revealing his identity to the people of this world who believe he is dead and don’t recognise his new incarnation. It’s not so blatant as immediately proclaiming himself to be the Doctor, since he knows how suspicious and sceptical his human companions are. Instead he reveals all those familiar personality traits: the sharp eye for detail, the appreciation of art and the experience of a time traveller who has socialised with the most famous people in history.
The Doctor clasped his hands behind his back and turned to study the gilt framed Turner hanging from a picture rail on one wall. “It’s a fake you know. A good one but you can tell by the direction of the brushstrokes that whoever painted it was right handed.”
[The Brigadier replied quickly] “Turner was right handed”
“Ah. But when I met him he’d sprained his right wrist falling down a flight of stairs. He painted this picture with his left hand.” The Doctor turned back to face the Brigadier, adding pleasantly, “it’s a mistake anyone who didn’t know the man could have made.”
The Brigadier’s eyes suddenly snapped wide open. An expression of recognition spread across his face, but if Liz expected a smile, she was to be disappointed.
“Why Doctor. How exactly like you to come back from the dead.”
Essentially this is a great story for 1993, which was the year of Doctor Who's 30th Anniversary. It saw the return of the Silurians, The Brigadier, Jo Grant and Liz Shaw, and had a nice 'parralel universe' inspiration from the old episode "Inferno", whereby we see familiar UNIT characters but they aren't quite the same people anymore- different experiences in this different reality has changed them. They're more ruthless and fascistic. All symptoms of fear, and as J.A. Froud said, "Fear is the parent of cruelty".
It is a typical Doctor Who fashion where the situation is grim and hopeless, and in many ways before the Doctor’s arrival, there is no hope, no humour or objectivity. As usual it is the Doctor’s presence that inspires the good in people. If he doesn’t they can’t be redeemed. When he first arrives on the scene he does bring humour to the affair, he's the only jolly character and when he laughs he reminds Liz Shaw of her humanity, her ability to feel joy, and of her poetic appreciation for life's irony. Throughout the course of the story he inspires hope of a future of peace and an intelligent view of the big picture. But not instantly. It takes a lot of convincing that the alien outsider’s view of the situation is more valid than the human experienced and cynical view.
The original Silurians episode was a great piece of liberal thinking in Doctor Who with a very balanced viewpoint in its arguments for and against war. Whilst we were encouraged to agree with the Doctor's agenda for peace and his perception of our 'fear culture' whereby we see the aggression of the physically unrecogniseable 'other' but not our own aggression to them, we were reminded that it wasn’t that simple because detante and brinkmanship is very hard to turn off. Essentially the message can be read that right and wrong is not a black and white issue. That the moral thing to do may not be the right thing to do.
The Doctor remains the same man pushing for peace as he was in the Silurians story. In a sense his title of 'Doctor' is most appropriate as he maintains his oath of "do no harm". The Doctor never minds his own business because he knows the universe is a chaotic and corrupt one and needs a hero and not a hero that preaches fighting, empowerment, demonising the enemy and segregating and shunning them and all the things that an afraid and provoked people want to hear, but one, like Ghandi who preaches difficult sainthood. He is a friend to everyone in the universe wehich entitles him as a well meaning friend to scold warmongerers to prevent them from the path of fascistic solutions that will destroy their own souls and collectively settle conflicting races by banging their proverbial heads together.
I personally was surprised that the Doctor condemned the war effort of the Brigadier's soldiers in fighting to preserve the last vestiges of humankind. I've always felt that despite the Doctor's insatiable desire to see peace reign, and his appreciation of all races, he is always on the side of the persecuted minority, and wouldn't begrudge them for making a ruthless fight of it. But instead the Doctor continually protests at the actions of man.
"'Measures are already in hand' Nothing ever changes does it Brigadier! The arrival here of these Silurians has given you a second chance to make peace. And what do you do about it? Talk? Try to negotiate a common ground for understanding? No! That would be much too easy wouldn't it. I don't know why I don't just leave now!"
It seems in-fact that maybe the Doctor doesn't see the real picture of the threat the Silurians represent to human existence in their hatred of the species. It seems the Doctor above all else wants to redeem himself after he failed to save the Silurians in the original timeline, and he is letting this oppurtunity blind him to reality.
Or is he actually the voice of reason after all....
"The cause of war can be determined and a solution devised you know, almost always."
As with the Silurians, the issue of man's aggression is not about pretending that the enemy they are fighting is actually the passive victim either. But their aggression is a mirror for the aggression of the humans, as is their fear. What the Doctor determines however is that certain aspects of hearts and minds are being ignored which could allow for peace and understanding. Namely that both sides recognise each other as savages and animals, inhuman and evil. Only the Doctor recognises them as people and only he sees the reasons behind the violence.
As with "The Silurians" serial, the Brigadier's viewpoint is also strongly valid. In-fact his is a voice which is a lot more passionate and angry and riled than it has ever been in the TV series. He takes responsibility for the survival of the human race and can't take a chance on the Doctor's suggestion of peaceful reproach. He claims continually that he is fighting "for the children" and the Doctor describes the Brigadier's self-burdened position as "Like assuming responsibility for the sea." For him the Doctor's preachings of peace are like pretending the war never took place and is an insult to the memory of the humans who have died in their millions and are still dying and being terrorised and treated like animals by the Silurians.
The Brigadier most certainly isn’t the man the Doctor once knew his spirit is broken. The book describes how the spark in the Brigadier’s eyes was his most defining feature, his humour, his sense of pride, and now that spark has gone. Whether he was the comic relief of the series or the macho “take no sh*t” tough guy, it was hard to imagine him ever being stripped of his pride and stamina. But in this reality he looks like he may crumble at any given moment in a battle because he knows he’s losing, he has no hope, he has lost the loyalty, respect and morale of his fellow soldiers by his actions and ethics and now they walk all over him, and even the Doctor’s condemning words have him doubting his own sense of self. In the series, the Brigadier had only two real moments of hopelessness in “The Web of Fear” and “Inferno”, and even then he never ever cried because he was still too much of a man, but he cries here for his lost cause.
Indeed the novel never lets us forget the war and danger, the ruthlessness of the Silurians as they hunt atop their pet dinosaurs on land and air, the decimation of human civilisation as even the post office tower becomes overrun with tropical plants and trees, memories of the attrocities where entire families were killed. All with perfect narrative strokes of description, often perfectly juxtaposed next to the passages where the Doctor makes his peace speeches. Its smothering imagery of the environment, of stifling heat moistening the skin, of thick and tough leaves obstructing your every path, of the quakeing rumble of dinosaur feet vibrating the ground beneath your feet.
It is quite like "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" in its vast trek across a post apocalyptic world. From Derbyshire to London to Africa, by road and foot, by air on pterodactyls and airships, and even by submarine, our characters strive to make it across vast distances to deliver medical and electrical supplies to the wounded, to deliver nukes to the enemy, or peace deals, or to just stay alive.
Whilst in this case, the effect of seeing our civilisation being devastated is somewhat softened by the way that the greenery hides most of the ugliness and even restores the planet to its natural roots, like a beautiful apocalypse- the new world feels beautiful, thoroughly invigorating to the eyes, exotic and peacefully quiet. Yet the tragedy and threat is real and experienced first hand. We follow the soldier character's viewpoint as he stumbles on an empty suburban home amidst the forest and steps inside and looks at the bodies of the whole family, the parents killed by the disease, the orphaned baby killed by starvation, and he tries to imagine their last moments of terror. The battle scenes between humans and Silurians are far better and more immediate than they ever were in the TV series. We see through a vengeful guerilla fighter as he singlely tackles a Silurian in a pack of warriors armed only with a knife. Rage and sweat pushing him on to fight to the death viciously as the Silurians use their mental powers of telekinesis to kill him with a glare, and he falls, feeling "the daggers enter his mind". And there are battles of strong emotional urgency, which emphasise the realism of battle and the psychological damage it does to someone's soul- such as where Liz Shaw shoots blindly at an approaching Silurian in the dark, and then discovers a dead soldier next to the dead Silurian and doesn't know whether it was her who killed him.
It emphasises brilliantly the character fallibility that Doctor Who often delved into, which made the series a rareity. Where major characters had human frailties and could make mistakes and get innocent people killed or succumb to sin and commit attrocities, or even die themselves and there'd be no resurrection for them, even by time travel (part of the reason the recent American TV movie didn't feel right). The original series of Star Trek had gotten close to this idea of character fallibility with the occasional death of a guest love interest, or the odd moment where Kirk's hunch or moral stance would prove itself to be wrong but never went all the way with the concept, in-fact most science fiction/fantasy shows only began to adopt fallibility to the degree that Doctor who had in the 90's with the likes of Deep Space Nine Babylon 5 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
And the same is true here- some of the series’ most beloved characters will not make it to the end of the story alive this time. Our heroes will be forced to make difficult decisions which will go right through innocent lives. Shocking moments of painful decisions that will really hit hard in some places, and in others will be marred by being too close to the ending and by a lack of first hand confirmation of the consequences. But overall it’s a classic Doctor Who in its blend of action, wilderness atmosphere and adventure, true-to-form characters facing moral dillemas presented fairly, without judgement. It would have been really something to have seen this story as a TV episode. The old team back together, the disquietingly deserted images of our world overran by nature’s warriors, seen in an equatorial haze, rather like "28 Days Later” or even the late Terry Nation’s 1970’s series “The Survivors” and for that matter it would have been more feasible to realise on screen than the more Gibson-esque futuristic cyberpunk novels of the New Adventures series. In any case it should set the standard for the coming new series.
Rating: 4.5 stars
This book is available on order from amazon.com (limited stock)
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Member: Tom
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