The Story So Far Cataclysm Urban Decay So Long Legend Reality Bomb Once Upon A Memory Three Night Engagement '70s Cutaway The Millennium People I The Millennium People II Cutting The Threads The Convocation Nova Mondas Denouement I: Sacrifice Denouement II: Paradox Denouement III: Gift 
|
  
Introduction ‘The Universe hangs by such a delicate thread of coincidence that it’s useless to meddle with it, unless you’re like me: a Time Lord.’ At the heart of Doctor Who lies the magic of time travel and a multitude of dire predicaments which we trust the Doctor to resolve, with justice, perhaps sacrifice, and bonhomie. A tradition unto itself, which nevertheless inspires great debate amongst its fans, for the paradoxes of time travel can only be avoided by suffering healthy dosages of memory loss. Still, it’s great fun. But Time Travel is a tricky proposition, where even the slightest adjustment to a time-line can disrupt the entire fabric of known history. We’ve seen the Doctor and his companions win through often enough to assure us everything will be put right in the end. That is, until Andie Frankham created the ‘Alternative Adventures’. In Season One of Doctor Who: 3a (as this series of alternative adventures has been dubbed), Frankham is assisted by two other writers - the misters Christoph Lopez and Niall Turner - in the mutatis mutandis of all that has been held dear, nay, sacrosanct by fans of established Doctor Who. This is not a series for the faint of heart. Frankham and his staff are obviously dedicated to the show in its original form, but they are also fearless writers willing to embrace some of the hypotheticals fans have probably kept secret in the recesses of their own imaginations, perhaps even willing to embrace the Impossible. For who among us hasn’t played the ‘what if...’ game while watching the televised serials or reading the novels? And I say ‘embrace’ rather than ‘explore’ because... there’s no going back. I do not foresee a slick, last-minute resurrection of the old time-line. And having said this, let me warn you all that Controversy may have its new Champions in the 3a writing team, as we begin with the possibility of sweeping away almost 700 years of our favourite Time Lord’s own history. Brave heart, everyone. This is a new adventure with an old friend - and some old enemies, too - but in a few short pages, nothing will ever be the same, ever again. This is a daunting task that will require great skill and some brilliant storytelling. Whether the writers of this series, or the Doctor himself, will win through this time, is what I’ve been called upon to diagnose. Episode One - Cataclysm written by Andie J. P. Frankham Set at the beginning of the televised serial Spearhead From Space, the Doctor has just regenerated, forced by his fellow Time Lords, and sent to earth to serve his exile. But the Doctor is about to regenerate again. This time, precipitated by a vicious attack from a future incarnation of the Master, who is seeking revenge for his own recent defeat at the hands of the Seventh Doctor and his companion, Ace. But instead of one of Tom Baker’s wild yet infectious grins, an altogether different visage appears. Brian Blessed usurps the role of the alternative (3a) Doctor and departs Earth in his TARDIS just as the Nestene invasion commences. Amidst the chaos of pre-empting another story-line, deftly handling cameos of prerequisite characters (i.e., the Brigadier and Liz Shaw), and invoking a future incarnation of the Doctor whilst in mid-chase, Frankham acknowledges the importance of the Regeneration Scene, and bestows both an internal and an external narrative for the moment. He had felt like this before. Twice. Immense pain surging through the internal organs as his body attempted to heal the wound and reform itself. ...He convulsed in pain again. The bones were expanding in places and constricting in others. And: The Doctor began to change. Not his clothes, but his entire body. It only took a minute, and then there was a new man in the Doctor’s place. He was shorter and bulkier. Where his hair had once been white, it was now brown. The face was the face of a much younger man, with a thick full brown beard. Munro peered at the man closely, unable to really believe what he had just seen happen. Later, Frankham begins defining the new Doctor by his jocundity in both his outlook and appearance: his bellowing laugh, stroking his beard, patting his belly, and looking forward to owning a good appetite. And when he speaks, even to himself, he invariably hits a high number of decibels: good for advising his companions, and for obfuscating truculence in the face of various authority figures. While this incarnation looks to be a gay, robust Doctor, he soon falls in to turmoil, for this Doctor was never meant to be, and his sudden confusion at the end of the episode is at once tangible and piteous. Nevertheless, his brusque, desperate escape into his TARDIS, severing his connexion with the troubles of Earth, just when it needs him most, also dispels some of the trust inherent to this character. A dangerous point of disembarkation. And it is risks like these which make the 3a’s worth reading. For certainly it would have been less controversial had Frankham decided to regenerate the Eighth Doctor as opposed to creating an alternate Third, placing in theoretical danger approximately 700 years the Doctor has lived beyond his second incarnation. Frankham leaves a multitude of signposts to indicate his intention of turning the World of Doctor Who on its head and just what is at stake: Removing the Doctor from his current adventure, altering his first encounter with Liz Shaw, terrorising him with ominous images of the Master, and bringing in the Seventh Doctor and Ace in man hunting mode; all point to the fabric of his time-line becoming rather threadbare. Portentous beginnings. And for a first episode, Frankham sets a pace unencumbered by the myriad of details obviously affected by this change in the Doctor’s course. The various cameos work extremely well to form a farewell party to established Who. Readers and viewers of Doctor Who made disconsolate by the premature death of the original Third Doctor will have scarce time to mourn as the bigger-than-life Blessed takes the reins. The one thing that the premiere would have benefited from is an editor. There’s a redundancy in Frankham’s syntax, and with approximately 3400 words to work with, each one is both noticeable and lamentable. Also, an editor might have caught one or two of the ‘bloopers’, such as when the Master, a fellow-Time Lord, thought a single shot would suffice in permanently dispatching the Doctor, when a moment later, forced to flee his assassination attempt, the Master remarks to himself that ‘it was a good start’. But these are slight blemishes on a rousing new adventure series that should only improve as it matures. And then again... Episode Two - Urban Decay written by Christoph Djaesson Lopez A great title warns of a seedy tale ahead: of housing projects for the lower classes, of uncaring politicians, of communities beset by troubled times, of neighbour against neighbour; but the irony is far more horrific. The title is yet another signpost of the changes undergone in the Universe, and nothing to do with metropolitan squalor. In Portland, OR [America], the Doctor has made an impromptu landing, 30 years proceeding the events of Episode One. And in the midst of a time anomaly, acquires a new companion, Brad DeMars, who plunges in to the TARDIS rather than expire with the city that has been his home. And all the while, something menacing, something plaintive, something called the Dommervoy looms under trees and round corners, a harbinger to the city's unravelling and further alterations to the Time Lines. Episode Two doesn't serve so much as an introduction to the Doctor's new companion. Rather it's an eerie tale featuring the initial encounter betwixt the two, which happens at the end of this story; and by this time, we've only gleamed a few details about Brad DeMars. But for the money, one gets positively sucked into the anomaly just as the city falls to it. And the creation of the Dommervoy stirs the childhood embers of fear so prevalent on the television programme when the spooky monsters made their appearances. A humanoid shape like a semi-collapsed marionette lowered itself from a tree. "Tick Tock," said the plaintive voice of the Dommervoy. Across the lane, another featureless mannequin lowered itself down to a height matching that of its counterpart. "Tick Tock." A tittering sound followed, neither here nor there. But is it enough? Reading the 3a's as abbreviated episodes requires some adjustment. These first two episodes have read and felt more like halves of one-act plays. Humble beginnings are fine: indeed, Doctor Who's first series was quite modest. But it was then followed by an epic tale which won its following. And so, one questions whether all of Season One will represent the 3a's humble origins, and whether this is simply due to creator Andie Frankham's notion that his readers won't choose to stare at their computer screens for any great length of time, even in the cause of an amazing, ripping yarn, or if the writers know only how to serve up hors d-oeuvres rather than a full seven courses. And if the latter, can one hope to ever reach the fish course? Regardless, Urban Decay remains a good atmospheric tale, capturing a bit more of the eeriness of a city being swallowed into nothingness than the 1996 TVM did with its splashy special effects version of the same happening to San Francisco. Again, this is accomplished by the effective use of the Dommervoy by Lopez. Most of the problems are down to the Editor, once more. Minor irritations detract from the story, and could have been reasonably avoided with a careful proofing. The very beginning of the story suffers from the redundant mention that this tale occurs in 2001. In a later scene, the Doctor is winded after walking then bolting down three or four streets; yet Brad notes the Doctor's endurance after having run 15 blocks, near the end of the story. But it is worth mentioning that Lopez makes the mistake of unnecessarily giving the reader the names of too many streets only in one paragraph instead of throughout, while supplying an adequate feel for the city elsewhere. Also handled rather awkwardly is Brad's physical description, which happens twice, almost verbatim. As these episodes were originally published one per week, there was the danger of their not providing enough substance... perhaps sustenance, for the reader remains in a holding pattern, wondering how the earth authorities dealt with the Nestene invasion 30 years earlier without the Doctor. And indeed, the Doctor's character would have benefited from closer scrutiny, as readers were given meagre details in Episode One, which served well enough as an introduction, but nothing is expounded upon here, including Brad's character. Fortunately, with all of Season One's episodes now on-line, readers won't have to endure the wait to see plot and character developed. Unfortunately, creator Andie Frankham has commissioned two stories thus far, both with our valiant hero, the Doctor, coming upon cosmic troubles and... running away. While Urban Decay is an intriguing mood piece, this alternate Doctor is quickly running out of time to prove his worth. "Tick... Tock..." Episode Three - So Long Legend written by Andie J. P. Frankham ‘We are destined for great things, Brad. Great things.’ And along the way, the Doctor and Brad explore a planet whose populace has been infected with a virus, which is changing everyone in to vampires. Or so it appears. The 3a’s first foray in to the horror genre creates a well-balanced vignette, aided by Frankham stealing a few precious moments to focus on the TARDIS crew before the action commences. When speaking of ‘Defining Moments’ - a bit of dialogue or an exchange, a carefully dropped word here, a minor revelation there, a character’s point of view - all bear upon the development essential to understanding and warming up to the protagonists and their environs. This is where Episode Three succeeds marvellously. And this is where it fails miserably. The opening follows on the heels of Episode Two, with a brief yet intimate examination of the interplay betwixt the Doctor and his new companion, Brad. The befuddled Brad awakens in the TARDIS to a request by the Doctor for a hand of Black Jack: probably an attempt by the Doctor to divert a natural tendency in humans to go mad at having witnessed one’s city wink out of existence. And there is much more to distract Brad’s attention, or at least to dilute it, as Brad takes in his new surroundings before heading off for a shower. This serves as a charming interlude for the series, giving their relationship dimension. While engaging Brad in an observation of Portland’s demise, the Doctor finally shows some of that intelligence mixed with patronising remarks; though he doesn’t mean to be offensive. His noting simple things like Brad’s human inability to visualise certain shapes and colours aids in reminding the reader of the Doctor’s alien qualities. Yet, his trying to find focus by playing cards lends him a quaint humanity. Frankham breathes a bit of life in Brad, supplying him with a touch of playfulness, sarcasm, and an underlying wit. Also, there is the residual emotional impact of his friend’s recent death, carried over from Episode Two, and his embarrassment at having fainted, which instils a measure of sensitivity about him. That Brad also played in a band, took drugs, and has mildly punked-up hair, serve as intriguing counterpoints. The most important bit of information about Brad comes from the Doctor when he tells the young man that he should never have existed ‘in that echo of Portland’. Is Brad, therefore, an echo as well? And how long do echoes usually last? Once the horror pastiche begins, Brad’s character wins the reader’s attention with his extremely human, new-to-this time travelling business, reactions. Meanwhile, the Doctor appears pretty cool, fighting off the vampires single-handedly. But this ‘cool’ only helps reduce the Doctor to a hero-stereotype, just as he was beginning to resume his proper status as a Time Lord. Fun, light, somewhat thrilling, the Doctor and Brad’s encounter with the vampires ends with a promise of consequences to follow. The Doctor is a mixed bag in this episode. While the reader becomes acquainted with this fellow here much more than in the previous two outings, not all he learns of the Doctor rings true to the character. The congenial character is present. The intelligent space traveller does his bouncing gimmick to verify the unnamed planet’s gravity. But in the same speech where the Doctor has just given away that he, this alternative version, believes in Destiny, and that he and Brad will be called upon to do great things, apparently none of these concern helping out the Earth in any time soon. “Not to worry... I’m sure we’ll get to the bottom of it one day.” And the “I think it is time the Earth looked after itself for a change, don’t you?” The Doctor winked does nothing to endear the Doctor to any reader who is pro-earthling. What’s more, with the Doctor easily manipulated by one character without his usual curiosity and blatant interference, he resembles something of a dullard. So Long Legend is charming and somewhat exciting for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but disappoints in several important aspects, especially concerning the Doctor's offhanded manner towards assisting those in trouble. Notwithstanding these crudities, the episode wins through its warmth in establishing the Doctor-Brad relationship. Considering this will be the thrust of future episodes, a good start has been made. Episode Four - Reality Bomb written by Niall Turner “We don’t panic in the face of adversity,” announced the Doctor passionately whilst also backing towards the window. “We shall face this thing together, Brad!” The disjointed misadventures of the 3a Doctor continue in this disposable excursion to the planet Ossobos. Writer Niall Turner unwittingly wrests control of the series and provides readers with an amalgamation of all that’s been good in the previous episodes, using a rich, layered talent all his own, making this expendable interlude the most precious gem in the 3a’s treasury thus far. While his predecessors have struggled to find the perfect balance between characterisation and plot, Turner presents a polished jewel whose every facet is nearly flawless. Reality Bomb attempts to up the ante for all as the Doctor and Brad go in search of answers... finally. The reasons for this sudden effort are unexplored by Turner; and as readers have grasped this Doctor’s lackadaisical attitude towards the Time Anomaly, perhaps sparing a sentence or a paragraph to explain this new motivation would not have come amiss, especially considering how much shorter this episode is in relation to the others. One might speculate that the Doctor’s encounter with O [in Episode Three] - the last man on his world who had not succumbed to a vampire virus, and who was determined to find its cure - re-ignited the Time Lord’s sense of urgency, if not duty, that any champion must feel. It is to Turner’s credit that the entire episode has little more than a vapour of a plot yet engages the reader’s interest from the first sentence to the last. The Doctor finds no answers; and what his friend is able to suggest to him, one hopes he would have deduced himself. In between, there’s plenty of corridors, and plenty of ripe dialogue, and a few precious moments either confabulating with informative officials or communing with cultural denizens. It all adds to a sense of reality to Ossobos, and that Turner could supply the reader with another 100,000 words in a fully realised story. Indeed, a plethora of insignificant moments handled deftly by Turner, gives this tale all its incredible appeal. And note the chilling and clever re-appearance of the Dommervoy, as well. But this episode is an unnatural progression from the groundwork laid by Frankham and Lopez. While Turner has all but smoothed out the wrinkles in the portrayal of the Doctor, he has slightly overdone the same with Brad, who now feels more like an old hand when it comes to visiting alien worlds. Brad can still pick the wrong drink, ‘pluck’ the wrong guitar-shaped entity, and be confused by the Doctor’s explanations, but he’s far more engaged in their adventure than before, exuding insouciance now. What’s more, Brad’s nationality appears to have altered: no longer the anachronistic American, he’s become another Peri, spouting phrases like ‘A king among beards’, ‘Glad to be of service’, and ‘...cock up’. Reality Bomb suffers from being too short, not advancing the story, and, indeed, occupying what feels like an alternate time-line in the development of the main characters. Still, long after the reality bomb explodes, the delightful memory of this novel episode’s flow, vigour, and ingenuity won’t be wiped from any reader’s mind. So, Mr Turner might easily be absolved. Episode Five - Once Upon A Memory written by Andie J. P. Frankham ‘I’ve reversed the polarity of the neutron flow.’ A favourite line for the original Third Doctor. And now, it appears, it's a favourite ploy of the alternative Third Doctor. Or, at least, for those who describe his exploits. From the torrents in the first episodes to the trickle in this one, the adventures of the TARDIS crew continue vacillating in an appealing, if ineffectual, manner. This all-too brief instalment almost stands alone; though it better serves as a prologue to what shall follow. In keeping with its title, this episode drapes the reader in a few memories of both the Doctor and Brad, all to a haunting tune, written by the latter, as it echoes throughout the TARDIS. The melody summons up two old friends: the Doctor’s Koschei, and Brad’s Jacen. That both of them are lost to our heroes – one by hate and the other by death - emphasises the aptness of the tune playing in the background, ‘Requiem’. But the Doctor’s memories are of the Future, whilst Brad’s are of the Past. In his, the Doctor gleams his second hint of who is responsible for his latest regeneration, and possibly for the Time Anomaly, as well. It is his old friend Koschei. But his memories of Koschei paint a distressing picture for the Doctor, prompting him to go in search of his transformed friend. Meanwhile, Bradley struggles to lay to rest his grief over losing his best friend Jacen. Brad’s strong affection for Jacen suggests a deeper love than one might have previously suspected, revealing something deeply personal in the Doctor’s new companion. And that’s it. This was an experiment worth trying, certainly. Though the feeling of reading an old high school Creative Writing assignment, or a soppy journal entry, does linger, nevertheless it’s a pleasurable experience: some of those papers were quite good. Frankham delivers several well-turned phrases for Brad’s part, and leaves the Doctor to fill the role of reminding the reader – slightly – of exposition. The 3a adventures have already introduced the main characters and thrown readers into a cataclysmic problem, while providing a couple of tangential escapades. With the forward movement gained by Turner’s previous episode, that momentum recoils upon itself when characters meander through these scenes of rumination. Little is gained here that could have been better used elsewhere. Frankham’s gift for pathos should have been revealed in layers, and not in this ‘showcase’ fashion. Even he falls into the trap of using a common script direction, best left to daytime serials: ‘A single tear fell from Brad’s eye and hit the keyboard.’ The greatest contribution to these Alternate Adventures here is the undiscovered sexuality of Brad’s character, heretofore left uncharted. The possibility of Brad DeMars usurping Adric’s claim to being the first gay character appears to be in the offing. The end result is something sentimental, not too maudlin, and yet rather underdone - for it feels as if one is marching in place. But, again, the last sentence in this story bridges into the next episode. Episode Six - Three Night Engagement written by Christoph Djaesson Lopez Ignit Natura Renovatur Integra. Knowing what to expect in this episode from Frankham’s prior snippet, Lopez doesn’t disappoint as he expounds upon those themes. From the suitably sophomoric antics of the band to the description of their performance, from the re-appearance of the Seventh Doctor and Ace to the optic effect the Dommervoys’ presence have on a homeless man, and from the confirmed revelation of Brad’s love to his unfortunate hope for a ‘different’ ending, this non-adventure wins by supplying a context, an honest enough framework for developing characterisation. Still, this is another avoidable segue which benefits enormously from the usage of the Seventh Doctor and Ace. In fact, that may be the only thing keeping this entry from inheriting the title of Ineffectual Clap-trap. The experiment continues. Lopez supplies nuggets of clever prose here and there, but makes a few questionable choices along the way. Brevity continues to be the byword in these alternate tales, so the list of non-primary characters receives their minor traits. And yet, Lopez carefully eschews what could have been a standard non-descript appearance of the Dommervoy by showing readers another disturbing side-effect of their presence. The bad and the good. While perhaps an indulgence, nevertheless the employment of lyrics from the band’s songs works in transporting the reader to a real performance. The pace is slowed, enabling one to think of these characters as bona fide, band members who have taken the time to develop lyrics long before this engagement. But some of this space might have been given to a weaker spot in the narration. Brad’s abbreviated description of Jacen’s failing health abruptly disengages the reader from the organic progression of Brad’s cohesive memories. The good and the bad. And while Lopez maintains a level of terror in conjuring up the Dommervoy once more, their cameos risk the danger of becoming either Dali-esque or simply exasperating. It’s early days, yet. But the clinch pin remains the attendance of the Seventh Doctor and Ace, two detecting sentinels of the epic catastrophe the Time Anomaly promises to deliver. Even this slight reminder, written with panache, prevents the original focus of these adventures from being extirpated from the reader’s own memory. Not a bad idea. The stakes at risk seem to rise and fall with every successive episode: a rhythm apt for aerobics but pre-emptive for good story-telling and drama. What is needed is a marriage between the Frankham/Lopez characterisations and Turner’s plotting technique. For this fire looks to burn itself out without regenerating anything if more fuel isn’t found soon. Episode Seven - '70s Cutaway written by Niall Turner Tales quartered in the realm of time travel might benefit from other outrageous conventions, such as non-linear narratives. It takes a clear and clever mind to shore up seemingly disjointed though ultimately cohering strands of the plot(s) by the finale, while at the same time performing a certain amount of legerdemain along the way in order to blur the focus of the story, just enough to keep the reader intrigued and yet not utterly baffled. And here, Mr Turner, once again, provides a qualified success. Turner begins this episode in the middle of its story. The scene focuses on an unknown client visiting a medical doctor in 1975 England, hoping to secure the means by which to stay awake. By the end of the scene, the reader has learnt that the agitated young man is Brad DeMars. A couple of days have passed since DeMars approached the Doctor in the TARDIS, ready to ask for his help in preventing the death of his closest friend, but something else had gone suddenly and dangerously wrong. Hounded by a pair of Construct bounty hunters, the Doctor had left DeMars behind while he tried to put the baddies ‘off the scent’. But it doesn’t take long for the two cleverly disguised bounty hunters to catch up with DeMars, and the chase ensues. With the return of the Doctor – in the nick of time, of course – DeMars’s chances for survival increase (although it is the sleep-deprived DeMars who manages to take the upper hand with one of his assailants). The bounty hunters’ threat remains, dodged this once perhaps, but the Doctor and DeMars find a moment for reflection. Turner’s ability to set a scene, to establish characters (both major and minor), to create some dazzling mental special effects, and to develop an arc of tension is not in dispute here. Not as such. This is a solid piece of writing, as far as it goes, supplying a new twist to the adventure at hand and featuring a substantial tie-in to previously established characterisations without negating their existence: something Turner failed to do in his debut story. Beginning his episode with a slight mystery, Turner exposes the reader to the very human behaviour of a desperate DeMars, maintaining a connexion with the motif laid out by the last two entries, in which readers were shown the TARDIS crew’s inner turmoil. From there, one is lead to another scene of apparent normalcy that erupts into a squally sci-fi chase sequence, a wonderful jumble of futuristic gadgetry amidst the mid-1970’s backdrop. This is also where the problems begin. In the course of a writer’s life, one comes across a seemingly endless whirl of ideas. These seep into the waters of one’s subconscious, the occasional jetsam finding its way into an author’s work; or worse, the trove of flotsam incorporated deliberately into the same. It may depend on if one believes Shakespeare’s assumption that there is no new thing under the sun. Certainly, inspiration can be from external as well as internal sources. It is then the job of the author to create something personal, even if it isn’t new, for that is his art: to procreate. However, it is rarely his job to re-create. Turner walks a tightrope, here. His subconscious has scooped up an unhealthy share from the tide pools of pop culture. There are the bounty hunters pursuing DeMars on a pair of flying skateboard thingummies, reminiscent of Back to the Future Part II; the revolving [360?, not 180?] RoverTARDIS, conjuring up the final sequence on Canal St from the series Queer as Folk; the globules of static dripping from the TARDIS’ monitor, like a scene from Scanners; and even the urchin, who might be another Faction Paradox-reproduction of the gamin from Unnatural History: all make cameos in this episode. But, just as the many pieces of inspiration that went into the film The Matrix, it works here, too, all of it. Turner’s style is still his own, imbuing this stone soup with a wonderful and cathartic flavour. He addresses DeMars’s grief issues, but only after the reader gets to see, and admire, the young man in action, involving the reader personally in this resolution. Meanwhile, new villains, the Construct bounty hunters, join the fray, adding excitement to the terror already provided by the Dommervoy. Nicely done. The one thing that remains at loggerheads with established Doctor Who – aside, that is, from a complete absence of consequences from the Nestene invasion – is the Doctor’s character. Not his personality, per se, as each episode reveals certain behaviourisms, but the man’s character, his soul, which still feels very much in limbo, not currently existing within these new adventures, missing, altogether. It is only by remembering who the Doctor has been and who he should/shall become that one may evoke empathy for the character; but taken strictly as he is presented alternatively here, the man does not amount to much, human or alien. This eventually hampers any deductive assessment from the hero’s actions, such as his using DeMars as a decoy or his being excited by all the danger, keeping him two-dimensional at best. This adventure remains a fun read, derivative or not, as Turner soars in his witty dialogue and smooth narrative, spreading his wings for an adventurous chase sequence, and wrapping it up with a poignant moment between the heroes. The halfway mark in the First Season has now been reached, but the Alternative Adventures are just getting started. Episode Eight - The Millennium People I written by Chrsitoph Lopez The Master was crouched in a peculiar posture at the control console of his TARDIS. ‘I failed to kill you outright in England. I will kill you for all time on Forum.’ The second half of Season One begins on the world known as Forum, where a gestalt entity has formed its existence through the many embodied representations of its being. The story returns to the original theme of this series, providing a new route towards explaining the consequences of the Doctor’s – and, indeed, that of the Universe – derailed time-line. Back in the mix is the Master; and sending the TARDIS crew on their perilous mission towards their Destiny, is the White Guardian. This is a heady cocktail, which may need to be both shaken and stirred to release its full potential. Unfortunately, each ingredient overwhelms the narrative’s whimsical style, resulting in inefficacious drivel and leading the reader from one false start to another. The opening scene is beautiful, lending a feel of something vast… yet still in a garden: the micro- and macrocosms of Essence; of Life; of Work; of Play; of Understanding; of Slug Traps. The prose is too direct, but these are abbreviations one accepts for the promise they make – which, ultimately, fail to be rendered. Soon, it is apparent that self-indulgence will take precedence over plot and style and theme and characterisation and…. This is an immense stage, requiring great skill and patience in either heightening the tension or punching up the humour, and drawing attention to these aspects deftly rather than in this variety or burlesque fashion. Furthermore, the vapid asides in the narrative hamper this episode’s credibility. Is the reader supposed to be taking any of this seriously? Pity, because again there are moments when one can just make out the pearls from under the tonnage of grit. The Forum Boss’ non-confrontational confrontation with the Master (with the witty refrain ‘What was it about paradox that the natural universe found seemingly so... unsanctified?’); the alluded inner-interaction among/amidst the Forum Entity; the revelation of the Master’s past identity, which raises questions about his past personas and almost makes this a multiple-Master story; and the re-appearance of the White Guardian: are moments that should have been sublimated and destined for the Archives. But each and every opportunity here is squandered. As fascinating as this congeneric multiplicity would be to explore, Lopez hasn’t the space/doesn’t take the time to make it very interesting. Better to have avoided the convoluted references to the gestalt’s self-defined hierarchy and rather make the reader extrapolate this existence through well-crafted scenes displaying innate cognisance and foreknowledge betwixt characters. But there are enough examples to question whether this dichotomy of being actually exists. Instead, the reader is [mis-] treated to irrelevant cameo appearances of fellow-posters from Frankham’s The Millennium People Forum, which serves only to annoy those readers thinking that every character and characteristic is important to the story. Who believes that the Master would be interested in the Boss’s vintage record collection, or that they both like Janet Jackson? And why would anyone care? The regulars suffer in their characterisations as well. For some unqualified reason, six months have passed since the TARDIS crew’s run in with the Construct Bounty Hunters from the last episode, and the relationship between the Doctor and DeMars has been redefined. Now, DeMars is ‘his young, unwilling protégé’. How and when did DeMars become ‘unwilling’? From the moment that DeMars pounded on the TARDIS doors for the Doctor to rescue him from the Time Anomaly, readers have watched him adapt and grow out of necessity as a decent travelling companion for this Doctor. Now, Lopez yanks the carpet from under his own creation, impugning this Doctor-Companion relationship. This may have been an ill-chosen word, because nothing else in the story suggests that DeMars wants out. He even sounds delighted when he mistakenly assumes the Doctor is suggesting a libation in some pub. Still, the Doctor’s tone is too patronising, lacking the warmth one might expect after the tender conclusion from Turner’s last story. The dialogue is another problem. DeMar’s is the only voice which stands out. Unfortunately, both his voice and his thoughts do not echo what the reader has gleaned from previous examination. But for the familiar snide remarks, one is left to suppose that various experiences over the past missing six months must account for his acerbic outbursts when introduced to the White Guardian. Also, whether or not this was an intentional and suggestive comparison between the two, Lopez uses a similar intonation for both the White Guardian and the Master: ‘Doctor, attend to my message’ versus ‘I am the Master and you will attend to my wishes’. Meanwhile, the interplay amongst the Forum sub-entities is strained and flat, reaching neither tongue-in-cheek nor mystical quality, with the possible exception of The Bloke. Overall, this episode contains all of the elements for, possibly, the most intriguing plot development to date. And this may be the problem: there are too many elements here and too much space wasted on the frivolous. A transdimensional writing style – ‘less is more’ in this scenario – might have worked with a few revisions, as Lopez has displayed some talent in creating verisimilitude in more intimate moments. That it must carry the weight of so much unfulfilled potential, sadly dooms this outing. Still, readers may hope for a try yet, as the second part to this episode rests in the hands of the creator of the series. Episode Nine - The Millennium People II written by Andie Frankham “You mean this false universe will continue on? Destroying every last bit of the real universe? Thereby making this the real universe.” “Yes, Doctor. That is it exactly.” The Forum World and the Forum entity get another chance to be part of the story, with just as much whimsy and complexity, if not more, than the preceding story, but with one major difference. The gestalt entity known as the Forum is now aware that there is an alien influence present. It is the Master, who was ‘joined’ with the Boss during a planar shift. The TARDIS crew arrives on Forum World, as sent by the White Guardian, to learn from the Forum how to reverse the effects of the Time Anomaly created by the Master. In the process, DeMars gets an earful, which casts an unshakable pall on him. The plot conveys a lot of information, but does so at an engaging tempo, building the intensity towards a surprising climax. This is the true heir to the series’ premier, leaving one wondering why this didn’t appear as episode three in the first place. Even as the second part of a two-part episode, Frankham’s story could have stood quite well on its own, perhaps with the addition of two or three masterful sentences to flesh out the important bits from the preceding episode, and given this series some much-needed direction and scope. As the past eight months have failed to bring much of anything that could be misconstrued as ‘alternative’, here readers have it in spades in nail-biting, jaw-dropping, forehead-slapping drama. Frankham can be forgiven substituting the ‘big-hair’ character with a ‘big-hands’ character. He can be forgiven for the pachydermatous excrement humour. He can be forgiven putting ‘ing’ at the end of the word ‘effect’. He can even be forgiven for the use of the ‘(?!)’ punctuation in one tainted sentence. He may be forgiven these things because what he delivers is the long-sought-after portal, through which one can finally expect to encounter the unexpected. Something happens to the Master (actually, several things happen to the Master ‘severally’), bringing most of his character to a conclusion, but giving unblemished Koschei another possible existence when he escapes through the interstitial vortex. What happened to DeMars back in Portland is explained in part, but adds deliciously to his paradox. The Dommervoy return in fighting form. The Universe begins to unravel. And the Doctor finally sets out on the important task that has, up till now, almost completely failed to capture his attention or interest. DeMars remains the most interesting character in the series, being given the best and worst lines: Brad walked through them and smiled at the Faceless One. “Hi. Hey, you know what they say about big hands.” Brad shook his head. “Excuse me? I am supposed to be dead, and now my future is very dark?” … eschewing the number of times he says ‘shit’, of course. DeMars receives the most startling, and convoluted, character-plot development. Meanwhile, the Doctor remains the least-developed character, lacking sophistication (putting his foot in the excremental joke), ingenuity (‘What are you doing here?’, ‘I do not know. I was told by the White Guardian to come here.’), and sans eccentricities (unless one counts playing solitaire). With the stakes finally in plain view, an epic mission to locate the Ultimate Paradox, and a troubled companion, the series gets its second wind. And not before time. Episode Ten - Cutting the Threads written by Niall Turner “What will you do?” asked the blond Doctor. “What we always do,” grinned the bearded man, “Find a way.” The blond man smiled. “No surrender, eh?” “No surrender.” Mr Turner’s stories seem to approach their central plots, the adventures, from the side, as it were, never head on. But when the core-adventure is engaged, the reader feels both a jolt and the natural progression of the story-line. Here, again, Turner makes good on the promise of excursions into paradox, employing the technique and style that have made him such a joy to read. Beginning with another seemingly unrelated soiree of characters and setting, the reader is moved quickly and with a fierce jerk from the drunken vapours filling the air at the Univision Song Contest, which is being held at some intergalactic dive, and into ‘the smell of death’ in a rather familiar warehouse on Earth. A confrontation with an altered future awaits the Doctor, the murkiness of the Time Anomaly finally manifesting itself in one intimate and spectacularly devastating revelation. Amidst exposition, dangers and tragic ends abound. And just when things can’t become bleaker, the Doctor’s darkest hour presents him with a harsh glimmer of hope. The amount of charm found in the prose of this rather hostile outing for the Doctor raises Turner’s work from mere novelty to admirable craftsmanship, as not a single string snaps under the potential strain, and he is able to carry through with first-rate characterisation and plot development. Not only is this episode exciting and astonishing, giving weight to the consequences of the original Time Anomaly (which, aside from the interim regeneration of the Third Doctor, have remained scant, not to say, unnoticeable, vacant, minimalised, forgotten, etc.), but it’s told with beguiling wit, conveying horrors and depth, which are, in some cases, only alluded to. This episode is an experience, if only for the surreal appearance of philosophical Daleks. As Editor and Creator of this series, Frankham made the decision to capture the interest of Who readers with a few non-essential adventures before thrusting the Doctor into the perils caused by his own precipitate regeneration. Unfortunately, the new Doctor has been the least interesting creation of the series, a somewhat insignificant impetus and nothing more. Even in this exceptional episode, the 3.a Doctor barely escapes a bathetic label, mostly observing than either acting or reacting. When the Doctor playfully hands a piece of string to a patron at the pub with a gentle touch of foreknowledge; when he first admits to and then decries the correlation between him and his future self; and later, when he begins to see the path to diverting further disaster: a solid look at what Frankham always intended his creation to be asserts itself. The good writing found in certain other episodes could not conceal the lack of any ‘alternative’ direction to Doctor Who, the longest-running science-fantasy, until the previous episode. This is the perfect follow-up. Indeed, it could have been the perfect follow-up as Episode Three or Four. To make readers wait this long for what amounts to as the natural evolution of the 3.a Doctor’s story line could be unforgivable, if it weren’t for such gripping developments in these last two episodes. If one takes the established history of the Doctor to hearts, then this episode will be traumatic. At the end of it all, a reader may come away with more than just a tremendously rewarding read. He may very well be exhausted with the personal drama that unfolds. He may also think that he’s seen The Future, a very Different Future. Two Doctors. Two male companions. One tragic ending. Or will it be two…? Episode Eleven - The Convocation written by Christoph Lopez ‘All good things come to a bend.’ -The Seventh Doctor [Time & The Rani] Eight months have passed since Brad DeMars had his car accident and then joined the Doctor, fleeing Portland, Oregon in the midst of its dissolution, caused by the Time Anomaly. The city appears to be in the eye of the anomaly, occasionally feeling the rapacious tendrils of the Dommervoy Loci, who feed off the stemming paradoxes. Meanwhile, DeMars thinks to take the opportunity to return to his normal life in this oscillating town, and leave the Doctor. Mr Lopez can write. He’s imaginative. He can bring to boil those intimate moments among friends or enemies. He can create intense excitement. But he does none of that here. Readers are re-introduced to one of the surviving members of DeMars’s band, Tobias, an assistant manager by day of a chic light fixture shop. This set up is promising, especially as Tobias leaves the premises just as the TARDIS arrives. The conclusion that DeMars will witness some tragedy involving yet another one of his friends is aborted when Tobias is absorbed quietly by the ubiquitous reality pesticide that is the Dommervoy. Missed opportunities abound. Later, Lopez writes, as he did in the splendid Three Night Engagement, of yet another homeless person losing his sight as a Dommervoy passes. Why couldn’t this blindness have happened to Tobias? Or, indeed, why couldn’t this blindness happen to DeMars or even to the Doctor himself? With DeMars blind, it might have at least made the chainsaw duel more interesting. But DeMars never even bumps into his old friend; Tobias is despatched forthwith. There is a scene at the end of this episode when ‘Each one of them looked awfully distraught. All across the somewhat diminished Portland [isn’t that gripping?] the vortices continued to open…’ DeMars escapes from Portland with the Doctor once again. Couldn’t DeMars have looked back to see the horror on Tobias’s face? Something. Anything, to reconnect these two. Returning to Portland to see it being destroyed… some more. Well, why not? Televised Doctor Who did destroy Atlantis two or four times. But the Doctor is annoyed with not being able to steer the TARDIS to some place other than Earth, when readers were recently told that the TARDIS would be following the Paradox Tracker. The Doctor knows that DeMars’s existence and the ‘destruction’ of Portland are part of the Paradox. Logically, the tracker would lead them back there. QED. After all DeMars has seen, after spending eight months with the Doctor and knowing how real this Anomaly is, seeing its effects firsthand, readers are asked to believe that he thinks he can easily return to his old life. We’ve seen DeMars’s intelligence: Lopez introduced his higher education and raised him above a mere hashish-smoking guitar player; yet now we’re asked to accept his line of reasoning. Yes, it’s an emotional decision, but we’ve seen DeMars work through his emotions before: e.g., his understanding that the Doctor could not bring Jacen back from the dead. DeMars’s desire to leave the Doctor remains an unsatisfying and unbelievable plot device, a mystery hidden in the 6-month void at the halfway point of this season. Is this an attempt to stir up a visceral dimension in the Doctor-companion relationship? Is this necessary? For in the end, it simply stirs up apathy in the reader. The Dommervoy Loci. This was a marvellous idea. Tragically, Lopez gives them so much screen time in which they appear far from the menace they have been in past episodes, that one can almost mark the exact moment when this unsettling creation loses its edge. In search of a rhythm, the mix of humour, standard lethal hi-jinks, and philosophy becomes a cacophony able to drown out the wheezing sound of the TARDIS arriving. The only interesting Dommervoy bit comes in the rather clunky description of Terminus: From where Brad stood, Terminus looked no more than a great outcropping of what looked like badly weathered granite. Or maybe basalt. No, not stone at all. It's surface slid about itself like oil and the colours... A duel fought with a pair of chainsaws. First of all, a warning should have been issued at the beginning of this episode that it may not be suitable for young readers due to ‘chainsaw violence’… and then a similar warning given to adults. Readers will find no foreshadowing of this fight, no mention of chainsaws, no mention of a basement. In the first scene, Tobias goes through and secures the shop for the night. Perfect time to mention basements and chainsaws. Instead, we’re told that this is a very expensive establishment in a chic little avenue in the city. One has trouble conjuring up the image of such a light fixture shop keeping two chainsaws in its basement. And once the pandemonium commences, the Doctor remains in his TARDIS and leaves DeMars to do battle – alone – in an inferno, and to escape. Lopez’s problem isn’t an inability to write well - he can. But this time, his story fumbles with structure, sometimes with his prose and characterization, but mostly with building towards a believable crescendo, and not mucking about with indecipherable, unimportant and unconnected incidents. Episode Twelve - Nova Mondas written by Andie Frankham Standing before him was just one of the thousands of Cyber Factories. And just like all the others, this one was huge. Even the Grand Canyon would be dwarfed by the silver building. Mr Frankham moves us towards the ultimate abyss: Change. This has been his purpose all along - though one might have had trouble remembering it during certain episodes – and now something massive looms ahead. First, there was the Master. Then, the Daleks made an appearance. And now, the Cybermen infuse these alternate adventures with their classic menacing staccato. Frankham gives them a sinister edge by endowing them with validium, with which they’ll create Cybermorphs, the ultimate power in the universe. Frankham’s brutal imagery of torture and transmutation restores the Cyber-race to their proper rank of Malignant Villainous Bastards. Discovering that they have somehow conquered Earth and seeded it with thousands of their Cyber Factories, at the time when the effects of the Time Anomaly are finally stabilising, flags the reader that he has just entered the Last Lap. The Change, the alterations, are almost complete, and the possibility of the Doctor succeeding in re-establishing the original time-line is about to be nullified. Permanently. The consequences of this episode are heartbreaking, building upon themes of personal tragedy as experienced in Cutting the Threads. Much is explained here, as the Doctor meets up with the Bloke from Forum, and DeMars encounters both the Scholar and the Dommervoy. And new questions arise, feeding into the occasionally epic-feel of this series. DeMars appears to absorb some of the Scholar’s diminishing godhood. Later, his enhanced corpse is devoured by the paradox-hungry Dommervoy. Meanwhile, the injured Bloke joins the peripatetic Doctor, becoming more human by the minute as the New Reality stabilises. But if the Forum have lost their Time Lord status, certainly that means that the Doctor is twice removed from his. What effect will this have on his ability to time travel? As exciting as this outing is, Frankham impedes its velocity with a few crags in his writing. There are several minor yet irritating and awkward moments in Frankham’s narrative. First, for some reason he has programmed his readers to identify the DeMars character most notably by his penchant for excremental oaths. Then there’s the matter of dubious grammar and canned dramatic choices: And now? Here he was on some distant planet years from his home, and he could not escape the feeling that he was being “outted” again - only this time it was magnified in a major way. If only he knew what it was. If only we knew why he was feeling this way… and whilst walking into great peril. But then, in the next paragraph, we’re treated to more of DeMars whingeing on about how great the Doctor was in the beginning of their relationship, but how some rift or other has alienated him now. DeMars goes so far as to suspect some perfidy on the Doctor’s part. But we haven’t read anywhere that DeMars actually confided in the Doctor what he had learnt from the Forum about his ‘existence’. And while the last time we saw the Doctor and DeMars sharing an intimate moment was immediately after he had used Brad as a decoy for a pair of Construct Bounty Hunters, they had, in fact, consoled one another, been there for each other, and talked long into the night. But again, this Doctor-Companion relationship has never been well-defined, and what DeMars is feeling towards the Doctor is perhaps suitable for readers to feel towards the writers of this series. In the end, the adventure and plot development succeed, while the personal dramas fall a little short. With one or two more revisions, Frankham could have nailed this one, because the scope was there, and as we head into the ‘denouement’, a stronger connexion with the main characters is mandatory. Otherwise, why would one consider reading Season Two? We’ve been given some good stories, some good writing, some great moments. What is still missing is a sense of completion, thoroughness. But there are three more episodes to go, so we might get lucky. Episode Thirteen - Denouement I: Sacrifice written by Niall Turner If there’s anything in this episode to complain about, it is probably the wildly inaccurate banner title. This is no ‘denouement’, taken in whatever context. I am tempted to go on for the length of this review - using Abrams’s Glossary of Literary Terms, Fowler’s Modern English Usage, the OED’s Dictionary & Usage, an essay by Hemingway, and a protractor and some rudimentary knowledge of geometry - to explain how this instalment fails to meet the requisite criteria applied to the conclusions of stories. However, someone might disagree with me and prove me wrong with a mere opinion on the matter, so I shan’t. Mr Turner’s episodes are so irritatingly enjoyable for their pure energy, imagination, prose style and rhythm, that it behoves me to praise the writer when that’s precisely what a critic, any critic, is loath to do. What critic is keen on being… uhmmm, behoved to present accolades after taking all those courses at Critic’s University in spouting malicious effluvium? Those doctorates aren’t cheap to come by, you know! Makes one consider not paying back all of those government loans that subsidise scholarships for telly and literary critics. Heigh ho. Let’s see if I can apply my craft as expertly as Mr Turner applies his. “Things have already changed too much.” “This isn’t a joke.” Kade’s tone was quiet. “The boy’s power may have grown since Anotyne and Bartholomew encountered them,” added Orestes. With the recent loss of DeMars, the Doctor and the Bloke land on Ossobos [read Reality Bomb], rather illegally backtracking through Time, where they might finally gain some helpful assistance from Professor Capricornn, renowned somethingorother. Unfortunately – again – the Construct Bounty Hunters and their employers arrive to thwart the Doctor and the Bloke. Thwart them to death, in fact; and they don’t much care how many other innocents are lost in the doing of it. Aboard the Sky Rail, the TARIDS meet an Ossobosian mother and child, who are out looking for a better existence… and that’s just before the Baddies launch their attack. There’s some intriguing stuff amidst this tale. From the beginning, one may notice how similar the Bloke is, in character, to the recently departed DeMars. Even more interesting is how the villains discuss the Bloke as if he is the same as ‘the boy’ DeMars. There is also the set up for the entrance of a new character, the child Falex. Finally, there is the ultimate sacrifice a friend makes in order to save the Doctor, the Bloke, Falex, the passengers on the Sky Rail, and most of the planet’s inhabitants. Throw in another Reality Bomb ticking its way towards detonation, and we have a loud bang to start the new season. Oh, right. This is the denouement. Funny how it feels like just another adventure. Mr Turner continues to handle his plot and characters with the same admirable finesse we have come to expect from him; albeit he performs a bit of Frankhamism with the joke about ‘size’. There are two intimate tales coalescing with the action-adventure portion, lending this episode the feeling of Destiny, or some other such profound contrivance. Nothing here ends without the severest ramifications, and Turner leads us through the tumult, capturing close-ups of our heroes facing moral and physical dangers. The final moments paint an honest denouement of their own, and readers may come away with more of that ever-increasing connexion with these characters. Again, one of the most interesting features of this piece is the fluid installation of the Bloke as the Doctor’s newest companion. While deliberately drawn to some differences ‘twixt the two characters, readers may get the sense that our dearly-departed Brad DeMars is simply being jumpstarted in the guise of the Bloke, given the same cadence in speech and reactions, which are very unlike what one would expect from an ex-Forumite. Still, time will tell… Episode Fourteen - Denouement II: Paradox written by Niall Turner & Andie Frankham Again, that sense of walking down the street, a beautiful day, some nifty items displayed in the windows of a row of charming shops, utterly unaware of the devastating sight awaiting you once you’ve turned the corner at the end of the block. Again, one steps closer to what feels like an inexorable climax rather than proceeding through a lengthy denouement. However, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings featured a denouement, which practically took up half of the final book in the trilogy. Nevertheless, quibbling over whether a denouement can feature such a stupendous cliff-hanger doesn’t detract from the fact that this episode is one fabulous, monumental, heart-stopping piece of story-telling. I’ve often wondered where the bowel movements were in fiction. Now, thanks to the Misters Turner and Frankham, I shall never ruminate on the topic ever again. Once is quite enough, even if these writers avoided vulgarity. Still, it is used here making the continued ‘re-stabilising’ of the character of the Bloke, who was once of the god-like Forum but is becoming more and more human. Also signifying this transmutation is the Bloke’s actions. He pushes Falex gently away, and one gets the feeling that, having gone through the recent lethal scrum with Martura, there is a connexion, a bond between the Bloke and the infant: one that the Bloke cannot quite understand yet, and is therefore slightly uncomfortable with their physical contact. A plethora of these little moments gives added verisimilitude throughout this episode, including the well-timed reminders of the presence of Falex, bringing every scene to life. The characters exist and react plausibly as they pass through cleverly rendered otherworldliness, complemented by pithy dialogue and descriptive narration. From the Bloke’s grumbling about there being no view port on one ship to the brief hesitation, he has as his mind races to come up with a solution before his old friend destroys everything and everyone, readers will feel they are standing within the walls of this story, side by side with our heroes. This story is not without its tiny imperfections. While this new Bloke character has come off as rather sarcastic from the start, the Doctor admonishes him: Then we approach an interesting scene between the Bad Guys from the last episode and our heroes, a sort of mini-denouement unto itself. It is extremely amusing but ultimately unbelievable and unsatisfying. Though the surviving two blame the recently despatched third of their company for all of the slaughter, they still come across as malignant creatures, but somehow defanged, now almost ridiculous. Not the tidiest resolution, but certainly a humorous one. As this Alternative Third Doctor and the Bloke march towards their Fate, others are drawn into this brittle web of dissolution. The Seventh and Eighth Doctors, Ace, and even the White Guardian avec The Key to Time, are present for the final torrent of chaos. What follows is unprecedented, and will have readers spellbound. While these adventures have all but promised this from the first two episodes, readers may have forgotten just how much was at stake in our universe, considering there were times when it appeared the writers had forgotten as well. This is a marvellous episode, regardless of its flaws. It has a lot of heart… at least six of them belonging to the Doctor. Moreover, the cliff-hanger is wonderfully dramatic. This one’s worth several reads as the Messrs Frankham and Turner prove to be a strong, inventive writing team, leaving little doubt what is at stake: And across the gulf of time and space, through the miniscule threads that bound one reality to another, they came en masse. Awesome stuff. Episode Fifteen - Denouement III: Gift written by Andie Frankham This is the official wrap-up episode of the season. Almost everything we’ve experienced in this new series is explained. It’s a lot to ask of a single episode, and much here makes some sort of fragmented sense, but the deluge puerile angst hardly conveys a sense of closure. Our guides are a Brad-combo-deluxe and a guilt-ridden, whimpering Doctor, who give us a tour through alternate time-lines, living theories of chaos and order, and profiles from the files of Dommervoy, Inc. Getting answers is always so tantalising that one is liable to overlook certain inadequacies. Here it becomes arduous to distinguish disappointing plot points from the poetry of the words used to spout such drivel. The tantalising bits first. We come to see Brad and the Bloke in a new light. We learn just who the Dommervoy are. We understand their role in this universe, brought into existence, remember, by the evil and cowardly actions of the Master. We see almost all of the dots connected, thus defining the New Universe. Yes, things have irreparably altered, and now stabilised, once and for all. So, Mr Frankham has fulfilled his promise in that respect, in that there would be no going back. He has re-written Doctor Who history. Praise him or curse him, as you will. There is certainly a wealth of disturbing revelations, nicely penned in shades of the macabre: e.g., Brad stroked the dead Brad’s face and shook his own head. “No, Doc, you couldn’t. No matter how you played it I would have died.’ This and a few other scenes make the episode worth the read. Mr Frankham has a flare for the grotesque. This includes an intriguing re-hash of the events on Nova Mondas in 2101, when the Scholar became part of the Cyber-race. Though not necessarily intended, there is something in the structure of this episode akin to Mr Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, and it works well, for the most part. The Doctor becomes self-aware of his current personality flaws. This leads him to question the effects his existence has on others: Thus begin the disappointing bits. Of course, this depends on how well this alternate Doctor has been defined in the eyes of each reader. An honest argument can be made that this Doctor showed little genuine interest in Brad. The behaviour could be blamed on the circumstances surrounding his precipitate alter-regeneration. But such a horrendously defeatist’s line like Winner of Egregious Speech Award, however, goes to Brad DeMars. His insupportable declaration of Gay Pride in the form of seeing the need to come out of the TARDIS-Closet by discontinuing his travels with the Doctor is absurd and disingenuous. There have been plenty of missed opportunities to explore Brad’s sexuality – or at least mention it from time to time - but no such commitment was made beyond slapping a pink triangular sticker on his bio folder. So making it a central point in his character wrap-up now, and its having the effect of liberating much of the Doctor’s guilt, is the result of some poor planning. Oh, how this scene could have been so powerful… had this subject matter been taken seriously at ANY point along the way. Now, the end. But I tell you what… despite the lackadaisical ‘I’m OK, You’re OK’ reunion between the Doctor and the Bloke, there is an unmistakable trace of giant happenings afoot. As if all of the rubbish has been dust binned, and now the real adventures can begin, unhampered by theories on Relative Time. With a cameo by Ace (who has lost her memory, apparently), stranded on Alpha Centauria, sans TARDIS, the new Doctor and the new Bloke, along with Falex, look to make their way in this strange and wonderful New Universe.
|