| 42 by Chris Chibnall |
| Story 28 Synopsis: The TARDIS lands on the SS Pentallian, which is 42 minutes away from falling into a sun. The Doctor tries to help, but the engines have been sabotaged, and a killer is on the loose - a crew member whose body has been mutated by the effects of the sun. The Doctor realises the sun is alive, and learns the crew took fuel from it to power their craft. By dumping the fuel, they can break out of its pull. |
| Review:- Back into space, and a race against time, but with imminent destruction and an inhuman killer on board, the odds look too high... It's good to see the series back in space, even if only on a spaceship, and we have our second half-decent sci-fi plot in a row. The big gimmick is that the story is supposed to be set in real time, with 42 minutes left to save the ship falling into a sun. Of course, this doesn't actually play out in real time, and therefore the supposed homage to US drama 24 doesn't really match up, but anyone can understand a countdown clock, so that's not so bad. To add a little extra drama, the method of fixing the ship involves reopening a series of 30 doors, through the medium of Q&A, or pub trivia, and also the presence of a homicidal maniac on the loose. So, no pressure... The ship's captain, McDonnell (not Brown, then?) is treated as personally responsible for their predicament, and it turns out that she was just doing her job and didn't realise the sun she was leeching fuel from, was in fact a living thing. This idea is hardly new (see Planet Of Evil, for one), but the momentum of the story manages to help get away with it. Her assistant, Scannell, is played by the excellent Anthony Flanagan, and it seems fitting that he makes it to the end when so few others do. The other survivor manages to give Martha a credible romance for a change, inspired by adversity. Though inspiring and dramatic, the Doctor is at a loose end for much of the time, until he goes to rescue Martha, whom the baddies decide to jettison from the ship. His efforts to bring her back are rather overplayed, but it does at least put him face to face with the real problem, i.e. the living sun, and bring him close to death. Again, it's only really through the efforts of others that the day is saved, as Scannell releases the stolen fuel, thus breaking the chain that was drawing the ship to its doom. Although technically all the bit about gravity would mean the ship didn't stand a chance, it's clearly the notion of the sun drawing them in that matters, and when it gets back what it has lost, it lets them go. As if all this wasn't enough, Martha decides to phone home, where it's Election Day. What she doesn't realise is that her mother is selling her out, in the deluded belief that she's being helpful. This follows on from The Lazarus Experiment, and is expected to lead to a big conclusion later in the series. So, whilst hardly flawless, and certainly far from original, this episode provides drama and entertainment, as well as being thought-provoking. As such, it's one of the better episodes in this season. |
| Disclaimer: I have watched this story. |