| BUSINESS UNUSUAL by Gary Russell |
| Story ? Synopsis: The Doctor finishes off a plot by the Master and the Usurians to take over Earth, but leaves the final computer work to someone else. He realises Brighton in 1989 means he might run into Mel Bush at long last, having tried to avoid her (and hence his eventual becoming the Valeyard). He meets a young American, Trey Korte, who has latent telepathy. He takes Trey back to his home in a taxi, and is alarmed to find Trey lodging with Mel Bush's family. Meanwhile, the Brigadier has gone missing - held captive whilst investigating SeneNet, a new company based in nearby Ashdown Forrest. The Doctor and Mel begin to investigate the strange mystery surrounding SeneNet, from the plastic toys given away with fast food, to the Maxx computer console that's ahead of its time and given away to children. Not to mention the half-eaten body that turns up on the edge of Ashdown Forest. The Brigadier begins to learn who his captors are. He tries to escape, but only manages to get himself moved to another cell. In Ashdown Forest, the Doctor and Mel get separated, and Mel winds up a fellow prisoner of the Brigadier. The Doctor pools his information with the police, and comes to the conclusion that a Nestene invasion is in progress. He voluntarily goes to face SeneNet, and meets the MD, whose path the Doctor crossed before. He is merely using Nestene technology to allow him into a new body, but the Doctor suspects he is being used, and the Nestenes are planning an invasion after all. The Doctor causes a diversion, and an Auton fires at some power cables, causing a water pipe to burst in, and the ceiling to collapse, blowing all the stolen alien tech of SeneNet, and the three Nestene globes, to pieces. The Doctor gets everyone out alive, though at the cost of a few police cars and ambulances being destroyed. Despite his best efforts to dissuade her, Mel opts to join him in the TARDIS. |
| Review:- Sequels can be tricky things. This book is a sequel to a Missing Adventure, The Scales Of Injustice, which was a pretty continuity-soaked story. This is more of the same, but with a more human element to it. Here, the plan is to give Mel her first adventure, and coincidentally allow this version of the Doctor to meet the Brigadier, which he didn't do on TV. So, how does it get on? Gary sticks to long-held claims that Mel met the Doctor after he solved an invasion of Earth by the Master. Cunningly, this story begins as that adventure ends, but Mel only becomes involved as the Doctor is tying up loose ends. He stumbles upon an esper, Trey Korte, and before he knows it, he's esconced in the Bush household. This does at least give an amusing introduction, where he is desperate to avoid her, but fate brings them together. He then tries to make the best of it, whilst giving her repeated warnings that his life is not as glamorous as she might think. Their first adventure comes together from differing angles, as a fast food chain and an advance in computer games design point to superior alien intelligence. It takes a surprisingly long time for the Doctor to twig that plastic manipulation points to the involvement of the Nestenes. But they're not alone. The characters that Gary brings back are still compelling and go through some change here. Ciara and Cellian come to regret their work, and decide to cut and run, foregoing their advantages to try and help those whom they have harmed. Whereas their boss, known as either the pale man or the MD in the text, remains bogged down in his plans for a new body. Typically for the Nestenes, they have manipulated someone with the offer of bringing their dreams to life. That it leads to inevitable disaster is mere justice. The use of fast food chain toy giveaways, as well as computer games, make for small but fine critical comment. The iniquities of fast food are another story, but there is a wry amusement in seeing these consumers coming a cropper. The antics at Ashdown Grange are also enlivened by the Stalker, which gives the only real use of purloined UNIT material, apart from the begrudging Erskine. He does teach the Brigadier a lesson, and like the best, the Brig uses it to improve himself. At no stage is he a disgraceful shadow of the man we know, but rather still a loyal hero, and friend to the Doctor. On the whole, it's a fast-paced story that keeps the interest from start to finish. The lack of chapters is something I usually decry, but here the short bursts of timed text acts much the same, and is a nice use of that gimmick. Gary often takes a lot of flak for his work, but here delivers an engaging book. |
| Disclaimer: I've read it. |