| THE BURNING by Justin Richards |
| Story 36 Synopsis: Middletown, England, towards the end of the 19th century. A town on its last legs gets a surprising reprieve when the mysterious Roger Nepath plans to reopen the tin mine, in partnership with Lord Urton, who seems changed by his new alliance. A new stranger, the Doctor, arrives in town, and has suspicions of Mr Nepath, and his obsession with fire. Nepath gives a demonstration of memory metal, and the Doctor decides to watch a planned large scale show for the army. The spectacle of a destroyed tank reforming itself makes its point. The Doctor's investigations lead him to realise Nepath is releasing the firy substance because he feels guilty over the death of his sister, Patience, and thinks he will get her back. Quasi-volcanic eruption appears to spell death for the town, and its inhabitants, and the Doctor's attempts to persuade Nepath to see reason fail. The Doctor persuades the army to blow apart the dam, releasing the river, which smothers out the approaching magma, and traps Nepath in its depths. Job done, the Doctor moves on. |
| Review:- Having appeared to work themselves into a corner, the EDAs were forced onto new rails from this point on, as the Doctor begins an odyssey through the 20th century, trying to recover his past, or forge a new future. The lack of help from the TARDIS, or companions, or relying on gizmoes from the future, means the Doctor is now forced to take a more practical approach to problems, and rely on natural solutions. Here, it works because there are such tools already to hand. Since his changed persona makes him a mystery to the audience, Richards is able to have a bit of fun and introduce characters with similar mystery, so that when he does finally slink into the action, it comes across as misdirection. On the plus side, the small cast is well developed, and motivations are easy to appreciate. Nepath may ultimately be wrong, but at least his motives are understandable. Grief and loss make profound impacts on people's lives, and Roger seems to have been stricken with it for many years. Quite how he made the link to the strange metal is never explained, and its motives for alliance are hazy, too. But it doesn't quite seem to matter as much. The beleaguerd Reverend Stobbold proves a useful ally with his researches into mystic tales. The fate of his daughter is sadly all too obvious to a reader, and devastating when it finally comes to fruition. The armed forces prove vital to the denouement, as the volcanic cataclysm visited on the local area by the eruption at the mine leads to the inevitable resolution at the dam. Water cancels out fire. The Doctor comes together at the end with his rather chilling solution to Roger, and the sad truth about his sister. A grisly, yet fitting, end to a nasty piece of work. With his curious small box zapped by some of the firy metal into becoming a tall blue box, the Doctor's work is done, and he travels on, into his continuing mystery... As a relaunch for a series, it's a decent enough read, though its stated claim to prove standalone is rapidly thwarted by subsequent books. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |