| CATASTROPHEA by Terrance Dicks |
| Story ? Synopsis: Travelling in space, the Doctor experiences a psychic cry of pain, and puts the TARDIS down on Kastopheria. He and Jo trek into the nearest city, Catastrophea City, where they have a run-in with corrupt politician, Rekar. They all go to trial, but he and Jo get off lightly, and are treated as heroes outside the court. The Doctor is dismayed to be mistaken for a noted terrorist, El Llama, and insists he isn't the man. Rekar seeks revenge, but comes off worse again, when the military intervene. The Doctor insists he isn't El Llama, but the general, Walton, wants him shot at dawn. Before, they have dinner, where the Doctor wins Walton over, who decides to send him back to the civil court. But then, the rebels spring the Doctor and Jo from the army's clutches. Searching for them, the army find the TARDIS, and put it under guard inside their base. The Doctor and Jo head back to the TARDIS, to find it gone. They are nearly arrested again, but the rebels save them. Realising it's their only chance to find the TARDIS and get off the planet, the Doctor agrees to go along with being called El Llama. He thinks the natives, the People, may have information, so he goes to look at their temple. He meets one of them, Zylor, who claims he fulfils a prophecy of one who will save the People. Meanwhile, the rebels plot to steal the TARDIS, but fall into a trap, and Jo is caught. She proclaims her innocence, but Walton threatens to have her shot at dawn. This brings in the Doctor, who insists there is great danger involving the People. Walton insists he stays put, but the People make a mass demonstration, and in the confusion, the Doctor and Jo get away. They head up the river in a boat, where they find the Black Temple, wherein hangs a huge crystal of skar - the drug that the People use to suppress their violent natures, and which is desirable to smugglers. One such, Dove, comes to steal the crystal, but is in turn shot by Draconians, shattering the crystal. Freed, the People begin to revert to violence. The Draconians were attempting to provoke retaliation and then war against the humans, but the People are too formidable. The Doctor and Jo make it back to the army camp, where he explains the only way forward is for the colonists to get off the planet. The Draconians agree to help ferry them away, as they have the space and time is at a premium. The People are left to find their own future. The Doctor and Jo are taken to the TARDIS, and then they leave. |
| Review:- Terrance Dicks gives a pretty simple tale of colonial oppression, drug dealing and native religion. We get a fairly explicable set-up, with the local authorities trying to maintain law and order, a local army force trying to counter the possible threat of war with the Draconians, corrupt local businessmen who are only out for profit, nasty drug smugglers, dedicated rebels who wish to overthrow the yoke of oppression, and indigenous natives who seem placid and thus get to provide the menial labour that the society is built on. Enter the Doctor, swiftly mistaken for an expected revolutionary terrorist, despite frequent protests of innocence. He and Jo foil the dastardly corrupt businessman, Rekar, charm the authorities, and get saved by rebels when they don't need to be. Pretty run-of-the-mill action. Then the Doctor gets involved with the People, who also think he is the man they've been waiting for. Cue a bit of a runaround with Jo and the rebels, and then it's off upriver for a trip to find a mythical crystal that also happens to be the source of the drugs. Then the Draconians land, and the druglord dies in the destruction of the crystal, and the People turn nasty. Cue big rush back to the ranch, and a mass evacuation of all the colonists. The End. Written in short, punchy chapters, where the action gets reiterated and explained so that anyone can follow it, this is not the most difficult of reads. Sadly, it's not the most interesting, either. Apart from the mystery of whether the Doctor can find a solution to all the conflict going on, the only other mystery is whether the regulars will spot that Alanna is a skar user. Everything else feels as if presented with no drama at all. A good example is the raid that Garon leads to rescue the TARDIS that goes badly wrong. Garon is caught, and then forgotten from the story for about 100 pages, until a short return near the end. And the end is the biggest letdown of all. Having secured the freedom from the People from their skar chains, they then become free from the oppression of sharing their planet, thanks to some timely help from the Draconians, who were only out for themselves anyway. What kind of message this is supposed to give, beats me. The Doctor and Jo get to be central to the story, which is nice, but the whole thing feels so simple. The good guys are good, or can be won over, whilst the bad guys are bad, and get punished. Really, it's not so much a coherent book as a series of pages with words on them. Forgettable. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |