| THE CLOCKWISE MAN by Justin Richards |
| Story ? Synopsis: The TARDIS lands in a scrapyard in 1924. The Doctor saves a butler, Dickson, from attack. He takes the man to his place of work, where he and Rose are treated well. They had back to the TARDIS to find it's been taken away, so they return to Dickson's place, where there is a plan to restore the throne in Russia. They are invited to lodge at the Imperial Club, where they find their friends, Repple and Aske are not all they seem, and Melissa Heart is up to something. They visit the British Empire Exhibition, the nominal reason they went to 1924 in the first place. Deciding Heart is the source of the trouble, they go to her, and she tries to kill them. They escape and return to the Imperial Club, where they are again attacked. They let her in, to find she thinks the Doctor is an exiled Katurian dictator, Shade Vassily. Repple claims that is who he really is. Heart is sceptical. She takes both of them to her underwater spaceship, where the Doctor realises Repple is an automaton, and thus not Vassily. They escape, and prove to Heart that Repple must be innocent. The Doctor works out the only person who could be Vassily is Wyse, who he met at the Imperial Club, and who left for his weekly chess appointment. In fact, he is using Big Ben as part of a scheme to ignite the hydrogen in the Thames. When the time comes, this ignition will trigger a huge fire which will destroy London. The Doctor, Heart, Repple, Rose and others head for Big Ben, where Wyse is making final preparations. He brings forward his countdown from Midnight to 10 o'clock. Heart and Repple manage to put a spanner in his works, stopping the ignition sequence, and Vassily falls to his death when his jailor returns to attack him. The Doctor, Rose and Repple watch as Melissa returns home in her spaceship. |
| Review:- A quiet moment in history turns into a major drama, when the hunt for an exiled war criminal leads the Doctor into a dangerous test of identity. With a successful television relaunch under the belt, it's time to see how things go on for the Doctor and Rose on the printed page. Although this book and the two it was released with are not yet affirmed as happening in a set order, I read this one first. Once again, it is remarkable how time limits placed on creativity can produce some fine results. These books will have been created almost in isolation to the television series, and it's arguable whether the reader puts his/her own perceptions of the characters onto the printed characters, or if those traits are already in place. Certainly I never felt either character was too far from the screen versions, which is good. Perhaps this is a generic tale for any Doctor, but it does work well. An adventure in London might seem dull after so many Earth adventures on screen, but 1924 is something different (like 1869 in The Unquiet Dead). The contrasts with the "modern day" are often commented on, but only to seem to show 1924 in a positive light, which seems fair enough. Although there are rather too many references to the Millennium Wheel for it to be credible, and not a plug. Fortunately the scenes at Wembley Stadium are impressive. The initial intrigue seems to be about the last heir of the Russian Empire, but that is merely a smokescreen for the mystery of the Painted Lady, and the clockwork killers. The Doctor and Rose's path into society is a smooth one, for once, and the clues of their anachronisms are subtle enough for the reader to work out. The loss of the TARDIS leads them to the Imperial Club, and the clues begin to snowball. The puzzle over Repple and Aske is another smokescreen, as Melissa Heart suddenly turns out to be a detective/hunter, who mistakes the Doctor for the elusive Shade Vassily. This leads from the puzzles of the first half of the book, into the quest for Vassily in the second half. At least his plan is a plausible motivation for threatening London. The usage of another major London landmark is a good idea. Perhaps the conclusion has too much happening to make sense, and it's a little thin to imperil Freddie the haemophiliac and make it seem he's dead if he isn't. The book is very readable, has good, understandable characters, a decent and explicable plot, and enough scares and light-hearted moments to make it magic. An easy recommendation to make. |
| Disclaimer: I've read the book. |