| DAMAGED GOODS by Russell T Davies |
| Story 55 Synopsis: Earth, 1987, a housing estate in London. The Doctor brings Roz and Chris there on the trail of a batch of cocaine which has been causing unnatural deaths. They are welcomed into the world of the Quadrant. The Doctor learns that the cocaine has been tied up with a creature called an N-form, which was created by the Patrexians of Gallifrey to help with the Vampire War. This one mistakenly believes there is the relevant waveform on Earth in the area of the Quadrant. It merges with a drug dealer called the Capper who kills himself to escape it, but survives. It survives further attacks, and ignores the Doctor's view that it is confused by the psi-inheritance which he is investigating. At length, the N-form discards the Capper in favour of a new donor mind, and the Doctor has to confront it with the truth to stop it, at great cost. |
| Review:- Before the showrunning prolific number of telly stories, there was this... The penultimate part of the psi-powers saga sees a more practical demonstration of why the whole thing has been so serious all along. The involvement of Gallifreyan technology adds a depth and danger to the psi-gene question. But the heart of the story are the tragic stories of Winnie Tyler's twins, and Eva Jericho's madness. The former, unaware that her children need each other, is forced to split them up to salve the longing and greed of Eva, and to settle her own financial troubles, but the consequences come back to haunt them both almost 10 years later. Whilst Winnie's salt-of-the-earth struggles make a broad sense, Eva's lifelong battles develop her as an understandable madwoman, who is clearly in the wrong, but ultimately driven to it by a fluke of nature. What this book has in its favour is its style. Often very well-written, especially compared to the rest of its range, it also makes sure the revelations are provided only when needed, and often turn the story in an unexpected direction. Sometimes these revelations are hinted at in advance, leaving the reader curious and awaiting the big reveal. The Quadrant is a rather grotty housing estate in an unnamed city in England. I presumed it to be London, though it might be Manchester. It doesn't matter anyway. The focus of everything is Gabriel Tyler, and his connection to the dying Steven Jericho, who turn out to be twins with a curious symbiosis. As Steven's adoptive mother Eva has gone slowly out of her mind (and she was clearly never that stable to begin with), so events begin to spiral out of control. And the barriers of family prove too impenetrable to the Doctor, who can only try to make the best of a bad job, as the N-form prepares to settle the psi-wave for good. So, is this a triumph? No. The saga of the Capper makes for cheap and tacky drama and the usage of cocaine as the method of transporting the deadly engrams across the country is shock for shock's sake. Whilst the squalidity of prostitution and other ills of the Quadrant are recounted with a graphic yet subtle relish, it does paint a broad landscape of the world in which the story takes place. As with Transit, the dead end nature shows the contrast with the world beyond. There is nothing wrong with having gay characters, as such, although depictions of cruising for sex are entirely irrelevant to the story, and the coda where Chris turns out to have provided a cure for HIV1 is an insult to the tragic suffering of millions. That the only characters who seem to come through unscathed are Harry and David, is an undeniable message and one that begs too many questions to be left idle. Worth reading, certainly, but worth commending? Not a chance. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of this book. |