| FATHER TIME by Lance Parkin |
| Story 40 Synopsis: In the Northern town of Greyfrith, a loner named the Doctor learns that a local schoolgirl named Miranda also has two hearts, and shares some of his characteristics. She is the last of her race, unaware that her parents are not so. A brutal force from her planet arrive to kill her, but the Doctor thwarts their plan, with some help and difficulty. A few years later, they try again, but Miranda, angry that the Doctor kept her past from her, kills their leader. He takes the rap, and she flees. He tries to find her again, but fails. She is kidnapped by the aliens who want to kill her. She makes brief telepathic contact with the Doctor to reveal where she now is. He uses a NASA space shuttle launch to get to the alien craft. On board, Miranda is already trying to escape, and foments revolution. With the enemy leader trying to destroy the time engines of the craft, the Doctor and Miranda have to stop him. Whilst the Doctor deals with the engines, Miranda decides to take up the offer of sorting out the problems in the Empire. The Doctor returns to Earth, sure his place is in the stars, not on Earth. |
| Review:- One of the many tired cliches that has been generated over the years is the question of the Doctor's family. Whilst Susan is accepted as his grand-daughter, that's as far as people are willing to accept. Here, with the Doctor still amnesiac on Earth, he comes as close as is dared, adopting a daughter, who in many ways is just a chip off the old block. The other keystone of the book is its setting. Whilst previous tales in this short "20th century" arc have focussed on key times like World War 2, this picks on the 1980's, and covers the ground as thoroughly as it can by being split into three segments, several years apart. What that also does is give plausible reasons for the Doctor adopting Miranda, raising her with his values, and then letting her go, when the time is right. So, whilst there is a main plot involving the many attempts to kill Miranda, there is a sub-plot about the changing face of Britain. When Sallak takes a base in a tower block, it's because the writer can then make twee comments about the decline of some parts of society. Against this, the Doctor uses his wisdom to become rich, in order to protect his adopted daughter. But he remains clearly the hero, so do the ends justify the means? As for Miranda, she makes her own journey as she slowly learns from the Doctor, before being betrayed by him. Though she avenges the deaths of her surrogate parents by shooting Sallak, it drives a wedge between her and the Doctor. He retains his intention to protect her, though, and when she later needs him, he uses all his resources to make it. What this book shares with a few others is the creation of a single character through whom the reader finds out the story, Debbie Castle. Her troubled marriage, and growing affection for the Doctor lasts through many years, until she joins him on his journey into space, where she tragically dies, saving his life. Throughout, she remains a whole interesting person, and her loss seems rather a shame. When it comes to the crunch, Miranda gains a mission - though whether she is to be Empress of the latter-day Time Lords is left opaque (there being plenty of hints to that effect). Just as it is her right time to leave the Doctor, so he realises his right time to leave Earth is also coming, and so this book nicely sets up the conclusion of the arc, Escape Velocity. Often intensely smug, this is still a broadly interesting read, albeit with as much to annoy as to love. It shows how the Doctor could cope as a family man, and perhaps why he never should be again, for long. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |