| GRAVE MATTER by Justin Richards |
| Story ? Synopsis: The TARDIS lands in the fog on the isolated islands of Dorsill. The Doctor and Peri meet a startled fugitive, who saves Peri falling over a cliff edge. They find a small village nearby, where a fisherman has recently died. Slowly, they start to learn there are odd things going on. It becomes clear that a secret experiment is underway involving the use of alien genetic material returned from space, that may regenerate living tissue. But the infection, dubbed Denarian, overtakes the human mind. It is delivered into the food chain through animals, and injected into the locals. The Doctor learns everyone on Dorsill is infected, and when they realise he is a threat, they congregate to try and stop him. Even Peri is infected. He manages to synthesize a solution of antidote, which neutralises the infection. By the use of a bucket suspended beneath a helicopter, he disperses the solution into the atmosphere, and restores normality to the people of Dorsill. |
| Review:- An isolated community, cut off from the modern world, at the mercy of meddling scientists... no, not the most original plot, is it? And that's before nearly all the population become zombies... But set against that, it's a decent little read, not trying to kick down the frontiers of creativity, just provide an exciting and page-turning experience. And that's not always a bad thing. The initial mystery concerns what time period that the TARDIS has landed in, but this seems merely a wheeze to suggest a more periodic setting than the present, as well as signifying how "backward" things might seem to be on Dorsill. When they arrive in the village, the Doctor and Peri are soon witness to a funeral, and inveigle themselves fairly well, picking up clues here and there. It's soon clear that something unusual is happening, and they soon link it to a genetic experiment involving alien matter with regenerative qualities. Before they realise it, everyone's infected, and the infection is turning humans into aliens. Richards eschews continuity, and focuses on the singular nature of the story. Hence, the Doctor has to track down the problem and deal with it with just his wits (and the occasional fisticuff). It's almost an old-fashioned book, in that sense, but no worse for it. Both the Time Lord and Peri come across much as they would have been expected to on screen. Madsen's involvement soon becomes clear, though the true fate of Sheldon, and of Sir Anthony, are kept back to provide small twists towards the end. That the aliens are dubbed Denarian perhaps helps with a sense that the aliens are pretty generic. The local characters are all explicable if a bit dull - Hilly the farmer, the Trefoils at the pub, the Neville fishers and so on. Whilst this superficiality means that their fates are rather dreary, at least there is a bit of reality to their situations. It's perhaps rather lucky that the Doctor becomes immune to the infection, and that Sheldon provides an indication of an antidote. But in such an unoriginal book, one more cliche perhaps doesn't make much difference. Richards even adds in the non-ending that suggests the infection might spread to the mainland after all. So, not going to frighten the horses, but reasonable enough. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |