| HERITAGE by Dale Smith |
| Story ? Synopsis: The Doctor and Ace arrive on the planet Heritage via shuttle. The Doctor is melancholy, and seeking out an old friend. He first heads to a bar, where the barman, Cole, is friendly, but local sheriff, Bernard, is a Cetacean who doesn't take to strangers. Particularly when he finds that the Doctor is looking for the Heyworth family. Bernard seems to take orders from Professor Wakeling, who is the father of a teenage girl called Sweetness. When the Doctor and Ace find the Heyworth residence, they realise there has been a huge fire. Worse news is a family photograph remaining on a mantelpiece. Ace realises that Mrs Heyworth was Mel Bush. This fires Ace up even more, but the Doctor remains reluctant. In a pitshaft, he finds Mel's body - she was murdered, and her husband was immolated in the housefire. Wakeling killed Mel, though he claims it was an accident, and led the local Heritageans to cover up by causing the housefire. Sweetness is, in fact, Mel's daughter. When the shuttle is sabotaged before the Doctor can get away, he realises he has to confront Wakeling, and avenge Mel's death. The pit collapses, taking Bernard and Wakeling with it. Mel receives a proper burial, and the Doctor and Ace leave Heritage, the Doctor slightly perkier than before. |
| Review:- Following the slight discourse in Relative Dementias, we are plunged back into the sage following the Tucker/Perry books, specifically the cliffhanger from Prime Time. The Doctor has some uncomfortable foreknowledge about Ace, and it has come to cloud his rleationship with her and the rest of the Universe. Here, he really doesn't want to know. Heritage sees a slight return, but only to polish off Mel. In many senses, this is written and played out in a Western style, and it works very well for being, at heart, a quite simple tale of revenge. This could easily be re-written for a movie, and would possibly do quite well. The town is a dust-soaked dead end dump, and when the Doctor and Ace arrive by shuttle, we are robbed of any comforting moments with the TARDIS, or semi-plausible threats to its destruction. The Doctor manages to resonate in terms of his portrayal on television, and tends to seem as though he is acting as normal under duress. Though the resolution to the first cliffhanger can be sussed, it still shows steel that the Doctor makes it through willingly. Presumably he would rather make his own choices than be forced. Though not revealing that Mel is the person he has come to see until he absolutely has to, it shows the Doctor can have a vengeful streak against people he has taken a shine to. Some might uncharitably argue that he is annoyed that someone else has killed her, and he is jealous, but that might be going over the top. Ace comes off well, and this is definitely due to the reaction about Mel. Although they obviously barely knew each other, she clearly liked Mel, and wouldn't have wanted her to suffer a fate like this. Whilst Ace is her usual self, she is slightly less intense, as she recognises the Doctor's interest in coming to Heritage. Wakeling is a rather neat villain, and during the flashbacks at the close of part 3, comes across as force to be reckoned with, who did what he believed he had to do. Bernard manages to convey real menace, despite lumbering round as a dolphin in what I envisaged to resemble a baby-walker. Well, a gun-toting dolphin, admittedly. When his communicator is wilfully destroyed by the Doctor, it makes a point about the vulnerability of those who suppose themselves to be all-powerful. Certainly made more of an impression than the Cetacean in Storm Harvest, anyway. Cole, the cyber-enhanced barman, makes a useful ally in a friendless town, and manages to symbolise the struggle of conscience amongst the locals. A surprisingly good book, and it appears that the Doctor & Ace's next appearance, in Loving The Alien, will continue on from this. I can't wait... |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of this book. |