| THE HOLY TERROR by Rob Shearman |
| Story 14 Synopsis: Frobisher accidentally causes the TARDIS to go haywire, landing the Doctor and him in a strange medieval society based around worshipping the God-King. There is a new God-King, Pepin VII, but he doesn't feel divine, and is threatened by his bastard brother, Childeric. The TARDIS' arrival cements the divinity of Pepin, and Frobisher and the Doctor become allies, being seen as angels. Pepin escapes an attempt on his life, but the Doctor is aghast at the casual slaughter inherent in the system. Frobisher takes Pepin into the TARDIS to try and lift his spirits. Childeric takes the Doctor and Tacitus (a court scribe) with him to his secret lair, where he says he has raised a child for 5 years without contact with human language, so that it will be a god, and allow Childeric to reign. When Pepin leaves the TARDIS, he again recants his divinity, claiming Frobisher is really a god. On learning that Frobisher has usurped the throne, Childeric releases his son. Tacitus is horrified by the child's face, and runs away. Childeric is upset to find the child knows language after all. It proves violent, powerful and malicious. It kills Childeric, who isn't its father at all. The Doctor has his suspicions confirmed when the child lowers its voice - Tacitus is the true father. The child is a torture device, built to punish Tacitus. The child goes on a killing spree, looking for its father. Pepin reconciles with his mother, Berengaria, who has always despised him without knowing why. The Doctor finds Frobisher in the throne room with Tacitus. Tacitus killed his son, and was punished by being locked in this dimensional dungeon. He creates the characters afresh, but ultimately, the child comes through, and he then kills the child, ending the fantasy world. The Doctor warns Tacitus not to let it keep happening, offering him passage to somewhere else. But Tacitus breaks the cycle by getting the child to kill him, ending his perpetual torment. The Doctor and Frobisher leave in the TARDIS. |
| Review:- Rob Shearman came from a background that had seen him winning awards for writing, and getting approval from Alan Ayckbourn. So, what could he bring to Doctor Who? It's a dark story of a feudal society trapped in a continual cycle of violence, but without knowing why. The Doctor and Frobisher are aghast at the nature of things, and slowly try to change it. Frobisher gets to come across as a friendly person, his shapeshifting being almost irrelevant to the story. He comforts Pepin, and is dismayed to be crowned god. His innate decency allows Pepin the chance to make peace with his mother, and starts the process of change in the society, even though it's too late. The locals are simply presented, but that makes them all the more understandable. Childeric's sibling rivalry is something experienced by millions, and dysfunctional families are also part and parcel of most lives. So, the central drama is quite sensible. But that's only a misdirection, an exaggerated expression of the real drama - of Eugene Tacitus. Wonderfully played by Sam Kelly, Tacitus at first appears to be the harmless scribe. But it eventually turns out that he is far from harmless, and certainly far from insignificant. His crime and punishment are the foundation of the drama, with a world skewed by the lack of love for children by parents. The story is helped by excellent casting. Besides Kelly, there are Peter Guinness and Roberta Taylor, another of BF's husband & wife teams, as Childeric and Berengaria. At the time, Taylor was most famous for being in Eastenders, and later as one of the stars of The Bill. Guinness is, amongst other acting roles, the voice of many a BBC2 documentary, and he brings a rich malice to his part. It is interesting to see parallels with other adventures. Shearman himself has said that Jubilee has disturbing misogynistic violence, but that's here, too. A society where nothing is what it seems would also appear in The Chimes Of Midnight. And as for the young child with supreme powers and a single-minded quest to find his parent... well see also The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. The Doctor is put in the heart of the mystery, horrified at the casual violence on display, and sharp to note the strange nature of Tacitus' regal accounts. He is aware of Childeric's danger, but soon works out the true nature of the child, as well as the identity of its father. His desperate attempts to find a solution to the killing create a tragic poignancy to the final episode, and he manages the speeches drawing a parallel between Frobisher's fish and Tacitus' toys. The conclusion is stark, but fitting, and the drama overall is a mix of black comedy and profound tragedy. This is one of the best adventures ever written for Doctor Who. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |