| THE GHOSTS OF N-SPACE by Barry Letts |
| Story ? Synopsis: Sarah and Jeremy are on holiday when she sees the Brigadier unexpectedly, but he barely recognises her. They follow him to a castle on an island, where he thinks he has seen apparitions, and has asked the Doctor for help. He thinks that evil forces from N-space are on the verge of breaking through into our world. He arranges an experiment to enter N-space, and Sarah goes with him. They visit 1818, where they witness a friar dying. They travel further back, but the Doctor ends the trip, going to 1818 in the TARDIS, with Sarah. They manage to reach the castle, but Sarah is soon hit by falling masonry. They are able to make further investigations and the Doctor realise the trouble started much earlier. The Brigadier tries to make defences for an attack by the N-forms, or local mobster Max Vilmio, whom the Doctor thinks is trying to open the way to N-space. The Doctor and Sarah return to the 1500's, but spook Vilmius into having them locked up when he tries to absorb his N-form. They are released, and try to foil Vilmius, with little success. The Doctor realises his efforts were futile. They head for 1818, as Sarah has a clue to what might happen. Meanwhile in the present, Vilmio attempts to storm the castello. Sarah is unable to change history, but the Doctor has finally made a connection : Clancy's comet, which visits every 157 years. In the present day, he is able to cause Vilmio trouble in N-Space, and then goad him into a duel on Earth, where the Doctor finishes him off, sealing the rift into N-Space. |
| Review:- In the early 1990's when the TV series seemed long over, the show came back on the radio in The Paradise Of Death. That went well, so a sequel was made, and this is it. The Brigadier seems the lead character at first, with Sarah and Jeremy on a working holiday, as the Lethbridge-Stewart heritage comes under the microscope. This received attention and criticism at the time, because it seemed both out of character and convenient for the Brig, of all people, to have hitherto unmentioned Italian ancestry. Letts tries to cover this with his talk of synchronicity, but it all assumes the audience age is far lower than some of the tone, material and language demands. As for the story, the connection of a Middle Ages sorcerer questing for immortality and a passing comet gives a decent grounding to an unusual tale of the paranormal, or n-forms to use Barry's phrase. It's quite simple, really, as the Doctor and Sarah try to unravel the mystery using the TARDIS, whilst the Brigadier holds the fort, as it were, in the present day. The history of the castle is quite nicely written, as the Doctor makes contacts in two timezones, but keeps being unable to change things. Luckily, it turns out well enough for the present day, where he uses Vilmio to be the solution instead of the problem. The supporting cast is variable. Uncle Mario has a charming use of mangled English, and Roberto's Elvisisms seem to fit well enough. Jeremy was tiresome last time out, but at least gets some moments of triumph this time. His romance with Maggie is brief, unwise, and doomed. Her brief moment of revenge doesn't really compensate for the sad backstory she has, and her death is very throwaway. Vilmio is quite bland. There is no sense that he has a credible motivation at any time. Sarah does get quite an emotional segment with the doomed Louisa, and the equally tragic Guido, but her own worries about book-writing make her seem a bit dull. The Doctor takes a long time to get on top of the situation, but he's always trying new angles of approach, thinks nothing of coming to the Brigadier's aid, and has the right answers when necessary. His trip into n-space may be as way-out as he ever got, but his dealing with Vilmio shows heart and courage, as well as compassion. On the whole, it's quite a gripping story, although how it sounded is another matter. |
| Disclaimer: I have a copy of the book. |