| ORIGINAL SIN by Andy Lane |
| Story 39 Synopsis: It's the 30th Century. Earth is run by Centcomp, a big machine, and its dwelling places are now the Overcities, which are built on giant stilts (I think), to raise them above the ground level, known as the Undertown, where the less societically well-off live. The Doctor and Bernice arrive in the TARDIS. Before long, the TARDIS has disappeared, and they have been framed for murder. Two Adjudicators (local law enforcement) are sent after them; Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej. Planet-hopping, the Doctor and Bernice are cornered on Purgatory, training ground for the Landsknechte, a sort of Marines. There the Doctor finally finds evidence that people are randomly becoming insane, due to icaron radiation. He takes a trip to Dis, a prison planet, to meet Zebulon Pryce, expert on icarons, and murderer. Bernice, Roz and Chris return to Earth, to hide with Chris' family. They get pursued, and track down the source of the icaron leak. There is a Hith spaceship being stored in hyperspace, in Spaceport Five Overcity, aka London. This is a relic from Earth's war against the Hith. The spacecraft in question is being inexpertly dismantled, hence the radiation leak. The company involved is INITEC aka Interstellar Nanoatomic ITEC. The Doctor returns to Earth to meet the CEO of INITEC, none other than Tobias Vaughn, erstwhile Cyber-collaborator. He has built a network of robots on Earth, through which he maintains a kind of control. The Doctor is most peeved that Vaughn knows the Hith ship is causing the madness, and is unrepentant. Vaughn has the TARDIS, so the Doctor takes him inside. This severs his link to the other robots. Then he cuts off Vaughn's head, the source of his power. As Earth finds that the anti-Empire revolution fever on other worlds finally comes to the home of the Empire, the Doctor and Bernice make their excuses and leave. But Roz and Chris are persona non grata in the police force, so they join the TARDIS. |
| Review:- Just 4 short months after the departure of the last telly companion, Ace, comes a zinging space opera that introduces two new companions, and reintroduces an old enemy. Earth in the 30th century is often hinted at, and seems to be almost a nexus point for the importance of the Empire. Here, it collapses, when Vaughn is destroyed. The return of Tobias Vaughn is acceptable here as it seems to be just a one-off for the purposes of the story. INITEC is a cool name when introduced, and only when the Doctor uncharacteristically thinks that Interstellar-Nanoatomic-ITEC sounds familiar that crediblity takes a knock. I personally think that Vaughn would have to be insane beyond insanity to have deliberately started the company with this name, just as an anagram of International Electromatics. I still can't say for sure if it IS an anagram, though as I've just written the names down, feel free to check them off. Anyway, Vaughn's convenient quasi-immortality allows for some shading in the background of the next thousand years. Which is nice. The planets Dis, Purgatory and Hithis are all given some depth, and the sheer pace of the narrative keeps the action zipping along. The scene where the Doctor discovers the icarons by performing a freehand autopsy is something that still remains vivid to this day, which has to be the best testament I can give. Roz is a black woman, with proud African heritage, who will later be able to trace her roots back to Nelson Mandela. This is often seen as a great leap forward for the companions - actually, it's as big and bad a gimmick as if she'd spent the whole book going "yes, Boss", or other stereotype dialogue. Chris on the other hand is a bit dull, and ill-defined. Later he really develops, although since Roz is a fully-formed nothingness and by definition cannot evolve, Chris has rather a free run. Roz also gets a subplot about the fact that she murdered her ex-lover because she put the Law first. A more interesting piece than any of the race relations crap, but gets ripped on by the subsequent Sky Pirates! Another point of vexation is that all-important dating. Now in A History Of The Universe, Lance Parkin says that the events occur in 2975. This fits with the guidelines for Chris & Roz, and many otehr sub-points. He also acknowledges that the only mention during the book sees the Doctor say that the Hith war ended 4 years ago, in 2955. So, I'm sorry to bitch, but that seems pretty clear that this story is set in 2959. Unless this is some parodic uber-reference to The Invasion (it had better not be...) I do like this book. The fact that the Underclass are kept to their own areas is a true-to-life concept, and an unpleasant one. London being the centre of the world's woes is as parochial as any Ameican book or film that thinks New York is the be-all and end-all. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of this book. |