| PLANET OF EVIL by Louis Marks |
| Story 81 Synopsis: Missing Earth by 30,000 years, the TARDIS lands in the jungle on Zeta Minor. Exploring, the Doctor and Sarah soon find a spaceship, and its humanoid inhabitants, the Morestrans. It seems that Professor Sorenson's mission has gone awry, and his team appear to have disappeared. A rescue mission determine to leave Zeta Minor, but Sorenson insists on taking his minerals with him. The Doctor tells him that with the planet being a frontier for an anti-Universe, Sorenson must leave the minerals behind. The Doctor communicates with an anti-matter creature, and promises to return all anti-matter that the Morestrans may have. But after the ship has left the surface, it seems there is a monster killing the crew. The commander, Salamar, believes the Doctor to be responsible, and is usurped by his deputy, Vishinsky. Sorenson mutates into anti-Man, and kills Salamar, but the Doctor stuns him, and returns him to Zeta Minor, with some samples Sorenson kept. Balance is restored, the Doctor picks up Sarah and gives Sorenson a new idea to take his mind off anti-matter. |
| Review:- Season 13 continues, with the alien intrigues of Zeta Minor, and an adventure that takes the Doctor to another Universe. This is actually fairly straightforward, educative, dramatic and fun. The jungles of Zeta Minor are unlike so many usually seen, the effort given to make so many individual members of the Morestran party seem three-dimensional is worthy of praise. In fact, most of the characters are recognisable and explicable people that any of us could meet in our everyday lives. Salamar gets much of the usual reports, because he is our mad leader who threatens everyone. Well, actually, he may be a wronged man. Even into the start of part 3, he is taking the right decisions, agreeing to dump Sorenson's samples off the ship in order to further his mission. After the Doctor's tactless admittance that he is still carrying some anti-matter, he starts to slip, but it is only after talking to the already barmy Sorenson that he tips into unthinking madness. So, it may be that as the anti-matter turned Sorenson into an avaricious monster, it plays on Salamar's insecurities and puts everyone's lives at risk. It doesn't explain why, after nicking the accelerator whatsit, he stumbles around as if suddenly short-sighted, though. Vishinsky is excellent, the second-in-command you can trust. If it the case that Salamar has been over-promoted because of family ties, Vishinsky is the company stalwart, who isn't trendy enough to get the correct authority (perhaps after this story, he gets it). Sorenson is a believable small-minded desperado, who can only see his own importance, despite the harm befalling everyone else. It is curious that he should survive at the end of the story, when he was every bit as rotten as Salamar. The Doctor suddenly seems serious, making the anti-matter threat the most important thing, and displaying a tolerance to the Morestrans (perhaps because they aren't explicitly bothering him.) In turn, the anti-matter conference makes the Doctor into a terribly important figure. He also wins over Vishinsky and Salamar (briefly) through his insight. Sarah has little to do, although she is lucky not to be directly imperilled by the anti-matter for a change. She seems to keep Vishinsky happy in part 4, so that's okay. The other Morestrans are okay. De Haan is every bit a stereotypical whinging follower, akin to many a UNIT member, Ponti gets an unpleasant fate, and it was fun to see Michael Wisher's face for once, as Morelli (I'm glad I watched this after Carnival Of Monsters, so I could work out who he was!) On the whole, this is a worthwhile story that marked out the possibilities of this new-ish Doctor. The Doctor's comment to Sorenson isn't the end of the story, though (see Zeta Major. ) |
| Disclaimer: I've seen the video, and read the book. |