| THE RESCUE by David Whittaker |
| Story 11 Synopsis: Vicki lives in a crashed spaceship on Dido, tending to the crippled Bennett, the only other survivor of their ship. They are protected from the natives by Koquilion, who demands they remain on the ship. The TARDIS arrives in a cave. Ian and Barbara find a tunnel leading onto a ledge. Koquilion pushes Barbara off the cliff edge, and causes a rockfall that drives Ian back to the TARDIS. The Doctor is perplexed that the natives should be unfriendly - he's been to Dido before, with no trouble. He and Ian set off through the cave, to find a way to find Barbara. Vicki gets Barbara to the crahsed ship, and is surprised when Koquilion says the other people she travelled with are dead. The Doctor and Ian nearly plummet to their deaths, but reverse the trap they fell into, and continue on. They reach the crashed ship, where the Doctor decides to talk to Bennett. Ian and Barbara look after Vicki, in case Koquilion returns. The Doctor learns that Bennett is not a cripple, and pretends to be Koquilion to protect Vicki from the locals. She is to be his character witness when they are returned to Earth, as he is a murderer. In fact, he killed the rest of the crew, blaming the natives. Bennett plummets to his death. The Doctor decides that they should take Vicki with them. |
| Review:- A pretty slight tale, elevated by the splitting-the-TARDIS-crew-up trick, which isn't resolved until part 2. Bennett the cripple gives no clues to being Koquilion, so presumably the Doctor must be a whopping cynic to catch him out. The underground scenes are good, the cliffhanger well set-up. The monster is a bit rubbish, but is worth it when Vicki gets angry with Barbara. Whereas I'm afraid Susan is just a nauseating whiner, Vicki seems more believable in the role of a quite clever young woman. The end, where the Dido natives destroy the relay of the crashed ship is quite good, suggesting a loose end. Would the rescue ship really think it normal that contact would be lost. Even if they did need help to land, surely they wouldn't just give up and go? Overall, quite a nippy little tale. |
| Disclaimer: I've seen the video. |