| THE ROMANCE OF CRIME by Gareth Roberts |
| Story ? Synopsis: The TARDIS lands on a travelling asteroid, the Rock of Judgement, in the Uva Beta Uva system. The Rock handles court cases. The Doctor and Romana are seen as intruders. But an investigatibng cop, Spiggot, claims responsibility for them, as he thinks they'll draw attention away from his real investigation. An artist's assistant, Zy, is cruelly killed, and the artists, Stokes, is arrested for the crime. But Romana knows he must be innocent, and Spiggot explains his investigation was concerned with deaths on UVU 11, using the MO of a dead criminal genius, Xais. Zy's death also fits her MO. Stokes tells Romana that the mask he made of her went missing. The Doctor deduces that the mask is being used to replicate Xais somehow. She causes a technical malfunction that nearly destroys K-9, blowing the Rock's defences. Her allies promptly arrive in their spaceship. They're Ogrons, led by criminals the Nisbett Brothers. They have the mining equipment that will help Xais mine helicon on UVU 11. Helicon is a material that Xais' power can affect, and which allowed her mind to enter the mask, and avoid death. They all manage to reach UVU 11, where Xais worries that the helicon has been removed. The Nisbetts think there is belzite to exploit on the planet, but this is a trick. They prepare a bomb to detonate once they have their goal. Xais' original choice of body is shot, so her ally, High Archon Pyerpoint, the highest judge on the Rock, uses Romana as a replacement. The Nisbetts leave the Doctor to be destroyed in their explosion. Pyerpoint wants Xais to use the helicon for his benefit, but fears a double-cross. She manages to escape his clutches, and begins to activate the helicon stores. She blows up the Nisbetts. The Doctor transmats to the store, and Romana uses her energy to take the facemask off. Pyerpoint has to put it on. As the helicon begins to erupt, the Doctor, Romana, K-9 and Stokes scramble into the TARDIS and escape. The helicon covers the planet's surface, all containing Xais' mind. But the Doctor works out a chemical formula to dispose of it. |
| Review:- This book alone was probably one of the best adverts the Missing Adventures range ever had. Gareth Roberts takes a team he has great affection and respect for, and writes a story that shows them at their best, outnumbered and imperilled. The Uva Beta Uva system is just a background to the Rock of Judgement, a galactic law-ground, where the Doctor and Romana land. After a lucky misapprehension with a local cop, they're soon on the track of a revived maniac - Xais. But she is the tip of the villainous iceberg, and soon the fearsome Ogrons, the deadly Nisbett Brothers, and even double-crossing High Archon Pyerpoint are all out to bring evil to the galaxy. As it were. Set against this gallery of baddies, there are a couple of dissolute allies - old-fashioned cop Spiggot, and lackadaisical artist M. E. Stokes. Roberts later said in interview that he chose this team (and wrote two further books for them) because he saw them as being the peak of intelligence, and therefore any threat to them was all the more formidable because of it. I can't help feeling there's an illogical problem with that idea. But never mind, the book's good enough to transcend such facile conceits. The Nisbetts are amusingly obsessive criminals, somewhere between the Kray Twins and the Mitchell Brothers from Eastenders. Their quirks about food make them memorable, and tolerable. The Ogrons get some development, as they were prone to doing throughout these adventures (see Mission: Impractical, for instance). Xais is another of Roberts' excellent female villains, with a vicious line in killing. Only Pyerpoint tries the patience, perhaps because his Mr Big credentials are rather bland. Spiggot is a cruel pastiche of the hard-working broken-family-man cop, but he makes for a good foil at times, especially with K-9. Stokes is less appealing, though he does provide the central spark of the helicon mask. Helicon, belzite and Uva Beta Uva... Roberts really goes to town with the names in this book, and enriches his story no end as a result. Science-fiction can be fun after all. As for the regulars, Romana is able to undertake her own sub-plot, and resist Xais when forced to wear the fatal mask. K-9 is useful as a portable computer and crack shot. Whilst the Doctor tries to keep everyone alive whilst he works out what's going on. His final face-down of Xais shows his unerring commitment. He even lets Spiggot take all the credit. A very good book. |
| Disclaimer: I have a copy of the book. |