| SPARE PARTS by Marc Platt |
| Story 34 Synopsis: The TARDIS lands on Mondas, though whilst the Doctor soon realises this, he doesn't tell Nyssa. They split up to explore the city, although a curfew starts soon after. The Doctor meets Thomas Dodd, a black marketeer, and they run into a patrol, and a creature like, yet unlike, a Cyberman. Augmentation is catching on. Nyssa meets Mr Hartley and his daughter Yvonne, who are skulking about too. Nyssa helps them when Mr Hartley is stuck under some rubble. He insists that she come to the Hartley home, as it won't be safe to be out during the curfew. The Doctor manages to sneak back to the TARDIS, and so does Nyssa. She has realised that they are on Mondas, in its dying days, and that the dawn of the Cybermen cannot be far off. He insists they can't interfere, but she wants to. She has accidentally brought a Cybermat into the TARDIS, where it savages the power, before blowing apart. Stuck, the Doctor goes to find a solution to save Mondas. Nyssa rejoins the Hartleys. Yvonne's brother Frank wants to be chosen to join the official police, but Yvonne is chosen instead, and Cyber-converted. The Committee running this last city on Mondas are agitating for more power. They are trying to find a sustainable way for the citizens to return to the planet's surface. But as systems fail, and the protective cover above the city starts to crumble, the committee decide that the only solution is for all citizens to undergo the conversion. The Doctor meets Doctorman Allan, chief scientist, and has a full body scan. Allan sees that he has a synaptic connection at the back of his cortex, which could be the breakthrough she has been looking for. Zheng approves, but the wide-scale conversion goes on, with all subsequent Cybermen benefiting from the quirk of the Doctor's physiognomy. Thinking that it is too late to stop the Cybermen, the Doctor tries to pervert their evolution by infecting their nutrient tanks with wine, although that doesn't seem too effective. Anyway, the committe die, and the Doctor and Nyssa leave, confident that Mr Hartley will be a part of rebuilding the city, and that with notes the Doctor has made, Allan could find a better solution than Cyber-conversion. Mondas has been pushed out of orbit, and heading for an encounter with Earth. But then, Zheng returns, saying that the scheme will be tried again. |
| Review:- Firstly, yes, that probably is a really incorrect summary of the conclusion, but my attention wandered. The gist is the same. This is a much-vaunted adventure, focusing attention on the last days of Mondas, and how a seemingly sensible race of people decided that becoming the Cybermen was a good idea. Yes, at long last (though, let's be honest, not for the first time) - it's "Genesis of the Cybermen". Sort of. And inasmuch as we see a desperate society taking one last throw of the dice so that Cyber-conversion is a welcome and beneficial change to them, it succeeds. The Doctor is alright, although he and Nyssa are soon imperilled by the curfew, and he more than once opts to let Nyssa alone for a bit whilst he does something else, then acts all surprised when she goes off and gets into danger. Particularly galling is the last episode, where they go to the Citadel (I think) with Mr & Frank Hartley, and whilst Nyssa and Frank hang back, the Doctor doesn't notice their absence until it is too late. The shock revelation which affects the evolution of the Cybermen is surprising, but then so is eating a cheese sandwich when you are being led to believe that you are about to eat something more exotic. It's original, but it just smacks of desperation. Nyssa does well, helping Mr Hartley, and fitting into their family, offering kindness which Frank certainly doesn't reciprocate, though it does give him the chance to feel shocked at Yvonne's fate, and then apologise to Nyssa in part 4. Mostly, she has much to do, and is good at it. The Hartleys are a good bunch, and each serve a useful function in the storytelling. Yvonne's homecoming in part 3 has received quite astonishing praise, although it isn't really anything new. I'm sorry to have to say this, but had she received her full training orders and then killed her father and brother, I would have reacted more. Sisterman Constant is a typical official, and receives a justifiably appropriate sticky end, for which I did react. Doctorman Allan is our "Davros-esque" figure, although not intended to be a mirror of the twisted Kaled. She is just doing her job, trying to save her people. Her indignation at seeing the direction of her work perverted is quite moving, although she switches stances all the time toward the end, betraying the Doctor, then not stopping his polluting the nutrients, then siding with the Committee, then at the end, apparently studying the Doctor's notes and a goodie. Quite bizarre. The committee and the Cyberleader pose me problems, becasue I find it odd to anticipate a "genesis" tale, then find the creatures already alive. But anyway. On the whole, this is a tale worth investing in, but you might want to pay more attention to the last episode, and I fear that I shall have to listen to it again properly. But I like it overall. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |