| STING OF THE ZYGONS by Stephen Cole |
| Story 13 Synopsis: The TARDIS lands in Westmorland, 1909, and the Doctor and Martha are soon on the way to visit a huge dead monster. When the Doctor identifies it as a Skarasen, he is soon aware that there must be Zygons around somewhere, and a second, live Skarasen, too. The latter has gone haywire, and the Zygons want the Doctor to fix it. King Edward VII is reported to be coming to the area to award a prize to whomever shoots the Skarasen, dubbed the 'Beast of Westmorland'. The Zygons plan to duplicate him, and other world dignitaries, so that they can take over Earth. The Doctor is able to thwart their plans, and the Skarasen swims away with the corpse of its kin. |
| Review:- One of the most popular one-off monsters get another book run-out, this time troubling the hillsides of Northern England... After a fair opening, marred by the repeated silliness of Martha coming from Freedonia, the hunt is soon afoot, with the Doctor readily accepted, and the dangers less so. With his suspicion that someone is Zygon-hunting, there seems a danger of several levels, as well the mystery of why the Zygons are even here. Unfortunately, those hoping for some extension of the Zygon myth will be disappointed. In many ways, this feels like a hopeless homage to their sole TV outing, Terror of the Zygons, merely transplanted south of the border. Without the amusing focus of Loch Ness, the Skarasen is merely downgraded as some kind of rogue beast, in the way reports of strange animals are sighted from time to time in the countryside. Here, the whole hunting angle allows a decent enough hook to explain what has drawn people to the area, rather than running a mile. Martha, fortunately, is paired with the less welcome members of the party, namely the French cameraman, and the son of one of the Zygon's victims. This helps give her some depth, and she uses her medical knowledge to try and be some practical help. As for the Zygons, the sting of the title unsurprisingly turns out not to refer to their in-built attack mechanism, but to a deliberate trap, which they have improvised. The King has been gulled by news of the hunt into coming up to Westmorland to award a medal to the successful hunter. This then gives a chance for the aliens to take his place, and then that of other world leaders. Quite a good plan, really. The downside, is that their Skarasen is out of control, and they have to trick the Doctor into helping them get it back. Which he happily does, but is then put out of commission for a bit, as part of the series' ongoing effort to show that he is vital/unnecessary when the chips are down. Westmorland is given as much depth as the Lancastrian settings of Scream of the Shalka, i.e. not much. I suppose if I weren't from the area, I might not mind so much. All the silliness with the Zygons' desperate thirst for milk, and their impersonations of cows and other animals may draw the interest of younger readers, but are quite enough to irk older ones. On the whole, it's a pretty average thriller, with a less than satisfying resolution. |
| Disclaimer: I've read the book. |