| THE TAKING OF PLANET 5 by Simon Bucher-Jones & Mark Clapham |
| Story 27 Synopsis: The Doctor stumbles across evidence of unusual goings-on in Antarctica. Taking the TARDIS back 12 million years, he, Fitz and Compassion find a group of Time Lords from his future disguised as Elder Things, and planning to steal the Fendahl to use as a weapon in their War. Two Investigators arrive from the Celesti base, Mictlan, and pull the Time Lord plan to bits. One of these has his own agenda, and alters things so the Fendahl Predator is released instead. By communing with a fleet of warTARDISes, the Doctor is about to dispose of the Predator by using it to consume Mictlan. The other Investigator is destroyed, and the surviving Time Lords head back home, alive. Fitz and Compassion use the TARDIS to rescue the Doctor. |
| Review:- So the story continues, as the future War comes into play, and the Doctor stumbles into the crossfire, whilst Compassion makes some odd finds... Some writers keep things small and simple, and can be accused of playing safe. Others go to the opposite extreme, writing something vast and complicated, and asking to be praised for taking risks. There is no right answer, though, and the risk of riskiness is sacrificing story for spectacle. That's part of the problem here. The idea that a small group of future Time Lords should travel back in time to try and capture the Fendahl to use as a weapon is one thing. Throwing in the Investigators from Mictlan, and the present-day excavation by UNIT rather pushes it all too far, especially once the Doctor is on the loose. It certainly doesn't help that the Time Lords are in disguise, and paranoid to the nth degree about their mission. These Time Lords are hardly heroic figures, and it seems somehow more pleasant that their plans not only go massively wrong, but they end up with little more than their lives. The Investigators are rather more interesting, though. Clearly more powerful even than the Time Lords, they amusingly waste time impersonating one of them, and they have issues with each other too. Luckily, One has his own agenda, and makes sure the Doctor achieves his goal, destroying Mictlan as well as the ludicrous Fendahl Predator. Some stories don't really need sequels/prequels, and Image Of The Fendahl is one. This book therefore gives itself a problem it could have avoided. The interludes from Mictlan make plain that the Celestis are even more deadly tedious than the Time Lords, and the reader can feel no sorrow when they cop it. Fitz gets little to do, almost being seduced by Two for no very good reason, and heroically rescuing the Doctor when his life seems lost. Compassion, though, continues her unwitting journey, as exposure to Time Lord tech, not to mention a fleet of TARDISes, give more clues to her destiny, though none clear enough to spoil the surprise. The reappearance of Homunculette from Alien Bodies provides a useful anchor to the modern-day stuff, and is another clue to Compassion's future... As for the Doctor, he looks for trouble, takes on more than he can handle, nearly comes a cropper and is only saved because One needs him alive. His efforts with the TARDISes prevent chaos, but only at almost the highest cost. And he doesn't really get much closer to his goal The title seems to be a deliberate reference to heist film The Taking Of Pelham One-Two-Three. However, it isn't nearly as good as that. On the whole, whilst an imaginative (in the Craig Hinton sense) effort, the confusion inherent is too great for this to be anything other than a chore. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of the book. |