| TERROR FIRMA by Joseph Lidster |
| Story 72 Synopsis: The Doctor is disappointed to meet the Emperor, and the Daleks take Charley and C'rizz away as prisoners, where they are soon rescued by Gemma. C'rizz soon thinks Charley dead, but she meets Samson, and finds that they're in Folkestone, the only part of Earth not under Dalek control. C'rizz kills a mutant, and goaded into killing his rescuer. The Doctor is asked to find Davros by the Emperor. He has taken over Earth as revenge against the Doctor, and Samson and Gemma are former companions of his whom he has forgotten. Davros gives the Doctor a chemical which will solve the problem by killing everyone. He has created a new clone body in which to put his mind, once he makes it up. The Doctor leaves, and finds Charley and Samson. Samson's mother, far from partying hedonistically, is merely waiting for the right moment to attack the Daleks. They are in contact with a resistance group in France - but C'rizz meets them, and finds they're Davros' old Daleks. They try and make C'rizz into their new Emperor. The Doctor makes his choice, destroying Davros' clone, and telling him to be the Daleks' Emperor. The Daleks will take Davros away and never come back, or the chemical formula will obliterate them. Gemma dies in the process. Samson stays on Earth to help rebuilding. The Doctor, Charley and C'rizz leave them to it. |
| Review:- Back from the Divergent Universe, and back into the greatest danger... Clearly, after the abruptly curtailed Divergent plotline, the 8th Doctor is brought back to normality with a run-in with Davros, and this time the nutty Kaled has come to Earth, and the odds are really stacked against our heroes. The majority of the human race have been converted into Daleks, C'rizz' murderous tendencies are coming to the fore, Charley's still wet and useless, and the Doctor is stunned to learn he had 2 companions that he had totally forgotten. This last comes as quite the revelation, and suggests that there was a larger gap between the TVM and Storm Warning than had seemed the case at the time. Whilst there never seems any chance that they'll be shaking up the line-up, the tantalising prospect of companions other than the current tired two at least provides some interest. The crux of the story is really about Davros, and how he has been changed by his encounters with the Doctor. From the coherent if misguided scientist in Genesis of the Daleks, the Kaled has now wound up almost wiped out, trapped in the Emperor's shell, mind so mangled by circumstance that his sanity is almost gone. His plea to the Doctor is moving, but his motives in stunting the human race show he is little changed from the person he was. It is unsurprising that the Doctor denies him help, condemning him to his role as Emperor after all. The bizarre party in Folkestone with the dregs of the human race apparently preferring hedonism to opposition seems too offbeat to be credible, and though the idea of a deliberate pretence is sound, it's just not convincing enough to be taken seriously. If these people are humanity's last hope, then the Daleks seem preferable by comparison. The amusement of the French resistance being Daleks is just the same spin on the old idea of Davros' failure to really control the Daleks. As has been noted before, his survival and splitting of the Daleks means they are not the single powerful organisation they once were (or seemed to be). Even then, they want an Emperor, and almost take C'rizz for the role. All is wrapped up in a rather bland finish, with the Doctor having done a deal with his greatest enemies, using Davros' own weapon against him. The idea that the humans will just be able to pick themselves up and start again seems ludicrous given the scale of things. Whilst the Samson & Gemma plotline provides surprise, it's just a one-off, and with Charley the wet drip still hanging around, attention turns to C'rizz, who in a novel ending, communes with voices of his victims, and decides that the Doctor and Charley will one day join them. Creepy. I've seen some gobsmacked reviews from people who rate this as a triumph, but it does little for me. No better than fair, and rather a thin runaround that neither entertains, nor is very thought-provoking. Things will have to get better... |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |