| TERROR OF THE ZYGONS by Robert Banks Stewart |
| Story 80 AKA : The Loch Ness Monster Synopsis: Arriving in the Scottish village of Tullock, the Doctor, Sarah and Harry find UNIT investigating attacks on oil rigs, which are soon related to a creature with fearsome teeth. Harry is shot, and whilst visiting him in hospital, Sarah is attacked by an alien creature. The Doctor rescues her from being suffocated. Evidence shows that someone is travelling through Tullock unseen, and the Doctor finds it is a huge monster, which nearly kills him. Harry escapes from the alien's spaceship, with the news that they are called Zygons, and can change their shape. The leader, Broton, is impersonating the Duke of Forgill, local laird and head of the Scottish Energy Commision. He has control of a creature called a Skarasen, which is popularly mistaken for the Loch Ness Monster. He aims to use the Skarasen to destroy important world leaders, then hold the world hostage so that the Zygons can take it over. But the Doctor destroys their spaceship, the Brigadier shoots Broton dead, and the Doctor ensures the Skarasen returns peacefully to Loch Ness. The Doctor and Sarah return to the TARDIS, but Harry remains on Earth. |
| Review:- Well, Season 13 kicks off with a pretty clean cut adventure set mainly in Scotland, although frankly if it wasn't for the Loch Ness angle, this story could have happened pretty much anywhere. The Zygons are scary early on, but seem to get less so as the story progresses. This, I feel, is partly due to their treatment by the Doctor. Admittedly Broton et al are victims of hubris, but the Doctor spends almost the whole story acting as if everyone he meets is worthless (except Sarah, and to be fair, he's stunned when Harry gets shot. Then again, so was I). This really is UNIT's last stand. The Brigadier shows no qualms about laying out the heavy artillery, and gets the personal satisfaction of shooting an alien leader dead for a change. Where else can the UNIT story lead? Nowhere. Harry gets some good moments, saving the Doctor from the Skarasen (admittedly inadvertently), and the menace of his double. He will be sadly missed. Sarah umms and aahs as a pretty run-of-the-mill effort, finding secret passages, or dodging death in barns (though how stupid is it to go on a search with four armed soldiers, split up but take none of them with you when you're unarmed and vulnerable!!!). The scenery is pretty, the sets are visual, it's a shame the oil company get dropped rather bluntly, but what can you do? The Doctor acts not as a person but as a plot device, suddenly telling everyone the answer is four, before they know what two and two he is putting together. A harmless enough story, but quite ephemeral. Strangely, the Zygons seem to have quite a popularity amongst some fans who clamour for a return adventure from them. But apart from The Bodysnatchers, and Sting Of The Zygons, it still hasn't happened... yet. |
| Disclaimer: I've seen the video, and read the book. |