| THE TIME TRAVELLERS by Simon Guerrier |
| Story ? Synopsis: The TARDIS lands shakily, and the travellers find themselves on the London Underground. They find a dead body, and are soon picked up by the local militia. It's June, 2006. The Doctor is aghast that time experiments have been going on, although not as aghast as Colonel Bamford, who wants the experiment shut down, and the Doctor's companions killed. The Doctor escapes wrath because of his knowledge. Ian, Barbara and Susan are helped to escape, but the latter are recaptured, and Ian is almost shot - a future version of him dies instead, and the Doctor hides him in the TARDIS to maintain the illusion. Barbara and Susan are rescued from their captivity by Ian, who together with Griffiths, a scientist who turns out to be working for the enemy, helps them to freedom. The Doctor tries to stop Bamford putting the TARDIS through the experimental time machine, but fails. The enemy army invade, using energy weapons far deadlier than the English guns. They take command, but one English operative is sent to the nuclear power station at Greenwich to trigger an explosion. Bamford is shot dead. The Doctor realises that time has branched because of the experiments, and focuses the way through the machine into 1972, where he, Ian, Barbara, Susan and Griffiths travel, to try and stop Bamford before she starts all the trouble. Their journey is a success, and they find Bamford to be quite reasonable. The Doctor, Susan and Griffiths find the source of the time experiments, and the Doctor disposes of them in a sleight of hand. They escape in a car, meet up with Ian, Barbara and Bamford, and head back to the Isle of Dogs, hoping to find the still-missing TARDIS. But all seems lost, until an encounter with a ragged older version of Ian, who reveals the Ship is in the Thames. With Griffiths and Bamford beginning to take interest in rebuilding the shattered lives of the locals, the Doctor is able to have the Ship brought to the surface, and he, Ian, Barbara and Susan set off once again to try and reach 1963. |
| Review:- A dodgy landing is the least problem when the TARDIS lands in 2006. For once, war seems dangerously close, and the bullets flying around might be the last thing any of them do. Which might not be so bad were it not for the chance that it might be their fault. The penultimate PDA (it seems) brings us the original TARDIS crew landing in modern-day London. But this London is not changed merely through 43 years of modernism, but the twisted effects of a time war which seems to be connected to the TARDIS. The Doctor is soon trying to stay alive and protect his friends, but if it's a choice between saving them or saving time... This is a book which grips the reader from the start, leaving them little time to consider the reasons behind what is happening. The idea that Britain is about to lose a war with South Africa prompts questions such as : why South Africa? But that is never dealt with, as the nature of the war takes precedence. Oddly, it is the time hoop of the British that is seen as the problem, and even more strangely, it's taken 34 years to get even to this stage. There are a few explanations given, and it is subtle because this TARDIS crew hasn't yet experienced some of the adventures we hear referred to (The War Machines, Remembrance Of The Daleks), they're opaquely referred to, so that this does work as a standalone book, for once. It's a book of two halves, reminiscent of Inferno too now I think of it, with the events in 2006 leading to apocalypse, then trying to prevent that disaster back in 1972. The main characters involved in the story, Andrews, Griffiths and Bamford do at least seem real (perhaps less so in Andrews' case, as paradoxically whilst we see plenty of him, we don't really learn what he is like). The desperate struggles in 1972 at least allow for some character development, as Ian and Barbara grow closer, and Griffiths and Bamford grow to, also. The Doctor's dispersal of the rogue time travel equipment is a great scene, and the hunt for the TARDIS does at least maintain some focus, but the conclusion is still one great anti-climax. Griffiths and Bamford become new leaders, giving the broken society some proper focus, and it's probable that the bedraggled Chesterton will be involved too. Why the TARDIS was stored in the Thames is another of those loose ends that are seen as not to matter. With no clean, clearcut moment of truth, the book just fizzles away. Possibly the whole alternative universe aspect is the book's doom as well as its raison d'etre. On the whole then, a fairly gripping story that ultimately, has nowhere to go. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of this book. |