| TIME ZERO by Justin Richards |
| Story 60 Synopsis: Fitz has found out about an expedition to Siberia, and decides to go on it, to make something of himself. Anji takes this break-up of the team to return to her own life in the City, where she fits in well, becoming successful again. The Doctor tracks down a book of the expedition, written by Fitz. It is on sale in an auction, and the Doctor manages to push someone's bid up to �100,000, to see who is buying it. It appears that the vendor is a Grand Duchess, the last of the Romanovs. Following this person back appears to lead to an old folk's home. Back at the auction house, a man has been killed, and the dimensions of the room have changed. Meanwhile, the financier of the Expedition, Hanson Galloway, is murdered, and Fitz is blamed. As the team advance, they encounter strange and ferocious creatures who diminish their numbers. Anji, meanwhile, is transferred from her job by a man named Hartford, who takes her along on a trip to Siberia. Having been told that Hartford and his team are auditors and accountants, she is disturbed to sneak into the cargo hold, and find guns and tanks. She fakes a parachute escape, and the crew all leave after her. Then she finds herself alone, and unable to pilot the craft. She uses the ejector seat to avoid being killed when the plane crashed. On the ground, she is soon found by Hartford's team. They arrive at the Naryshkin Institute, as they are under the impression that there are time travel experiments going on, and they can tell that Anji has travelled in time, so they assume she is part of the Institute, and are not dissuaded when both sides deny it. Meanwhile, the Doctor tracks down the book's purchaser, Max Curtis, who, with his manservant Holiday, takes a plane to Siberia. He is the financier of the Institute, which is attempting to create an optic black hole. They take the Doctor on the plane, and also the Duchess. Anji is sent about in the snow, and a couple of Hartford's men get killed. There are also a British SAS team in the area, out to see who else is investigating. Back in 1894, the Expedition is whittled down to George Williamson and Fitz. Fitz realises that George killed Galloway, and they both find their way to the Ice Cavern that was the purpose of the Expedition. With the ferocious creatures still attacking, Fitz uses their one remaining weapon, a grenade, to attack a geological formation that triggers a landslip. George survives, but believes Fitz dead. He can now travel forward and back in time, but only appears as insubstantial as a ghost. Back in 2003, Anji is returned to the Institute, and the Doctor finds she has been tagged with a camera in her neck. They investigate, and find that the Ice Cavern has certain temporal properties. Hartford is satisfied with this. Using the TARDIS, the Doctor determines that an ice version of the TARDIS has been formed. Max Curtis is soon revealed as the problem. He is turning into a black hole, and has tracked the journal of the Galloway Expedition because it offers a clue in the Ice Cavern which could reverse his problem. But George is the time conduit. The Doctor now turns his attention to Holiday, who he realises is Sabbath, trying to tidy up again. The Duchess is actually Beatrix MacMillan, or Trix, who is involved somehow. The journal she sold is a fake - the Doctor knows because he bought the real one in a bookshop in 1938. The fake journal has led Curtis on his wild goose chase, as Sabbath is trying to destroy him. The Doctor knows that the only way to stop Curtis is to kill George. The ice-TARDIS is extracted, and when the Doctor opens it, he finds Fitz, alive and with the true journal. Back in 1894, George chooses to kill himself, as he feels guilty over Fitz getting the blame for Galloway's death. Curtis is stopped, and Sabbath escapes in his ship, tipping Trix off that he is concerned by "a race against infinity". Trix lets this slip to the Doctor, but he refuses to allow her passage in the TARDIS. Anji wants to go back to work, and agrees to go via TARDIS. But first, they must return Fitz' genuine journal back to the bookshop, so that the Doctor can later buy it. This transaction is enacted, but the Doctor suddenly changes his mind, buying it again. Plus, the bookseller is irate at the Doctor's currency. The Doctor tells Fitz and Anji that the coins the bookseller gave him had the image of King Edward VIII, minted 1938. Which shoudln't be. Maybe Curtis did change history. The Doctor also says he cannot return Anji until the timeline has been corrected. Their only lead is a small plastic ship. |
| Review:- Is that my longest synopsis so far? I finished reading the book this afternoon. Well, if you're a Justin Richards fan, then you won't be disappointed. But given my comments about the books so far this year, am I? By and large, this is a highly entertaining book, with mucho action and entertainment. The situation unfolds well over the 2 time periods, and allows one trick as a scene appears to take place in sequence for Fitz, but is out of sequence for the Doctor. There is also (at least) 1 quote from a Meat Loaf song, which may be a common quirk, but I've not noticed it so obviously before. [Except in Craig Hinton's The Quantum Archangel]. The Doctor is effortlessly good here, comedic during the auction, dogmatic during the investigation into the body in the auction room, cunning in moving around the Institute, sleuthy when testing the floorboards in Curtis' home, convincing when denouncing Sabbath, unflinching when rescuing Fitz, emotional when Fitz thanks him, concerned for Anji and Fitz, never-say-die when trying to stop Hartford's bomb timer. This is the hero we all know and some of us love. Anji gets back to her roots, and finds herself missing the others. She uses foreknowledge to smooth her return to work. When taken away, she is resentful, but doesn't query Hartford until too late. She is lucky to escape the plane, and then lucky to be saved by the SAS. At the Institute, she provides a focus for the Doctor, and never questions him. She is also a little disheartened at the thought of Fitz' death. Her plan to return home makes her a latterday Tegan, and she is also cheesed off not to be allowed back. Fitz gets a really strong subplot, unaware that he is a pawn in a 109 year old game, or that he has been written off. He puts his trust in the Doctor and the TARDIS, and is rewarded. If only he wasn't to take Trix at face value, he might seem 3D. He does get a superb line, when the Doctor discusses paradoxes, and he calls this 'the grandaddy of all paradoxes... no, forget I said that'. That is the kind of touch that wins hearts. If this really was suppsoed to be clearing the decks, Fitz would have been killed off too. As it is, he is the link to the old days. For how long? Sabbath turning up as Holiday is just a matter of time. Of course, Sabbath is supposed to be a gauche NEW villain, whereas he is in fact just the Master by a new name, and with a solid motivation. Don't kid yourselves, BBC, this is so bleeding obvious, and a kick in the face for loyalists, and not that good for the casual viewer. Curtis is introduced via an unnecessary and wilful scene taking the mickey out of kids TV. Now, Justin, it's not big and it's not clever. Don't do it again. Trix is supposed to be a new semi-regular, so no doubt she'll be up to her old tricks (!) next time. Then again, she could just be an unsubtle HitchHikers joke, viz, Trix = Beatrix MacMillan. Not too dissimilar from Trisha MacMillan aka Trillian. All the names in all the Universes (or not), and they went with that. Tch tch tch. So what happens next? I've got to wait 6 weeks to find out!!! |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |