| THE TWILIGHT KINGDOM by Will Shindler |
| Story 55 Synopsis: The Kro'ka sends the Doctor, Charley and C'rizz into a jungle. They are met by people searching for their lost soldiers, and a mysterious missing Major Koth. Charley is brought into Koth's base, and the Doctor and C'rizz soon follow. The Doctor is nearly shot as a result of Koth influencing a soldier's mind, and he is then locked up. But he and Charley escape. They're soon found. Koth seems to have a messianic hold over his followers. All except the scientist Janto, who explains the situation to the Doctor. They try to escape the underground base, and find Koth's lair, where human remains stick out of walls. The Doctor realises they're all being absorbed by one giant organism. He and Janto are confronted by Koth, who gave in to the creature long before. He brought the TARDIS down here weeks before. Koth is dying, so to save everyone, the Doctor volunteers to take his place. With Koth dead, Charley and C'rizz are able to join them. Janto nearly dies in an attack, and insists on taking the Doctor's place. That done, he dies too, and the creature with him. The TARDIS disappears again. The Kro'ka shows up to lead them to their next portal, and the Doctor admits he's still hoping to find Rassilon. |
| Review:- Underground rebels, nasty terrorists, a single controlling leader... business as usual? Having left Light City behind, the travellers' new location is a hot jungle, where they soon find trouble and get split up. It's like old times. Less like old times, they all make their way into the secret lair of the fearsome Koth, and after the Doctor narrowly avoids execution, start to investigate. In some ways, this is a tale of two guest stars: Michael Keating as the controlling Koth gives a solid enough take on a messianic leader who's secretly having his strings pulled by a higher power. His puzzling subplot about testing the Doctor's identity seems to be a strange angle to take, and it doesn't really seem to work. Having water turn to acid and then back again provides a decent cliffhanger, but outside the realms of trips of the mind, seems rather gimmicky. Even the reappearance of the TARDIS jars, as if the series doesn't want to stray too far from home. Against this is the ever-charming Alan Rothwell as the curious Janto, a scientist who knows something is wrong, but can't put a finger on it. His alliance with the Doctor helps the story towards its inevitable conclusion, and it's perhaps to the play's advantage that the Doctor's showdown with Koth is saved as long as possible. Similarly, it is inevitable that someone so basically good as Janto would choose to make the sacrifice to stop the creature when Koth dies, allowing the Doctor to live. Charley and C'rizz get little to do, and get their loyalties tested by Koth. That C'rizz should find shooting a gun out of character is less effective as the listener has barely got to know the character. Charley's brief loss of faith is just as silly, as her dramatic usefulness ended a while ago. The revelation that the whole underground base may be some giant creature's insides is novel, but the Doctor stopping the fun is less so. The Kro'ka seems to be directing the Doctor much as a weapon, and the Doctor is going along with it. Why? Well, in what was presumably a hook for the next season of tales (which were brought forward 4 months when the return to television caused the whole Divergents plot to be aborted early), there is mention of Rassilon. As if the events of Zagreus had not been confusing enough, it seems there's more to come..! Overall, a slight tale saved by Rothwell's charm. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |