Whilst travelling in the vortex, the TARDIS is struck by an advanced war machine – a Time Tank! Losing Romana, the Doctor and K9 pursue the Tank to Aoris, a world quite literally at war with itself.
Soldiers from the future are attacking the past of their own planet – gathering resources and stealing endangered species. But the past is not without weapons of its own – leaving deadly devices ready to trigger many years ahead after their enemies have been born.
Trapped at opposite ends of a temporal war, the Time Lords have two time zones to save. But who is in the right, and who in the wrong? And when history itself is against you, can anybody actually win?
THE PARADOX PLANET
It only took five years but I think the Fourth Doctor Adventures finally found the perfect marriage of author and concept. “The Paradox Planet” is from Jonathan Morris, he who burst onto the scene with his novel “Festival of Death” – and sure enough, giving him a season 17 story with the Doctor, Romana, and K9 results in an excellent story.
It’s unfortunate, in a way, that “The Paradox Planet” is only the first installment of a two-part story, because this is almost certainly the best story in the entire range thus far. The central concept is mind-blowing: a race of people forced to live underground by the effects of climate change discovers time travel, and determines the best way to improve their lives is to go back in time and bring extinct species forward to repopulate the planet and make it inhabitable once again. But the people in the past fight back, not wanting the future inhabitants to rebuild society off the backs of their labor. Though Morris hasn’t come to it yet, it seems obvious that the story is heading toward a revelation that the future people doom themselves by taking away the very things the past people need to avert catastrophe – but I’m perfectly okay with this revelation because it’s fantastic. The story is full of journeys backward and forward in time, and to this point Morris seems to have plotted everything out without fail. The resolution to the first episode cliffhanger is a particular delight – it’s set up so you expect something in the past to affect the future, but the specific solution Morris devises is hilariously satisfying.
This is the first story in this series that actually feels like it belongs in season 17. Douglas Adams’ influence is all over the TV episodes, not just in terms of the comedy but also in terms of the concepts. Here, Morris combines a complex time travel plot with another huge Adams concern: the environment. Romana takes everything seriously, acting as a pseudo-Doctor, while the actual Doctor wanders around enjoying himself with K9 cleaning up behind him. Ideas like K9 spending a thousand years in “sleep mode” are thrown around almost for fun. If there’s one difference it’s the absence of any theatrical, over-the-top villains for the Doctor and Romana to tear down – in fact, Morris goes in the other direction, presenting people who are so wrapped up in their conflict they can no longer examine it from an outside perspective. Romana does at least have some fun at the expense of a couple of scientists in another memorable scene.
The casting is fantastic as well, especially Doctor Who veterans Simon Rouse and “City of Death” alum Tom Chadbon. (Incidentally, doesn’t Chadbon sound a lot like Geoffrey Beevers?) The production is generally great, from director Ken Bentley to Jamie Robertson’s sound design. Overall, “The Paradox Planet” is a great opening half, and for maybe the first time in five years I genuinely can’t wait to see what happens next.
Highly recommended.
9/10