Shadow Planet
Troubled? Anxious? Tormented by self-doubt? Come to Unity, the psychic planet! From our therapy centre beside Unity’s idyllic shores, the Unity Corporation can help you overcome all your problems. How? By using a patented combination of technology and Jungian psychology, we can bring you face to face with your shadow self. The hidden you. The dark you. The you that no-one knows…
Rest assured: the process is perfectly safe. Nothing can possibly go wrong. And that’s guaranteed!
World Apart
If you’re reading this, it’s too late. There’s no way off this planet. You will never escape Nirvana.
SHADOW PLANET
The final two-story release in the monthly range features the seventh Doctor, Ace, and the return of Hex, set during his initial travels in the TARDIS. The first story, “Shadow Planet” by AK Benedict, dives into a philosophical exploration of its characters but ultimately doesn’t go far enough. The TARDIS lands on the planet Unity, where the Unity Corporation offers a unique service: they can separate out your “shadow self” and enable you to reconcile with the darker aspects of your personality. Of course, this technology functions by exploiting and damaging the planet itself, so the Doctor must put a stop to it. There’s not much to the plot: in fact, the Doctor talking the planet into saving the day resolves the story.
But “Shadow Planet” isn’t really about its plot; rather, it’s about this Jungian idea of the “shadow self.” Everyone has a side they don’t talk about, and on Unity this side can be manifested as a robotic duplicate. Importantly, the shadows aren’t purely evil: Ace’s shadow, for example, mostly wants to be left alone to relax with her thoughts. The company extracts shadows from its employees and keeps them imprisoned, thus guaranteeing that the employees only demonstrate desirable personality traits. Even Wheeler (Belinda Lang), the woman in charge, isn’t immune, though you can see that revelation coming from a mile away. But while the script is much too intelligent and nuanced to make the shadows evil clones, it doesn’t go far enough to teach us more about the regular characters. Hex’s shadow’s nihilism is interesting but overcome too easily; meanwhile, we don’t actually see the “real” Ace or Hex acting any differently with those parts of their personalities extracted. And while it’s not surprising that the Doctor – especially this Doctor – is most integrated with his shadow, it’s a bit disappointing not to see more of his internal struggles. In any case, the fact that I’m engaging with the story on this level is quite refreshing for the monthly range. “Shadow Planet” is interesting and thought provoking, even if there’s room for improvement.
7/10
WORLD APART
And then there’s Scott Handcock’s “World Apart,” which also takes place on a bizarre alien world but features a much different approach to its counterpart. The TARDIS nearly collides with the planet Nirvana and is forced into an emergency landing, leading the crew to explore their new surroundings. But disaster strikes, and soon Ace and Hex are marooned on the surface without the Doctor. That’s the cliffhanger, by the way – the entire first episode is about the TARDIS crew exploring the planet and the slow realization about what’s going on. After that, we spend most of the second episode in a two-hander with Sophie Aldred and Philip Olivier as Ace and Hex struggle to survive until the Doctor can save them. I like stories that take their time, and Handcock does a fantastic job of building atmosphere and suspense in both situations.
The characterization is a little confusing, on the other hand. We’re back in the days when Hex was nursing a crush on Ace, which is jarring given that this story takes place immediately after “Shadow Planet” which didn’t mention the idea. It’s also odd because Ace comes across more like her early days in the TARDIS rather than as the mature, experienced time traveler that Hex grows to like. The situation doesn’t help matters – so they’re stranded for weeks with only each other as company, and sleep together at night to conserve heat, but this unrequited love thing isn’t hashed out at some point? Fortunately, Handcock captures the seventh Doctor magnificently, giving us a long look at his alien morality and using Hex as a mirror to understand why the Doctor can sometimes seem monstrous even when he’s trying to help. I liked “World Apart,” perhaps even a bit more than “Shadow Planet.” Neither story is perfect, but both are smart stories that will stay in the memory for quite some time. If the monthly range could tell stories like this more often, I would be thrilled.
8/10