Amorality Tale
by David Bishop


Publisher: BBC
ISBN: 0 563 53850 3

     

    BASIC PLOT
    The Doctor and Sarah encounter the smog that killed thousands of people in London in December 1952 as well as East End mobsters.

    DOCTOR
    Third.

    COMPANIONS
    Sarah.

    MATERIALISATION CIRCUIT
    Whitecross Lane, just around the corner from the Fixing Time shop, mid-November, 1952.

    PREPARATORY READING
    None.

    CONTINUITY REFERENCES
    Pg 19 "You know, I've met cavemen who were more charming than you." An Unearthly Child.

    Pg 24 "He narrowly escaped death during an adventure pn a planet called Peladon" The Monster of Peladon.

    Pg 82 "It was pink flanelette with lace around the neck, just like Aunt Lavinia used to wear" The Time Warrior, K9 and Company.

    Pg 138 "This world seemed so familiar, yet it was almost as alien to her as Peladon or Exxilon." The Monster of Peladon, Death to the Daleks.

    Pg 212 "She had stowed away in the TARDIS and found herself in medieval England." The Time Warrior.

    Pg 234 "'Hell's teeth!' Jack exclaimed." This was an expression of Tegan's, which was invented for the show.

    OLD FRIENDS AND OLD ENEMIES
    None.

    NEW FRIENDS AND NEW ENEMIES
    Tommy Ramsey, Billy, Charlie, Fr Xavier Simmons, Vera Ramsey, Jean, Rita, Billy Valance.

    The Xhinn.

    CONTINUITY COCK-UPS
    None.

    PLUGGING THE HOLES [Fan-wank theorizing of how to fix continuity cock-ups]
    N/A

    FEATURED ALIEN RACES
    The Xhinn, creatures of light and darkness with glowing tendrils instead of hair and a hundred tiny eyes (page 100).

    FEATURED LOCATIONS
    St. Luke's Church, the East End of London, December 1946.

    UNIT HQ, the present (pages 24-26).

    The East End of London, December 3-8 1952.

    St. Luke's Church, August 2000.

    IN SUMMARY - Robert Smith?
    Amorality Tale is incredibly fast-paced, telling a quaint little tale of gangsters, alien invasion and a Doctor who solves the day by building a fancy gadget. The gangster machinations are great, although they're probably cut short just a little too soon in favour of the more cliched alien plot. It's a little underambitious, but it's eminently readable and the regulars are nicely characterised. It does what it says on the tin and does it pretty well. You could do a lot worse.