BASIC PLOT
It's 1878, the height of the British Empire and Queen Victoria sends an expedition to the Moon. Once there they discover more than they bargained for... and two strangers.

DOCTOR
Fifth.

COMPANIONS
Turlough and Kamelion.

MATERIALISATION CIRCUIT
The TARDIS lands on a hillside in the moon crater. In chapter 34, the Doctor takes the TARDIS out of time. In the second last chapter, the Doctor moves it to the citadel (still in the crater). In the last chapter it materialises in Glen Marg in England.

PREPARATORY READING
None.

CONTINUITY REFERENCES
Pg 5 - Turlough wonders why he still wears his Brendan school uniform.

Pg 135 - a reference to Leela and Tegan

Pg 254 - There's a clever use of the translation properties of the TARDIS.

OLD FRIENDS AND OLD ENEMIES
None.

NEW FRIENDS AND NEW ENEMIES
Captain Richard Halliwell and Emily Boyes-Denison.

The Vrall - genetically engineered predators

The Warden - senile guardian of the hunting ground

CONTINUITY COCK-UPS

• Page 5 - "Turlough only had a blank space where his past should be." doesn't jive with Page 133 - "Maybe he should tell her where and when he was really from, so she would understand he was different from the rest."

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

• Turlough might just mean that he was from 1983, or from the TARDIS - he's clearly referring to not being from Victorian England, but it's not clear what he means by "where and when he was really from".

FEATURED ALIEN RACES
The Vrall are genetically engineered creatures used for hunting. They can extract memories from the brains of creatures they kill.

FEATURED LOCATIONS
A crater in the moon.

Glen Marg, England.

IN SUMMARY - Robert Smith?
Nowhere near as bad as its reputation would suggest, Imperial Moon is a well-crafted tale of the sort that Chris Bulis could do in his sleep. It's got a nice central idea ripped straight from Jules Verne (in the best DW tradition) and it proceeds quite cleverly. There's actually some decent subtlety at work. It's nothing to write home about, but it's a decent tale, told well.