BASIC PLOT
An oil refinery at the South Pole has discovered something that may revolutionise Earth's fuel problem. But death and destruction await.
DOCTOR
Eleventh.
COMPANIONS
None.
MATERIALISATION CIRCUIT
Pg 8 The TARDIS isn't seen (except on the front cover), as the Doctor arrives by helicopter and leaves the same way.
PREPARATORY READING
A familiarity with Doctor Who and the Silurians and Warriors of the Deep wouldn't hurt.
CONTINUITY REFERENCES
Pg 11 "When he'd heard that there was to be a publicity launch, he'd pulled some strings at UNIT (Unified Intelligence Taskforce) to get out here." The Doctor worked with UNIT during his second, third and fourth incarnations.
Pg 17 "He was still dressed in nothing warmer than his tweed jacket." This is very similar to The Seeds of Doom, also set in the Antarctic, where the Doctor only wears his regular outfit at the South pole. But see Continuity Cock-Ups.
Pg 19 "You're as bad as those green activists from Wholeweal." The Green Death. Good to see they're still going strong, 40 years later.
Pg 21 Reference to Wholeweal.
Pg 23 Further reference to Wholeweal.
Pg 26 Final reference to Wholeweal.
Pg 27 "The Doctor reluctantly handed over his sonic screwdriver." Fury From the Deep et al.
Pg 29 "If they'd locked us in here with a packet of Jammie Dodgers, I might have believed Pelham was one of the good guys." Victory of the Daleks.
Pg 44 "It was a far bigger specimen than the last one that the Doctor had seen." Warriors of the Deep.
Pg 81 "The previous attempts at getting the two species to work together had ended in disaster." Doctor Who and the Silurians, Warriors of the Deep.
Pg 84 "The Doctor pressed a button on the console and the glass screen slid down. As the icy mist flooded the chamber the Doctor turned and walked back to the lift." This is very similar to effect seen in Cold Blood.
OLD FRIENDS AND OLD ENEMIES
The Silurians, the Sea Devils, the Myrka.
NEW FRIENDS AND NEW ENEMIES
Lizzie Davies, Rick Pelham, Oclar, Partock.
CONTINUITY COCK-UPS
- Pg 17 "He was still dressed in nothing warmer than his tweed jacket." Except the front cover clearly shows the Doctor in his post-Snowmen outfit.
- Pg 88 "There was a buzz of power, and a ray of searing heart melted the lock into molten waste." What?
PLUGGING THE HOLES [Fan-wank theorizing of how to fix continuity cock-ups]
- He brought a spare jacket on his trip to the Antarctic.
- The Sea Devil weapons are made with love.
FEATURED ALIEN RACES
Pg 32 Silurians (Doctor Who and the Silurians, et al)
Pg 44 Myrkas (Warriors of the Deep).
Pg 53 Sea Devils (The Sea Devils, et al)
FEATURED LOCATIONS
Pg 5 Antarctica. The timeframe is never specified, but there's a reference to CDs late in the book, so it's likely present day.
Pg 12 A helicopter.
IN SUMMARY - Robert Smith?
When is this book set? There are Silurians and Sea Devils running about, Wholeweal is an active group and the Doctor is working for UNIT, who send him to the South Pole by helicopter, just as they did in The Seeds of Doom. If it weren't for the Myrka and a reference to CDs late in the book, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was the 1970s all over again. As doubtless Mike Tucker wishes were the case. What's that? You wanted to know if it's any good? Let me put it this way: the book gets into 1970s Doctor Who in pretty much every way except the one that counts.
