Asylum

Continuing on his travels alone, the Doctor meets a young woman named Nyssa, who claims to be from the Empire of Traken. And she claims to know the Doctor already, but in his timeline he has not yet met her. The Doctor makes all haste to leave her to herself and avoid any touches with his future, but something Nyssa says to him makes him go back in time; it appears that Nyssa is working on a thesis on Roger Bacon but her information has changed as if time has been altered. The Doctor and Nyssa travel back in time to 1278 to investigate and become caught up with the tide of time once more.

Crap. Peter Darvill-Evans should not be allowed to write. I said as much when his awful New Advetures novel, Deceit, was published and brought confusion and stupidity into Doctor Who lore and also wrecked the incredible character of Abslom Daak, Dalek killer. He might get the Doctor's character right this time but that's where it ends; he turns Nyssa into a nervous wreck despite her strong resolve that she exhibited (or in this case will exhibit) when she joined the TARDIS crew and his attention to historical detail... well okay I have no idea what really went on back in 1278 but I never got a proper feel that Darvill-Evans does either; he just chose a point in time nobody else had touched before and went ahead.

Miracle of miracles, on this one my friend Dan and I are in accord. Mind you he teaches history, so he might have other reasons for not enjoying the book, like knowing if it's accurate or not. Me, I don't know much about history, but I know what I like.

NEXT EPISODE : THE DALEK FACTOR