Cat's Cradle

Following the example set before with The Timewyrm, the second "series" of novels in the new range were all united under the collective title of Cat's Cradle, but the three novels under its umbrella were much less connected on a story-to-story basis. The linking theme was something that was alluded to in Timewyrm : Apocalypse with the basic functions of the TARDIS starting to break down; the scanner not responding and then the doors, and Ace mentioning having seen an animal on board the ship. Cat's Cradle goes into a new territory where something catastrophic happens to the ship, and the Doctor and Ace are forced to exist without it for a while.

Cat's Cradle : Time's Crucible

The TARDIS comes under attack by an unknown force that actually penetrates the ship's outer hull, the psychic shock of the invasion causing the Doctor great pain. His attempts to move the ship and expel the invader result in its destruction, and Ace comes to on her own in the wasteland of a ruined city where the laws of physics are up for grabs and a small silver cat turns up. Ace is without the Doctor, but she is not alone; a group of time travellers from Gallifrey's early days of experimentation are drawn into the World City as well, and all come under attack from the malevolant Process, the creature that attacked and destroyed the TARDIS. And, by all accounts, the creature that killed the Doctor.

This book is phenomenal in its scope, creating a hideous twisted nightmare world where time is running sideways across three distinct zones where everyone exists at a different point in their own history. The Process enslaves the travellers and attempts to destroy Ace, meanwhile back on ancient Gallifrey an upstart called Rassilon and his followers challenge the rule of the Pythia with their ambition to become Time Lords. It's not often we are afforded a glimpse into Gallifrey's past beyond the odd mention of "the Dark Times", but here we are shown the people of the planet unsure of the newcomers, the Time Lords, fresh from their failures on Minyos. And the Pythia will have none of it; it's her world and if she can't have it, she'll curse it and leave the Time Lords a barren race.

Absolutely great. I loved it.

Cat's Cradle : Warhead

With the TARDIS reclaimed, the Doctor and Ace come to earth in the near future where industry and capitralism have ruined the planet. The air stinks, natural resources are dwindling, social decay is spreading in the form of supersition born on the streets of the inner cities, and a powerful elite make a bid to preserve themselves and leave the planet to die. The TARDIS is out of commision after its ordeal, and the Doctor and Ace travel the world by conventional means, spearated at times by oceans, to combat their enemies and to assemble a weapon that the Doctor can use to stop the madness. And in the midst of it all are thrust two unsuspecting lynchpins to the Doctor's plan; a young boy named Vincent who has some terrifying powers, and an angry young woman named Justine who brims with unbridled anger.

This is the first of the really graphic and pretty much disturbing adventures Virgin would put out in the series. Written by the television series's scipt editor, Andrew Cartmel, we get to see the Doctor recede back into the shroud of mystery, pulling even more strings than before to manipulate events. Ace has become tougher, and sees herself as an agent of the Doctor's plans, trusting him implicitly. Awful things happen to Ace in this one; she is routinely beaten up and meanced but she carrys on with her mission to help the Doctor. If there was ever going to be a theatrical film of Doctor Who during this yawning gap of the years between television series, this should have been it.

Cat's Cradle : Witch Mark

The final and I found to be the weakest of the three novels. Exact details of course evade me, which is a bad way to write a review, but I remember unicorns, and some link between Welsh folktales and aliens. Maybe the unicorns were the aliens, and the horn was an extension of their brains. Something like that. Some real sloppy mention on UNIT in the final pages. The damaged TARDIS storyline is finally wound up as well, but again, sloppy.

Now that the series had been established in print the novels would not be as bound together by theme from this point. There would still be a "future history" arc, an "alternate universe" arc and a few others, but the novel series would proceed under the watchful eye of series editor Peter Darvill-Evans for the next while, even including his own contribution to the stories which would turn out to be... well, you'll see.

NEXT EPISODE : NIGHTSHADE