The Highest Science / The Pit

The TARDIS is drawn to the planet Sakkrat by a large temporal fluctuation, and the Doctor and Bernice discover that it has hijacked a group of invading Chelonians, a group of drug addicted teenage music fans and an entire commuter train. While investigating, the truth of the planet comes out, that its original inhabitants were destroyed by their own creation: the Highest Science.

That's about all I remember of the basic plot. I read it just as long ago as I read Transit and it didn't leave as much of a mark in my mind. I remember that the story follows some pretty traditional patterns, with the Doctor being caught up with the baddies (in this case the xenophobic giant-turtle-people, the Chelonians)and Bernice stuck with the drugged up kids, who even get her to partake of their poison of pleasure : Bubbleshake. And the poor commuters on the train, they just want to go home. Bubbleshake is one of those drug drinks that triggers memory loss in the user, so for her second adventure with the Doctor, Bernice is once more not exactly herself.

Author Gareth Roberts has a distinct writing style all his own, and one I did not immediately enjoy. I can't remember exactly why, maybe because the contrast with Transit was so harsh; we go from gritty and nasty "cyberpunk" to a more comedic way to telling a story. Robert's style would not be lost during the days of Douglas Adams as script editor in the Tom Baker era, and in fact three of his later efforts would be missing adventures that take place in exactly that timeline (I didn't review them, no). Roberts later went on to write episodes of Coronation Street and co-write the pilot episode of spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures with Russell T. Davies.

As for The Pit... there's not a lot to say aside from it's terrible. It's awful. The plot is so vague and thin on the ground that I can hardly remember any of it aside from what was written on the back of the book. But I remember thinking that I was not enjoying it at all, from the presence of a supposedly menacing Time Lord from ancient Gallirey right to some weak reference to UNIT. Not inspirational stuff by any means, and author Neil Penswick gets the dubious award of First Crap Novel of the New Adventures Range.

Everything had been going so well until this one came along. Series editor Peter Darvill-Evans had been doing such a good job, and then this. What was he thinking?

Oh right, he was too busy writing his own novel for the series. It's next.

NEXT EPISODES : DECEIT and LUCIFER RISING