‘Doctor Who: Terror of the Vervoids’ – Pip and Jane Baker (Target)

 


Page Count: 144 Pages

I’ve never been a big fan of the ‘Trial of a Time Lord’ season of ‘Doctor Who’; although I do have the box-set lurking somewhere, maybe it’s time to give it another go (maybe…)

What I’m a huge fan of though is poring through second-hand bookshops and finding old ‘Doctor Who’ novelisations, hidden away on the shelves, and that’s how I came across my copy of ‘Terror of the Vervoids’. It has taken me a while to get round to reading it (this particular bookshop doesn’t take great care of its books and this one required a little cosmetic work…) but I came across it again, over the weekend, and figured it was overdue a read. So, that’s just what I did… :o)

The Time Lords have brought the Doctor to trial, accusing him of gross interference in the affairs of other planets. If he is found guilty, the Doctor must forfeit all of his remaining regenerations.

In his defence, the Doctor tells of an adventure set on board the Hyperion III space liner, in his future. Answering a distress call, the Doctor and Mel arrive on the liner just as a series of grisly murders begin.

Who is behind the murders? Do the enigmatic Mogarians have anything to do with them? Who sent the distress call to the TARDIS? And what hideous menace lies waiting in the Hydroponic Centre..?

I mentioned, at the top of the post, that ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’ isn’t a favourite series of mine but within that series, ‘Terror of the Vervoids’ is probably my favourite story. It’s been a while since I watched the serial but reading the book reminded me why.

What we have here is ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ but set in space and with the Doctor stepping in for Hercule Poirot. There’s a mystery to be solved and it needs to be solved before the killer works their way through the passengers and crew. And just as you think you’re starting to get your head round the ‘who’ and ‘why’, the plot takes a hard shift in direction and the stakes are suddenly much higher. Now, the Doctor must face down a mad scientist (trying to steer the Hyperion III into a black hole) and ensure that the Vervoid threat doesn’t make it off the ship. And if that wasn’t enough for you, we also occasionally take a step back to see how the Doctor is faring, in court, against charges that will decide his future.

There’s a lot going on here then and on the whole, it makes for a very engaging tale with all the elements of the plot fitting together well and keeping the momentum going in the right direction. ‘Murder Mysteries’ are always a good thing and this one was enough of a mystery to keep me reading. If I had to make one small criticism of the structure, it’s that the frequency and placement of the courtroom scenes can take something away from the main thrust of the plot. It makes more sense when placed in the wider context of the serial as a whole but as a one off read here, I’d rather spend more time on the Hyperion III. It’s not a deal-breaker though, the ‘Hyperion III’ are still worth sticking around for and the pay-off is a good one as the stakes are raised with the introduction of the Vervoids.

And the Vervoids make for awesome villains, it has to be said. You can’t help but be a little sympathetic to their plight but their reaction to it, and resulting stance against ‘animal kind’, is so violent that they swiftly become pretty chilling to watch; especially as they have a nasty habit of popping out of ventilation ducts when you least expect it. Turns out that the only thing worse than a Triffid is a Triffid that tells you it’s going to kill you…

In the midst of this all, the Sixth Doctor seems to have got over his early identity crisis and is back to doing what he does best; even if he is a little more ruthless than the Fourth Doctor when faced with a similar ethical dilemma. We don’t see an awful lot of new companion Mel but from what we do see, she’s a decent foil for the Doctor and doesn’t let him get away with too much (which isn’t a bad thing for this incarnation).

I reckon that ‘Terror of the Vervoids’ is more a book that fans will get the most out of but was still an entertaining slice of ‘sci-fi mystery’, from where I was sat. And it was a nice reminder too, that not all of ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’ was that bad ;o)

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