Sometimes what you expect, is just what you need...
Coldheart by Trevor Baxendale
Eigth Doctor Adventures number: 33
Originally published: April 2000
Companions: Fitz & Compassion
The Doctor, Fitz and Compassion arrive on the planet Eskon — a strange world of ice and fire. Far beneath the planet's burning surface are vast lakes frozen solid by the glacial subterranean temperature.
But the civilised community that relies on the ice reservoirs for its survival has more to worry about than a shortage of water. The hideous slimers — degenerate mutations in the population — are growing more hostile by the moment, and their fanatical leader will stop at nothing to exact revenge against those in authority. But what connects the slimers to the unknown horror that lurks deep beneath the ice? And what is the terrible truth that the city leaders will do anything to conceal?
To unearth the ugliest secrets of Eskon, the TARDIS crew becomes involved in a desperate conflict. While Fitz is embroiled in the deadly plans of the slimers, the Doctor and Compassion must lead a danger-fraught subterranean expedition to prevent a disaster that could destroy the very essence of Eskon... its cold heart.
I'll admit it - I don’t like slugs. Hideous slimy things that eat my plants and deserve a good salting. I stood on one once in bare feet. Makes me shudder just thinking about it. But they do make a fine Doctor Who monster, as Trevor Baxendale shows us his first Eighth Doctor novel.
And yes. It is *very* traditional.
A society with clear top / bottom problems and the smell of revolution in the air. A downtrodden underclass that are treated as freaks. A ruling triumvirate where one is an angry inflexible bigot with a longing for power and a hidden secret. A monster waiting in the darkness underground. And lets not forget the slime - lots and lots of slime. Hopefully 'gween'.
I should have been rolling my eyes at the sheer familiarity of it all. But instead... I found myself drawn in.
Baxendale created a convincing desert planet and a culture that, even though it's painted with a few broad strokes, left me wanting to know more. By contrast, the Eskoni city of Baktan was vividly realised. I could easily picture this vast location - and its somewhere that I would have been happy for the Doctor and his companions to have lingered.
The Doctor in this novel is brilliant - full of energy, caring, honest, determined to help, yet at times reckless and impulsive. Equally Fitz tries his best to be a good man. It's clear he idolises The Doctor. Is he in love with him ? That *would* be original.
I couldn’t really warm to Compassion though, and she's more of a mystery. Reading these novels out of order I've yet to see how she became a walking, talking TARDIS. Plus with her being invulnerable, there was never really any peril. Whatever the depth of the chasm, no matter the size of the underground Tsunami, she'd always survive.
Still, reading about the three of them absorbing the sights and sounds and smells of Baktan - and it's injustices - before the main plot kicked in, was very enjoyable.
Speaking of which, that’s another area where things did not veer from the traditional track. It was obvious that Tor Grymna would have a Slimer child - and that despite his hideous crimes he would try to redeem himself in the end. That the gross Spulver Worm was the cause of the mutations. That the Doctor would find a way to save this society from the alien menace and from itself.
What I didn’t predict was that the Doctor's solution would be - basically - "wash it down the plughole". Nor that in doing so, it would ultimately caused the destruction of Baktan, leaving thousands homeless!
I mean at the end of the novel, there's a lovely new lake of fresh uncontaminated water, but nowhere to shelter and a blazing hot sun is coming up in a few hours. The slave class still seem to be in servitude and the Slimers are either dead or still hated.
But, "time to go" says the Doctor and off he pops, leaving the Eskoni to a new dawn of what ? Sunburn ? Hunger ?
There was a short moment where it looked like Fitz might hang around longer to help rebuild. It would have been nicer if the Doctor had done the same.
I'm being picky. If you are going to go trad - stick with the tried and trusted ending of the Doctor walking off when it's too mundane for him. And, despite the familiarity - in the end it *was* a fun read - perhaps almost good enough to be the novelisation of an unseen TV story.
How they would have realised a bunch of camel people, a giant slug and a tidal wave back in the 1990s? Now that I would have liked to have seen!
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