By John Toon

Obverse Books, out now

The evolution of The Planet That Slept…

There are certain Doctor Who stories that really lend themselves well to the Black Archive format, which allows the author to go into (sometimes almost obsessive) detail about a particular aspect. The true historical roots of a tale, or the use it makes of a scientific principle are ripe for such discussion, and in his well argued text, John Toon deals with evolution – both as it was understood at the time the script was written and subsequently. Written with input from Full Circle’s author, Andrew Smith, this will definitely make you go back and both rewatch the episode and read (or listen to) the novelisation with fresh eyes.

Once the standard reminder of the plot is out of the way, Toon starts with a discussion of Season 18 and the influence or otherwise of new script editor Christopher H. Bidmead. As with some earlier Black Archives, this would seem to rather muddy the pitch for anyone else wanting to cover one of these stories (Meglos, for instance, would seem to fit the criteria for an underappreciated serial) by covering the whole year, but the points made are good. Toon then goes on to discuss the idea of an overarching plot and how that turned up in the classic show (and other contemporary series such as Private Eye) before a brief mention of the change in companions that this story kicked off.

Chapter 2 gets into the meat of the book, with the start of the explanations regarding evolution. Toon does a good job of making the more abstruse scientific bits followable by a non-science-oriented reader, linking it to other such Doctor Who stories (Ghost Light and The Lazarus Experiment especially). Chapter 3 follows on from this by wondering if Alzarius itself is a living planet (yes, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 does get a mention), and the whole Gaia concept is referenced. Chapter 4 deals with the bad and weird science within the story, with Andrew Smith’s contributions occasionally bringing some of the theoretical flights of fancy back down to Earth! Chapter 5 deals with concepts of Civilisation, again in an approachable way.

Chapter 6 – Teenage Kicks – is focused on Adric, and the presentation of both his character and other teens within the series while Chapter 7 heads off into B-movie territory with a look at the roots of the visual representation of the Marshmen. A brief appendix flits lightly over the surface of the question of fan “poachers turned gamekeepers”, a topic that I suspect could generate an entire Black Archive of its own when addressing the work of certain writers.

Verdict: The cliffhanger to the first part of Full Circle was what got me back into Doctor Who after a year away – the equivalent episode the previous season made me despair and switch off the show – so it’s always been a particular favourite story, and this intriguing and well written book is a good companion for it. 9/10

Paul Simpson