by Brian J. Robb

Obverse Books, out now

Obverse Books’ ongoing series of monographs focusing on a Doctor Who serial or story hits 1982’s Season 19 story Earthshock.

Author Brian J Robb’s overview of Eric Saward’s 80s return of the Cybermen is a no-nonsense, strongly-opinionated, well-argued three act sortie, starting with the cheeky chapter title ’Everybody Loves Adric’. Thus follows a deep dive into the creation of the ‘annoying teen genius’, and how he was used and abused by the show before dying in the final moments of the last episode. It was a bold move, and as Robb reminds us, no producer since has had the conviction to kill a companion and make it stick. Indeed, he rationalises that Adric’s death was the best thing that ever happened to him.

The Saward Imperative looks at the contributions of both writer Eric Saward and Peter Grimwade, how the story was created by revisiting older serials (particularly one that was not currently able to be rewatched) and how its two big shocks lose their impact after the first viewing. Is it fair game to plunder missing stories? Does it matter if this ‘gap filler’ delivered so spectacularly?

In the final, most opinionated chapter, Robb argues how the road to the show’s cancellation began with Earthshock, the increased reliance on the nostalgia of returning monsters giving the show arrested development. He makes some valid points, though I’d argue that the show’s death was inevitable without the injection of greater resources and a new producer. In any event, a lot of us young fans had a great time as it pandered to us. The final section is an appendix summarising a selection of views from a Facebook group about how the serial and Adric’s death affected them.

Verdict: A Star For Mathematical Excellence for Brian’s cracking of the Earthshock Code, a formula that was to influence the future of Doctor Who. An extra point if he could have also calculated the E-Space coordinates of Alzarius to get Adric home. 9/10

Nick Joy

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