Mission to Magnus

"We need the secrets of time travel."

Writer: Philip Martin

Format: Novel

Released: July 1990

Series: Target: Missing Episodes 03

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis

'Did I hear "Doctor"? Is it the Doctor I have drawn to me? The laugh become more student, forcing the Doctor to thrust his fingers into his ears in panic and close his eyes, as if here were a frightened child.'

The TARDIS has been pulled off course and sent hurtling through space and time. When it finally stops, Peri is amazed to witness the Doctor's transformation into a cringing coward.

The takeover of the TARDIS by the school bully from the class of the fourth millennium on Gallifrey is only the first of the Doctor's problems. On the surface of the planet Magnus more of his old enemies are conspiring to trick the planet's all-female rulers; the Doctor and Peri have to foil a plot to freeze the entire world and wipe out most of the population. 

Verdict

Mission to Magnus was a decent novelisation of the TV serial intended for the original Season 24! Now, I have blogged the Lost Stories audio some eight years ago now and looking back on that 2014 entry it seems this story works better when performed and that was a feeling I had as I was reading through. I remembered very little of the plot but I couldn't help but feel that Philip Martin wrote this rather quickly and didn't take much opportunity to expand upon the script. The plot works well and I love the idea of the Sixth Doctor battling against Sil again as he was hugely successful in Vengeance on Varos, but the arrival of the Ice Warriors seems a little clumsy here and doesn't happen until over halfway through. In saying that, the departure of Anzor seems premature and I think the story would have worked better without one of these. I loved the idea of Anzor being a school bully version of a Time Lord and the reaction of the Doctor to cower in fear when hearing his voice as the TARDIS that had called his was uncharacteristic, especially of the sixth incarnation! Peri was dumbfounded and wasn't having any of it. She stood up to the bully no problem. I thought Magnus was a good setting although a mention of the icy regions would have helped earlier on before coming about just before the Ice Warriors showed up. I think it would have been marvellous for the Martians to return on screen in the Sixth Doctor era and it's just nice for his incarnation to meet them. A bit more of an alliance with Sil would have been great, but the conniving and profit hungry slug was out to cause chaos. The idea of women being the dominant gender on Magnus was excellent and I think is something that could work well again. Peri almost immediately assuming the role of command when the Doctor left her alone in the caves was brilliant and it was a position she revelled in. Vion and her generated a strong relationship in the end and he was a fun character. The Rana as the female leader was a tremendous character though and she didn't worry about Sil's motives. She knew he was out for money and the way she challenged him when his plan with the Salvakians was shown as a sham was terrific. I thought the arrival of the Ice Warriors provided a strong sense of danger with their attempts to detonate the bomb and trigger climatic catastrophe. I thought a motive like that was a bit simple and more of an emphasis on why they chose Magnus was required. The Magnusians and Sil getting in the TARDIS was terrific and the memory extraction to obtain the formula of time travel was nicely done. Seeing the future and the destruction of Magnus was strong, but I'm not sure I could buy into them going forward and back so easily and precisely. The Ice Warriors actually being successful in changing the orbit of Magnus was good, but the book finishes a bit quickly with the Doctor quite easily reverting the planet back on course. Anzor was back at the start of time and heading back to him for a final paragraph would have made for a great epilogue but sadly it didn't come. Overall though, a strong story that is better suited for a performed format. 

Rating: 7/10