The Jupiter Conjunction

"We must know you."

Writer: Eddie Robson

Format: Audio

Released: May 2012

Series: Monthly Adventures 160

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough

Synopsis 

Eight slash Q Panenka, a craggy comet with a 13km circumference, has an elliptical orbit that takes it between Earth and Jupiter. Which, in the year 2329, makes it a cheap means of space freight – the second class postal service of the solar system.

But when the TARDIS lands on Panenka, the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa discover a community falling apart at the seams – plagued by thefts, and mysterious disappearances among the 'piggybackers' who eke out a desperate existence on the comet.

While Tegan and Nyssa suit up for a dangerous excursion into the comet's Unstable Zone, the Doctor and Turlough find themselves pawn in a game that could lead t tragedy for both Earth and Jupiter alike...

Verdict 

The Jupiter Conjunction was a very good story to continue my way through the Monthly Adventures! I still can’t quite believe that is the one-hundred-and-sixtieth release and I’m still stunned that I have over one hundred more to get through! The end really doesn’t feel like it’s in sight and that’s very exciting as I hope I never get into a position where I’m struggling for content. I love blogging daily and it’s taken me not far off a decade to get this far, I wonder how long it will take to finish? This is a fine adventure as the middle story in another Fifth Doctor trilogy and I liked how we went from an Indian historical to a comet between Earth and Jupiter. It was a good shift and definitely had a much different feel. The setting worked well and I liked the background being the basis of a war between Earth and Jupiter. So the comet having a position of conjunction between the two was a fine backdrop. I liked that a lot. I thought the continuity from The Emerald Tiger was good in mentioning Nyssa’s recent rejuvenation and I quite liked that she’d been spending time in the TARDIS library. That felt right for her. I thought Tegan was something of a bystander for this audio which is always a potential problem with a TARDIS quartet. Turlough had a strong outing and I thought the cliffhanger to part one was brilliant where he claimed he would give evidence against the Doctor after all of the signs pointed towards them being involved in the stolen cargo. The use of the TARDIS as a ship that could materialise and go without much of a trace was obviously handy, and as coincidence would have it the cargo was going missing just as the TARDIS had arrived. Questioning whether the Doctor had been on the comet before or in his future was good, but he was adamant that he had not nor would not. What reason would he have to? Turlough is something of a divisive character and if any companion is going to turn against the Doctor then feasibly it could be him given how he started with the Black Guardian. The Doctor fully believed that he’d turned against him which was great, but as the listener we knew it was all an elaborate escape plan. It was actually pretty clever for him to claim a place where the stolen cargo was located to get rid of the security and he nearly got away with it! His claim that Tegan and Nyssa were just two women they’d picked up was fun and it provided them with time to seek out their own path in the story. It worked well to have the pairs split off. I’m really liking Nyssa’s focus on her medical research and when it seemed like she might die, she was horrified by the prospect of not completing her research. That was strong continuity with Cobwebs and I do wonder if her second stint in the TARDIS is drawing to an end. The Jupiter Axis was a good organisation and I thought the concept behind the Jovians had a lot of potential. They were natives of Jupiter and the very idea of them existing as a combination of ideas was incredible. They were almost a people and society willed into existence and that was fascinating. I hope this wasn’t the last we hear of them. Violet revealing herself as actually the Lieutenant Colonel was a fun moment as Major Nash didn’t see it coming and was quite shocked to find himself outranked. She made no qualms of using her position and demanded he refer to her as ma’am. A very strong moment. I thought Patricia Walton was another strong character playing politics and I really appreciated having some female leads here. It was refreshing. Manny was a good character too whilst he lasted and his death brought a welcomed shift in the direction of the story and things felt more dangerous once that had happened. It opened things up for more. I liked the revelation that the Jovians had been duped by Violet and company with there actually being a peace treaty announced between Earth and Jupiter. So the whole story of the weapon being constructed was actually intended to put blame on the Jovians to show they were hostile and ruin any chance of peace. Even Nash didn’t know about the treaty which was very good! The suggestion from Tegan to prevent the Earth attack by altering the course of the comet was great and Nyssa being primed to help make that happen was good, but things went wrong and it seemed that she would be lost! Her being saved by a Jovian was a nice touch. Nash’s killing of Violet was absolutely brutal so getting a solid ending like this was necessary. Turlough seemed glad the whole ideal was behind them as he wanted to just get up and leave once the Doctor was out of jail, and his whole trial was a sham, but look what they would have missed out on! Overall, a really strong adventure. 

Rating: 8/10