Scientific Adviser

"I am living and yet all I can remember is ending."

Writer: Ian Atkins

Format: Short Story

Released: March 1999

Printed in: More Short Trips 02

Featuring: Second Doctor, Brigadier

Synopsis

Here on Earth or out in the depths of the cosmos, the Doctor and his companions are never far from adventure. 

Discover things on Earth you were never meant to know. Get around the universe. Get short tripping.

Verdict

Scientific Adviser was a fun little adventure to continue my way through the More Short Trips collection! These short stories are so unique and with this one clocking in at twenty-two pages, there was decent potential for some depth and a good little story to hand which is exactly what we got. When I saw the title I was almost certain that this was going to be a tale for the Third Doctor during his time in exile at UNIT, and whilst we did get the organisation involved and a strong showing for the Brigadier, it was actually the Second Doctor to hand in the role! That was a fun little twist and just getting an extra story with this incarnation of the Doctor and UNIT prior to Spearhead from Space is all good with me! The Brigadier has also been promoted now to that role which is fun to acknowledge, but the concept at the heart of this story is something fun doesn't begin to cover. The very idea of there being a film made about the events of The Invasion is glorious and I love that because it was so public, there was a lot of interest in factual accuracy of what happened and just the events in general. It was strong stuff but UNIT didn't want the true information getting out into the public domain which was understandable given what had happened and their nature as an organisation. So who better to go and disrupt a movie set and feed false information than the Doctor? His position as the production's scientific adviser was neat and something he embraced given that he was involved in the actual invasion that was being fictionalised. I do wonder if UNIT had the best method of achieving their goal in making the film not accurate because surely just being 'based on' true events was enough of a cover up to show that what was creatively presented wasn't necessarily fact? Who knows, but it was a lot of fun regardless! I am not going to be one to take this kind of adventure too seriously that's for sure. The Doctor seemed to take a little while to fully grasp what was being asked of him, and he was more interested in fostering a relationship with Kate as the Brigadier's daughter which was nice. It's quite incredible really to think that the woman we saw heading UNIT and tackling the Toymaker with the Fourteenth Doctor in The Giggle was consoled by the Second Doctor when she was just seven years old and due to have her tonsils removed. That was a procedure she was kind of worried about and it was sweet that it was noticed the Doctor had a good understanding with her. He could look after her and the fact he would actually be there to help perform the operation was terrific. That's the Doctor at his best with nice little touches like that. I thought having Tobias Vaughan as a character in the movie was fun and those behind it wanting more of a motive to his actions was good but they weren't getting one as far as the Doctor was concerned. They were also adamant that the Cybermen, for the film purposes named as Zexians, came out of the sewers which is something iconic about The Invasion and fun to address. That really was a shot that was completely necessary! The actual emergence of the Cyber Planner and it disputing events depicted in the film was very good and I loved the Planet 14 reference to confirm its identity. It wouldn't last long though with the Doctor involved! He would save Kate and sever the connection. Overall, a strong read! 

Rating: 8/10