From the House of Lungbarrow
By Matthew Kresal
Column 4:
The Scales of Injustice
3rd July 2011
(Author's Note: This was originally written to coinicide with The Doctor Who Book Club choosing the 1996 Virgin Missing Adventure The Scales Of Injustice to be their book. Unfortunately due to deadlines and other things, it was not completed in time before the podcast was recorded or released. So, better late then never, here it is.)
As the very name of the novel range suggests, the Virgin Missing Adventures were created to fill in the holes left by Doctor Who's TV continuity as it was when the original TV series ended in 1989. If that is indeed the case then that's what The Scales Of Injustice does so well. Filling in gaps left by 1983'sWarriors Of The Deep and the decision not to give Liz Shaw an exit in either Inferno or Terror Of The Autons, Gary Russell's 1996 novel is arguably one of the most essential of the Missing Adventures for fans of the series.
For starters Russell seems to know his characters. By the time I reached the end of "Episode One" Russell had proven (to me at least) that I was reading the third Doctor, Liz Shaw and the Brigadier as played by Jon Pertwee, Caroline John and Nicholas Courtney. The same can be said of the entire UNIT family as well right down to Benton and Yates. The chemistry is there in the dialogue and in the descriptions of the characters actions in a way rarely captured in the MA's or its successor the PDA's. If nothing else The Scales Of Injustice features one of the most accurate recreations of the Pertwee era cast.
Then there's the new characters thrown into the mix. It is no secret that Russell's stories make strong use of continuity and this novel is no exception to that rule. Infusing elements from across the earthbound stories of the series (even including some references to Remembrance Of The Daleks), Pertwee's first season as well as Virgin's own published novel Who Killed Kennedy Russell brings a new set of villains into the series: Townsend, managing director of the Vault and his henchmen "the Irish twins". Together they make for some fantastic villains especially in the novels final "episode". Add in the Brigadier's wife and daughter into the mix as well to give a personal side to the UNIT era that was missing on TV. Then there's the Silurians and their teenage captive Marc Marshall who between them have some of the novel's best dialogue. All together it is a good mix of supporting characters.
Also, Scales Of Injustice features one of the better novel plots as well. By choosing to fill in the gaps I talked about at the start of this review, Russell had his work cut out for him. Here Russell certainly rises to the task without getting so heavy that the story gets stopped in its tracks. In the novel we get the infusing of UNIT, the Silurians, Department C19, Glasshouse, the Myrka (though thankfully not the pantomime horse version seen in Warriors Of The Deep!) and the exit of Liz Shaw. Writing to fit into Season 7's seven episode format Russel never wastes a moment even right down to the cliffhangers which really sells this as a "missing adventure". The highlight though for me was Liz Shaw's wonderfully written exit which, to my mind, was way better handled then the version seen later in Devil Goblins From Neptune. If you aren't turned off by continuity references and instead revel in them then you should find this a terrific Doctor Who novel.
The Scales Of Injustice is a missing adventure in every sense of the term. From its accurate recreation of the leading cast to good supporting characters and the tying up of a few loose ends Gary Russell writes a story worthy of being a seven part story from the beginning of the Pertwee era. While it might not be the greatest Doctor Who novel or even the best of the Missing Adventure range but you know what it is? It's a splendid recreation of one of the strongest season's of Doctor Who ever and a fine read to boot.
As the very name of the novel range suggests, the Virgin Missing Adventures were created to fill in the holes left by Doctor Who's TV continuity as it was when the original TV series ended in 1989. If that is indeed the case then that's what The Scales Of Injustice does so well. Filling in gaps left by 1983'sWarriors Of The Deep and the decision not to give Liz Shaw an exit in either Inferno or Terror Of The Autons, Gary Russell's 1996 novel is arguably one of the most essential of the Missing Adventures for fans of the series.
For starters Russell seems to know his characters. By the time I reached the end of "Episode One" Russell had proven (to me at least) that I was reading the third Doctor, Liz Shaw and the Brigadier as played by Jon Pertwee, Caroline John and Nicholas Courtney. The same can be said of the entire UNIT family as well right down to Benton and Yates. The chemistry is there in the dialogue and in the descriptions of the characters actions in a way rarely captured in the MA's or its successor the PDA's. If nothing else The Scales Of Injustice features one of the most accurate recreations of the Pertwee era cast.
Then there's the new characters thrown into the mix. It is no secret that Russell's stories make strong use of continuity and this novel is no exception to that rule. Infusing elements from across the earthbound stories of the series (even including some references to Remembrance Of The Daleks), Pertwee's first season as well as Virgin's own published novel Who Killed Kennedy Russell brings a new set of villains into the series: Townsend, managing director of the Vault and his henchmen "the Irish twins". Together they make for some fantastic villains especially in the novels final "episode". Add in the Brigadier's wife and daughter into the mix as well to give a personal side to the UNIT era that was missing on TV. Then there's the Silurians and their teenage captive Marc Marshall who between them have some of the novel's best dialogue. All together it is a good mix of supporting characters.
Also, Scales Of Injustice features one of the better novel plots as well. By choosing to fill in the gaps I talked about at the start of this review, Russell had his work cut out for him. Here Russell certainly rises to the task without getting so heavy that the story gets stopped in its tracks. In the novel we get the infusing of UNIT, the Silurians, Department C19, Glasshouse, the Myrka (though thankfully not the pantomime horse version seen in Warriors Of The Deep!) and the exit of Liz Shaw. Writing to fit into Season 7's seven episode format Russel never wastes a moment even right down to the cliffhangers which really sells this as a "missing adventure". The highlight though for me was Liz Shaw's wonderfully written exit which, to my mind, was way better handled then the version seen later in Devil Goblins From Neptune. If you aren't turned off by continuity references and instead revel in them then you should find this a terrific Doctor Who novel.
The Scales Of Injustice is a missing adventure in every sense of the term. From its accurate recreation of the leading cast to good supporting characters and the tying up of a few loose ends Gary Russell writes a story worthy of being a seven part story from the beginning of the Pertwee era. While it might not be the greatest Doctor Who novel or even the best of the Missing Adventure range but you know what it is? It's a splendid recreation of one of the strongest season's of Doctor Who ever and a fine read to boot.
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The Scales of Injustice is available to buy from the Amazon Marketplace |