DOCTOR WHO
"THE ALCHEMISTS OF FEAR"
On every world, the word ‘Dalek’ means death.
Starring the Sixth Doctor, Peri Brown and Frobisher
Starring the Sixth Doctor, Peri Brown and Frobisher
"All who come into contact with the case will die. That is the easement of inferior lifeforms..." Mandusus, 8187. Exploring the zipways, the Doctor, Peri and Frobisher clash with the slowship's past. Artefacts taken out of Time and removed to the present. With malicious intent. One of which has been extinct for thousands of years. Traced by operatives of Virtuosity Astrotech, the Doctor begins to understand that there is far more at stake than lost property. His deadliest of enemies, the Daleks, are at large somewhere on Mandusus. Already, they have set to work on Operation: Mindnet, a project with hideous implications for the slowship's future. The Doctor believes he can stop them. But can he? Led by the Red Dalek and propelled by the telepathic powers of the Psyche Dalek, they understand the Time Lord's mind. This time, the Daleks are ready for him... Episodic Version:
WHO'S WHO? (SPOILER-FREE)
This novel can be read with no prior knowledge of this Doctor or his companions.
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Addenda:
Author CommentarY for "THE ALCHEMISTS OF FEAR" (*Spoilers) by alan camlann
Alan Camlann
- For tyrants so singularly obsessed with uniformity as the Daleks, they do have quite a number of colour schemes at their disposal. The Daleks of Mandususforce, as featured in this novel, are modelled on silver-black variants depicted in a number of non-televised merchandise from the late-'70s and early-'80s. More specifically, those in Andrew Skilleter's Target-commissioned artwork for Dalek Omnibus and Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks, and Jim Halloway's FASA-commissioned artwork for The Doctor Who Roleplaying Game's The Daleks supplement.
- In publishing order, Mandusus was mentioned by Peri in Emperor of the Daleks, a comic written by Paul Cornell and John Freeman. The Psyche Dalek, a prominent foe in this story, also originated from there. Its main purpose among the Daleks, however, has been heavily expanded for The Alchemists of Fear. This arch-puppeteer is a Dalek we've never quite seen before.
- The toy skimjet in Gigan owes something of its design to the technical wizardry of Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation series.
- Any resemblance between the Virtuosity-brand cargosuits and Ellen Ripley's power loader from Aliens is purely intentional.
- The Doctor and Frobisher discuss zeiton crystals and vortex crystals, respectively. Malcolm Hulke's 1979 novelisation, Doctor Who and the War Games, describes a "green-coloured crystal" necessary for a TARDIS's time control unit. Philip Martin's Vengeance on Varos wouldn't broadcast until 1985, but it's easy to believe that the much valued Zeiton-7 element is one and the same. We never see it on television. Vortex crystals come, fittingly, from the 1986 FASA gamebook, Doctor Who and the Vortex Crystal. A broader name applied for the same item we see the Doctor use as a defensive weapon in Timelash.
- The Alchemists of Fear once again taps into the zeitgeist of its characters' home time period. Whereas Eden By Annihilation explored the Cold War tensions of the 1980s, The Alchemists of Fear was written with a mind towards corporations run amok. An era where commercial entities with zero accountability held the same power as national governments. While intended as a throwback, the themes have become unnervingly current in 2024. History certainly enjoys a rerun.
- Peri's fleshed-out knowledge of Baltimore in the 1970s comes from first-hand accounts of a lovely fellow writer who lived there. Many of the little touches, here and there, are from that conversation. A similar conversation with a different equally lovely author gave insight into New York. Peri's relation to the Culpers, a spy ring working for George Washington during the American Civil War, came from a story that sadly never got off the ground.
- As with any homage, it's important to remember to tip the hat. Steve Parkhouse, the author who brought is Frobisher, possessed a powerful lyrical mysticism in how he wrote his Sixth Doctor tales. Not too far removed from the bizarre dream-like worlds of stories like The Mind Robber, Warrior's Gate or Enlightenment. More broadly, his prose feels almost like Richard Carpenter's hypnotic mythologising for Robin of Sherwood. One of Doctor Who's televised rivals when the Sixth Doctor was airing. Fittingly, the poem used in the attack on the Doctor is a pastiche of the English nursery rhyme, Who Killed Cock Robin?
- The Daicon Robotics Firm. Named after a pair of Japanese anime OVAs that prefigured the creation of Studio Gainax or a winter radish? Reader, you get to decide. Incidentally, there are many nods and winks to 1980s anime series. Can you spot them?
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