Short Trips, A Universe of Terrors 6.02: Mire and Clay, by Gareth Wigmore

You know, I've got a strange feeling I've had déjà vu before. This time, it's because there are a number of similarities with the recent (chronologically - they're actually published five years apart) short trip The Last Days. Again, we join the story partway through; again the focus is on Ian, though this time that focus is even tighter; again we have the pretence that Barbara is Ian's wife; and again I found what the author did to Ian to be very cruel. What is it about Ian that invites this sort of treatment? He's such a nice young man it feels a bit like kicking a puppy. But then, maybe that's got something to do with it: writing nice people as Action Heroes is a bit of a strange thing to do anyway, and perhaps authors are drawn to pushing at the boundaries of two incompatible archetypes. And, to be fair, he's certainly not the worst-treated Hartnell companion. Still, Ian's handling here - in particular the way he is made to behave during his rescue - does feel... unnecessary. He says he'd never hurt anyone before entering the TARDIS, which makes me wonder what his role during his National Service was, especially since he spent an unhappy time in Korea according to one story. (For those who don't know, after the Second World War the draft was halted; but two years later it was reinstated for men, and in 1950 Britain got involved in the war in Korea - a disastrous move for the economy - prompting an increase in the duration of service from 18 months to two years. The last men entered National Service in 1960, and left in 1963.) OK, I've limited the spoilers to this paragraph, so skip to the next if you don't want to find out a key detail. Still here? OK. The action I mentioned above - where Ian gives in to his desire for revenge - reminded me of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Chain of Command, part II, and in particular the final scene with Picard talking to Troi. In each case it's a more realistic take on what happens when people are pushed to the limit than we often get, contradicting the untouchable hero image. That's good, and - having taken Ian to that point - I applaud where Wigmore went with it. What I don't like is that he took our hero there in the first place. That's enough about Ian: let's talk about the setting. Good grief, we Brits just can't leave Afghanistan alone, can we? When I first read where it was set, I thought "aha! This is the conflict which Doctor Watson returned from shortly before meeting Sherlock Holmes!" Not so. When I thought about the date I realised it was too early. This war, in 1842, is due to be followed by another less than 38 years later (the one involving the original John Watson). Then another, 39 years after that one. You could almost set your watch. The next one should have happened just before the end of National Service but was delayed, probably because Britain was no longer in a position to engage in quite so much Imperialism; so it wasn't until well into the current thirtysomething-year conflict that we got significantly involved. Just as well we did, though, otherwise Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss couldn't have had their modern Watson coming back from Afghanistan to meet Benedict Cumberpatch! </irony> Getting back to 1842, I have to say that vile villain Gul Zaheer has a bad case of the stereotypes. Stereotyping is a useful enough tool, but I think it behooves writers to be careful of such things - particularly when we have an ongoing conflict. Still, I've learned a new word - feringhee - which apparently is an insulting term for "European"; and that's another link back to Star Trek. I'll never look at Quark in quite the same way again. This is getting long and time is getting short, so I'll quickly run through a few final points. The other members of the TARDIS crew are only there to react to Ian. Susan is almost invisible, but the others have at least a little to do. The Doctor apologises for putting Ian into these situations, which is a remarkable statement: not so long ago it would have felt wrong, but here - given everything that's happened - it is surprising but right. Barbara's open displays of affection, however, still feel a bit too much; as does mention of the TARDIS translation circuits. These are both intrusions from a future perspective, which is sometimes fine but grates here. It's hard to say why; perhaps I was just in the wrong mood. In contrast, the way the crew are separated from the TARDIS is classic, and completely of the time. I think it's fair to say that this story wasn't written for me. There's nothing wrong with it in any objective sense, but I just didn't enjoy it for most of the time. Published: Date: June 2003 ISBN: 1-84435-008-8 Rating: 3.5/10. Next Time: Forward, and into audio for Here There Be Monsters.