Before I leave this section of the marathon, I want to carry on with the chronological issue raised in the aftermath of The Revenants. I originally wrote this before I got a chance to read Set in Stone, so I've had to do some editing; please excuse any archaeological remnants of the first draft.
A Confused Chronology, part 7: Mind the Gap Redux
I'd like to try and fit everything I can from the gap into a coherent
order. Be warned: this section contains spoilers for the stories I've
reviewed...
Let's start with the easy ones:
1. Venusian Lullaby
2. The Book of Shadows
The first really has to follow straight on from Flashpoint, in the same way that The Time Travellers has to follow on from Crisis; and at the end of the book the Doctor both states his intention of going to the setting of The Book of Shadows
and has the information to do so. The events of that story mess about
with the timestream, though, so it makes sense that things go somewhat
awry after that...
3. The Nine-Day Queen
...coupled with the creature that invades the TARDIS, necessitating an emergency landing.
4. The True and Indisputable Facts in the Matter of the Ram's Skull
5. Set in Stone
I've put these two in this order just because it means that the Doctor
is getting them nearer to 1963. There is also the issue of Iananbarbara
being comfortable in the TARDIS at the end of this; but it seems
reasonable to say that although they are content, they would still
prefer to get home!
6. The Revenants
This is fairly explicitly set up to be the last adventure before The Powerful Enemy (see Ian Potter's blog entry);
I've bent the rules of my marathon now to rewatch the first TARDIS
scene, and think that the writer's done a good job (if you accept the
existence of any of these stories, that is).
My current, best avoidance of the problem with repeating the "nearly
home" discussion is based on the fact that this is a story told by Ian.
He's using dramatic license: the debate this time around would have been
perfunctory and go something like, "We've talked about this before -
changed your mind?" "Nah." "Me neither." But it wouldn't have worked for
Jeannie, and by that point in the conversation he's learned his lesson
after nearly getting sidetracked into talking about The Aztecs, so he just includes the fuller version from a previous adventure.
I am also happy to accept that the TARDIS is now so far from primeval
Venus, and so battered by temporal events, that the Doctor has to give
up on using the Venusian formula. Which leads to my next suggestion:
7. A Long Night
The second production run seems to me to have Iananbarbara less worried
about getting home. I see now that part of this comes from the events of
Set in Stone, and this probably helped when the Doctor admitted he really couldn't make the Venusian formula work straight after The Wissfornjarl. I reckon that the TARDIS crew could all have got some sleep then, and that the events of A Long Night
probably reassured Barbara as well as Joan - though more talk of
telepathy and family would have done nothing to ease the Doctor's
renewed sense of loss, so it's not surprising that when he next woke he
had Susan on his mind.
So, what of the subjects of my other two reviews? The only way Fast Return could be made to fit, occupying as it does the same space as Venusian Lullaby,
would be to insert it in chapter one after Iananbarbara's dinner date
and before the bit about the neutronium counter. I'd rather not, because
it makes one of the things Barbara says particularly crass, but if you
insist. Similarly, the Give-a-Show slides could be put in anywhere
between The Nine-Day Queen and The Revenants; but it really belongs in a different continuity.
That really should be it, and I should be moving straight on to tackle
Vicki's arrival; but I'm going to put it off a little longer. As
mentioned last time I have a couple of stories to review out-of-order,
and I also want to finish Susan's Tale.
Next Time:
The Mother Road, or the penultimate part of Susan's Tale...
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