lokster71's review
4.0
Robert Smith?'s 'The Silurians' is an excellent addition to The Black Archive that does a fine job of raising and then dealing with the issues raised by 'Doctor Who and The Silurians'.
Robert Smith? is, when not writing Doctor Who books, a mathematician, a Professor of Disease Modelling no less so this story is perfect for him to cast his eye over and Chapter 6: Could The Silurian Plague Have Killed Us All undoubtedly benefits from that expertise.
However, where this book is at its best is in its analysis of the ethics and morality of the story, which effectively 'breaks' the Doctor's moral certainty by having the Doctor continue to work with the Brigadier after the Brigadier commits what looks like genocide at the end of the story. It might not be genocide because the Brigadier might simply be sealing off the Silurian caves as opposed to destroying them entirely. It looks like genocide though and The Doctor's decision to carry on working with the Brigadier after the smallest of protest compromises The Doctor as a character and Doctor Who as a series.
All of which Robert Smith? identifies and analyses in excellent style. I think this might be my favorite Black Archive, apart from 'The Massacre'.
Well worth a read.
Robert Smith? is, when not writing Doctor Who books, a mathematician, a Professor of Disease Modelling no less so this story is perfect for him to cast his eye over and Chapter 6: Could The Silurian Plague Have Killed Us All undoubtedly benefits from that expertise.
However, where this book is at its best is in its analysis of the ethics and morality of the story, which effectively 'breaks' the Doctor's moral certainty by having the Doctor continue to work with the Brigadier after the Brigadier commits what looks like genocide at the end of the story. It might not be genocide because the Brigadier might simply be sealing off the Silurian caves as opposed to destroying them entirely. It looks like genocide though and The Doctor's decision to carry on working with the Brigadier after the smallest of protest compromises The Doctor as a character and Doctor Who as a series.
All of which Robert Smith? identifies and analyses in excellent style. I think this might be my favorite Black Archive, apart from 'The Massacre'.
Well worth a read.
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