128: Enlightenment

8/12/08

This is a mixed bag for me. I like some of it, and I dislike other parts. The basic concept is that The TARDIS appears aboard a ship at sea, deep down in the hold. The Doctor and Turlough set out to explore and are apprehended taken to the Captain's quarters where they discover that they are aboard a yacht that is in a race. The crew has no memory of how they came to be on the boat. As the race begins, a viewport opens up and we see that the boat is not a boat at all, but a space ship, and that the race is among other ships in deep space. The prize is enlightenment.

Over the story's unfolding, we learn that the captain and his right hand man are among a group called the Eternals and can read thoughts. They know everything about the Doctor and his two companions, and they see them as toys. The reason the crew cannot remember how they got aboard the ship is because the Eternals have taken them from their respective time, that being somewhere in the early 1900s. All aboard the other ships, this same thing has happened. The race is among Eternals, and they each have a ship from a different period. A Greek ship with authentic Greek crew, Pirate ship with actual pirates, etc.

The catch is that when a ship is knocked out of the race, the crew are killed. They disappear into nothing. The Eternals go back to their home, but not the mortals. They are dead. So the Doctor clearly cannot stand by and watch this happen.

What unfolds after this brings a resolution not just to this story, but also to the Black Guardian trilogy, with a definite ending being put on the traitor storyline of Turlough. I still don't like him, though. He's going to have to earn my respect, and he hasn't done so yet.

I give this story a 5.5/10