19 - Blood Heat

The first entry in the so-called “alternate universe cycle,” Blood Heat brings us back to UNIT HQ, where the Third Doctor has died during the events of “Doctor Who and the Silurians.”  The desperate remnants of UNIT cling to life in a grim future that perfectly suits Jim Mortimore’s style, and it makes for an exhilarating read for anyone familiar with the UNIT era.

We all know how “The Silurians” unfolded; the original reptilian inhabitants of Earth release a plague, the Doctor is captured, he escapes and tricks the Silurians into going back into cryosleep, the day is saved - and then Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart explodes the cave, killing the sleeping SIlurians and any future hope of peace along with them.  Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor is of course furious, and it’s easy to see how the Brigadier could have become a primary villain of the show had this thread continued.  Of course, this didn’t happen, and the Brigadier instead mellows, becoming a trusted ally by the time that the Doctor regenerates four seasons later.  Mortimore takes the Brig in the opposite direction - after the Doctor dies, Lethbridge-Stewart’s desperation in the war against the “reps” has radicalized him into a truly evil man.  While Seven works with this embittered version of his old friend to ensure peace, Ace hunts down the alternate Doctor’s rotting TARDIS, which she uses to disable the Brig’s nuclear missiles.

But with the world saved, the Doctor has another problem - both universes can’t exist at once, so he is forced to choose whether he should destroy the alternate timeline to save the “real” universe.  It’s an excellent moral dilemma: this new timeline isn’t the “original,” but does that give it any less right to exist?  Even the solution the Doctor chooses, collapsing the alternate universe at the end of its timeline to avoid cutting anyone’s life short, is far from perfect.  The Doctor knows better than anyone that the past still exists; he can visit Shakespeare or Mansa Musa, but all of those people he saved are gone forever.  It’s a wonderfully nihilistic ending, and I couldn’t stop reading.

Blood Heat is a fantastic blend of Who’s past and future, and an essential chapter in the Doctor’s journey through the Wilderness.  Its only major flaw is that it sidelines Benny for most of the story, but this is only because its time is split by so many other compelling characters.  I’m intrigued to see where this arc goes next!