05 - Cat’s Cradle: Time’s Crucible

This story was exactly what I was looking for from a Doctor Who novel - it’s esoteric, bizarre, time-bending, and introduces some wonderful world-building that will come into play later, giving us a look into Gallifrey’s past.  While not remotely approachable for newer Who fans, I found it to be an excellent installment in the franchise!

As these novels are prone to do, we start in two places at once.  A monstrous worm-like being called the Process invades the TARDIS, causing it to begin falling apart before the Doctor and Ace’s eyes.  At the same time (but also far in the past), a small group of telepathically-linked Gallifreyan adventurers begin one of the planet’s first experiments in time and space, before crashing into the TARDIS and landing in a vast silver city.  Ace lands in the same city, and before long she realizes that it loops back on itself, containing three time zones in one.  She meets the Gallifreyans at two different points in time, and before long she realizes that the city is none other than the TARDIS itself, inverted so that it is bigger on the inside in time instead of space!  Can Ace find the Doctor and set the TARDIS - and Gallifrey’s past - back on track?

Marc Platt really excels here with his descriptions of a world where the laws of time are flipped on their head.  In particular, he paints a picture of a city contained within a hollow sphere that ripples and bends as the TARDIS collapses, nearly two decades before Inception would make use of similar visuals  For the first time, Platt also allows us to see into the depths of Gallifrey’s history; the planet is ruled by a line of clairvoyant queens called Pythias, while a young Rassilon threatens to topple the old order.  The last Pythia uses her psychic abilities to possess one of the young Chronauts, but the Doctor thwarts her plans as he rebuilds his TARDIS, thus ensuring that Rassilon becomes her successor instead.

Time’s Crucible was originally pitched for the 6th Doctor (Colin Baker) as part of season 22, but the script was rejected for being too ambitious to work on-screen.  I completely agree, and I think it’s a story better suited for prose, where its world isn’t constrained by a BBC budget.  I definitely recommend this story, and it’s a strong start to the Cat’s Cradle “trilogy.”