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"ICONS: CHARLES DARWIN AND THE SILURIAN SURVIVAL – WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (AGAIN)"

L. D. Lapinski’s Icons: Charles Darwin and the Silurian Survival plunges the Tenth Doctor into a quintessentially Doctor Who scenario—a tropical island, eminent scientists, and subterranean lizard people vying for dominion over Earth’s future. The premise is golden: Darwin’s voyage to the Galápagos collides with a hidden Silurian scientific outpost beneath the islands. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Bloodtide, a 2001 Big Finish audio, did almost exactly that—with the Sixth Doctor. And, unfortunately, this novella doesn’t do quite enough to differentiate itself.

DARWIN MEETS DINOSAURS (SORT OF)

On paper, this is a delightful concept. The Tenth Doctor’s barely-contained fanboy glee at meeting Charles Darwin is a treat, capturing the manic energy and historical reverence that defined his era. There’s a certain dramatic irony in the Doctor having to carefully sidestep telling Darwin just how pivotal he’ll be to human understanding of life—especially while standing next to giant lizards who predate humanity.

The inclusion of a scientific Silurian outpost, separate from the usual militaristic interpretations, is a refreshing twist. These Silurians aren’t ready to wake up just yet, but they are actively monitoring Earth from the shadows, raising ethical questions about responsibility, cohabitation, and history’s trajectory. Darwin earns their respect not through force or argument, but via his awe for the natural world—a quiet moment that encapsulates the thematic heart of the piece.

There’s even a cute meta-commentary on the Silurians’ ever-changing designs over the decades, chalked up to evolution. Nice touch.

TALKING THROUGH TIME

Lapinski writes with vivid, textured prose, but often to a fault. Pages are bogged down with over-explanation, historical context, and reiterations of time-travel consequences. We’re reminded again and again that this meeting between Darwin and the Silurians shouldn’t be happening—and yet nothing ever really comes of that tension. The drama, like the island-sinking threat, remains theoretical rather than tangible.

There’s also a lopsided dynamic at play. The Doctor spends much of the novella talking at Darwin, explaining Silurian history, the dangers of temporal paradoxes, and the various gadgets he’s licking. Darwin—brilliant as he is—mostly responds with wide-eyed curiosity or expository questions. While in-character for a young, still-developing Darwin, it renders him more of an audience surrogate than an active participant.

Meanwhile, the Silurians themselves are mostly benign and professional, and their doomsday device (sinking the islands to preserve secrecy) never gets anywhere close to being activated. The plot coasts on goodwill and dialogue without ever truly building momentum. Even the Doctor’s solution is standard-issue tinkering—useful, yes, but dramatically flat.

DARWIN’S OTHER TIMELINE

The one true nod to Bloodtide comes late in the game, as the Doctor briefly wonders if he’s done this before. A clever wink, but not enough to mask the overlap. And if Bloodtide was Shakespearean tragedy, Silurian Survival is a polite seminar—pleasant, well-meaning, but lacking in urgency.

That said, the novella does try to do something thoughtful. It’s less about peril and more about philosophy—what it means to be a custodian of Earth, the delicate tightrope of first contact, and the burden of history, especially when you know how it ends.

📝THE BOTTOM LINE: 6/10

Icons: Charles Darwin and the Silurian Survival is a well-meaning, dialogue-heavy novella that coasts on the strength of its historical guest star and the novelty of scientific Silurians. It captures the Tenth Doctor well and offers some neat thematic wrinkles, but it falls short of generating any real excitement. The stakes remain abstract, the resolution neat and bloodless, and Darwin himself is more a vehicle for exposition than a driving force in the story. Worth a read for completionists and Ten fans, but not quite the icon it aims to be.