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TARDIS Guide

Review of Scientific Adviser by Newt5996

28 April 2025

This review contains spoilers!

Cole then follows up with a story from a debut author, Ian Atkins, who would go on to write several Short Trips for Big Finish Productions, as well as serving as the range’s producer after the unfortunate passing of Paul Spragg.  “Scientific Adviser” fares far better as a story than “Totem”, mainly because it is a fun romp that explores some of the cover-ups put in place after various invasions that were handled by UNIT.  Unlike the novel Who Killed Kennedy? which serves far more as a deconstruction and examination of the era as well as integrating Doctor Who into history, “Scientific Adviser” feels like a writer having a lot of fun in terms of getting around the central premise, the cover up is that a film is being made of The Invasion and the Second Doctor, travelling alone likely post-The War Games, has been recruited as scientific adviser, reporting to the Brigadier in between takes and changing the script to make it ever so slightly inaccurate.  As a story it’s quite fun and is all building to the reveal that the Cybermen have been secretly behind the film, kidnapping the director’s daughter briefly and returning her to get a foot in the door on the filmmaking process.  The climax of the short story is clever enough, if a bit of an anti-climax and a lot of the ending feels like it’s meant to hint towards the Doctor eventually fulfilling his exile on Earth, though the setting of “Scientific Advisor” being the then-present of the 1990s just adds to the weirdness of the UNIT Dating Controversy.  Still a very fun time and Atkins as a writer shows quite a bit of promise, shame he’s really only done short stories.  7/10.


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