Fiction Reviews
Doctor Who: Caged
(2024) Una McCormack, BBC Books,
£16.99 / Can$35.99 / US$22, hrdbk, 202pp, ISBN 978-1-78594918-0
When the Doctor and Ruby arrive on a remote and nameless world, they meet a gentle local who is certain that she has been taken for study by creatures from the stars. The Doctor is concerned to find mysterious meteors appearing in the sky, while strange robotic creatures crowd the forests, watching everything and waiting for… what? ? Who is interested in this quiet planet, and why? What is the sinister truth of the abductions? The Doctor and Ruby must discover the secrets of this mysterious world – and those who would seek to destroy it…
What a novel idea for a story - taking that well known urban legend/rural legend/conspiracy theory involving humans being abducted by aliens, and being returned with hazy memories, and lost time (maybe even lost organs) – and applying it to alien species. I mean if humans can be abducted and there is life on other planets, then surely the inhabitants of those planets would be ripe for abduction too?
That’s the premise of Caged by Una McCormack as the Doctor and Ruby arrive on the planet, Cavia, and encounter an alien called Chirracharr, who is a bit of a dreamer, a bit on a loner, who is convinced there is life beyond her planet, something she is pretty sure of, since she claims to be have been abducted. But by whom? And why?
In some respects, Chirracharr is very Doctor-like, with her curiosity and beliefs and her personal quest. McCormack has created such a well-rounded character that it’s a pity that we’re not going to see her in any televised episodes as a companion, although perhaps the BBC might balk at the difficulty and cost of putting something that looks like a giant guinea pig on screen. The Doctor has always had the odd alien companion, like Lela and Adric and Nyssa to name a few, but it would have been a nice twist to have a really alien-looking alien companion.
McCormack uses an old-school Doctor Who trick of separating the Doctor and Ruby early on, allowing them to have their own adventure and make discoveries before bringing them back together to compare notes and get ready for the climax. Here, McCormack demonstrates her skill at capturing the essence of both characters, even if the Doctor is wearing a flat cap and carrying a tote bag to collect things in. She captures Ncuti Gatwa’s joy and curiosity and sense of wonder beautifully. Ruby on the other hand finds herself making history for a species of alien called the Ixite, and one of their number known as Tixlel who has been working on an experiment for years, but has reached the conclusion that there is no other intelligent life in the universe. Enter Ruby in a first contact moment that will change everything and she has to rise to the occasion and do a good job of representing intelligent life forms to the Ixite.
There are mysteries to solve around buildings on mountaintops, something called the Repository, metallic things that look a bit like Armadillos, and why meteors falling from the skies? Questions that the Doctor and Ruby are going to have to find answers because if Chirracharr and her planet is to be saved, maybe the only way to do it is to resort to some Star Wars-like shenanigans – no spoilers here, but you’ll know what I mean when you get to that part. All in all, Caged is great fun, and here’s to more original adventures penned by McCormack.
Ian Hunter
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