The Library of Alexandria

The TARDIS has taken the crew further back in time to the mythical library of Alexandria, where Ian is in the employ of the library itself, searching for rare books that enter the city so they may be copied for the library. He attracts the attention of none other than Hypatia herself, much to Barbara's disapproval, but his mission is something from which he cannot be distracted. The Doctor insists that it is urgent they locate certain texts, and all the while Susan has a sense of foreboding, knowing that by all mythical accounts Alexandria was destroyed by sea monsters.

So out of the super-sized episode Flames of Cadiz the Companion Chronicles range goes back to what it does best, the short two parter as told by one series regular (William Russell back as Ian) and a guest star (Susan Franklin as Hypatia). I was expecting the story to be something of a sequel to Farewell Great Macedon! as the establishment of the library in Alexander's memory was mentioned as that tale closed, but this is completely unrelated, even without reference to Alexander himself. Whereas Macedon was a story steeped in history, Library has a completely different feel to it into episode two, going to a more heavy science fiction place as the plot develops, even with Hypatia as a historical figure. Ohyes, there is very little in the way of political intrigue this time around and there are actually monsters out there heading towards Alexandria, which may not be entirely in keeping with the storytelling fashion of the Hartnell years but still fun to listen to.

Oh Hypatia. Her interest in Ian is reminiscent of the women of Byzantium! chasing him about or catching him half in the buff from time to time. Ian is still always the gentleman, politely refusing their advances and suffering Barbara's mild jealousy issues even though they at this point are not any kind of item (confusing to be hopping back and forth along their timeline this way even if all these are told from Ian's perspective after leaving the TARDIS). I don't want to sound like that guy but I don't see what Ian's animal attraction is. Why are women always throwing themselves at him? I don't get it. The series was never about that sort of thing anyways, aside from the Doctor's accidental engagement to Cameca in The Aztecs, which was more about soulmates than it was about lust. I'd lay the blame at the feet of the new series if I could but alas, Byzantium was published before it started up, and there are other adventures in print to come where the companions have their moments with the supporting cast and they too were published before the series was back on TV in 2005.

At this point, though, there is only one more of the Companion Chronicles to go with Ian as the lead. There's a second volume of First Doctor era tales out there so we will undoubtedly have more from Ian in future, but just not in this blog.

But that's still to come.

NEXT EPISODE: THE SLEEPING CITY