Dreams of Empire

The TARDIS takes the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria into the far future in a distant galaxy where a vast Republic teeters on the edge of civil war. The results of a power struggle in the upper ruling ranks have resulted in widespread unease and the imprisonment of a charismatic leader on an isolated asteroid prison far from the centre of power, the future of the Republic hanging in the balance. But political prisoners are never without their followers, and as the TARDIS crew arrive it becomes obvious that something is going on in the prison which could result in the death or freeing of the prisoner, and either result could plunge the Republic of Haddron into bloody chaos.

Despite the grimness of what is going on in the story, I think this was supposed to be taken as a comedy. I think. From the moment the Doctor and company enter the narrative it's slapstick humour all around, be it in the TARDIS with antics about uneaten sandwiches or once they emerge into danger and are running away from things and guards. Most of the physical humour employed on page is about the Doctor and his bumbling stumbling ways, and his frequent physical collisions with Jamie, but I couldn't help but feel author Justin Richards spent a bit too much time on trying to describe what we often see on screen with Patrick Troughton's more frantic moments, and the result on page is actually a slower delivery of the action rather than a burst of it.

On the other side of this is a pretty grim tale about former friends who ran the Republic and who ended up on either side of their first bloody civil war. Now the victor, Trayx, holds his former best friend, Kesar, in prison; he can never let him go because it would all start over again, and to execute him would allow Kesar to ascend to martyrdom, which would also reignite the flames of war back home. It's a matter of opinion if Trayx is actually holding his own unfaithful wife, Helena, prisoner as well by keeping her there with him, and since she once had a sneaky on the side thing with Kesar it must be a sort of form of punishment for her to be confined with them both. Kesar was the victim of  an assassination attempt which left him in a metal mask - it's all very Alexandre Dumas in that sense. The asteroid prison where Kesar is kept is oddly under-maintained; not exactly falling apart but certainly not as up to date as it could be considering who they are keeping there. I actually question the wisdom of a remote prison environment like that; sure they're far away from everyone who might want to attempt a prison break, but they're far from help should anyone try. It's hard to get a read on the technological angles of this society; they have space travel but have a thing for Medieval style castles in space, and their biggest weapon is a legion of robot troops called VETACs who come off as animated suits of armour perfectly adept to hanging out in castles. The base is staffed with soldiers loyal to both sides of the conflict in an effort to show that there is acceptance of the arrangement, but it's not to be a lasting peace as the murders start once the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria get there.

So while we have the Doctor being comical all over the place, there's Jamie being... brave and headstrong as usual. And Victoria being ... scared yet a little snooty at times. Nothing really changes there, then. Pretty accurate for the companions, then, but not really anything new for them to do. Aside from their duties as companions to bounce off the Doctor's antics, they don't really go anywhere else. Or maybe I just think they should and they're doing the best they can. I did read that Jamie is described as having a "powerful body" on one page, which is interesting because he's not really a gym fit type, just strong from his upbringing, and not exactly a large man either. Hmm.

Continuity wise Dreams of Empire fits where it should right after The Ice Warriors and even contains a reference to that adventure to assure its accurate placement. Dreams is another of the earlier BBC Books novels so new ground is not necessarily being broken yet and all the authors, including Justin Richards, are playing it safe at the time. The novel somehow warranted a reprint with a new cover during the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who but no book on tape treatment as with some of the others re-released with it (I think it could have befitted from Fraser Hines doing the read on this one). There's still another BBC Books novel to read before going back to the televised series though, and it comes along a bit later in the publishing run when a few more risks were being taken and the writing became a bit edgier... let's see.

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