Foreign Devils

The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe to China in 1800 when the opium trade is bringing drugs across borders for massive profit and at the expense of the people of the Empire. Something referred to as a spirit gate becomes active and transports Zoe and Jamie ahead to the year 1900, followed by the Doctor in the TARDIS, to a country mansion where the descendants of the opium merchants are enjoying a soiree. The party is effectively over, though, when the first of the murders takes place. On hand is a young expert in all things mystical named Carnacki, and together with the Doctor the investigation begins. But the ante is upped when the entire house and its guests are removed from space and time altogether and the killings continue.

This is a bit different, but it’s a Telos Novella so one would expect it to be. Without the luxury of a couple hundred pages the pace is a bit faster than normal, but so far not at the expense of the stories Telos have given us. I’ve said it before and I will say it again: it’s a shame that they only gave us 15 titles in their run. Still, there are 11 more of these gems out there to enjoy after this one.

Foreign Devils is a bit of a departure here as it features a guest star; the character of Carnacki is actually a fictional investigator written by William Hope Hodgson in 1909, very much a Sherlock Holmes for his time. The rights around Carnacki’s adventures were out of copyright so the character was included with ease and Andrew Cartmel’s novella came together wonderfully. Cartmel’s name is synonymous with the Sylvester McCoy era when he served as script editor for the final years of the classic series, and having him write for a Doctor other than “his” seems odd, but man he does it well. Maybe it’s something about the short quirky Doctors he likes, but reading the Doctor’s lines one can hear Troughton delivering them. The same can be said of Zoe and Jamie – although Jamie is missing for most of the story which leaves Zoe to do her thing disguised as a chambermaid at the party while the Doctor roams freely. Zoe’s indignation at having to assume this role as a servant is well presented, especially when it becomes clear that one of the senior male staff is all too willing to pimp her out for the sexual pleasures of the attending male guests, and he mistakenly begins with the Doctor.

The whole tone of Foreign Devils takes on more of a supernatural feel than a science fiction one; there’s a seance, mysterious marks left on the dead, and then there’s the whole bit with the house being suspended among the stars and possibly a reanimated corpse stalking the property. The Doctor doesn’t even begin to try to offer scientific explanations about what is going on, which infuriates the logic-driven Zoe to no end. Indeed the Doctor’s methods of getting her to think differently about what is going on mirrors the relationship between the seventh Doctor and his companion Ace, so there’s Cartmel’s area of expertise right there, and a reason to have Jamie out of the way for a bit to allow it to happen. Carnacki himself travels with a companion of his own, one Celandine Gilbert, who is a spiritual medium and can communicate with the unknown, as well as pull off a few telekinetic tricks here and there to add to the show, but their relationship is more emotional than that of the Doctor and his companions – they are lovers, which makes suspicion of Celandine’s involvement in the ensuing murders that much harder for Carnacki to take.

Given the grim goings on of The Indestructible Man this adventures is a lot lighter in tone, even has some comedy tossed in, and would take place after some time had passed to heal the wounds of the previous adventure. The crew are not as tight a unit as they have been either, with Zoe referring to Jamie as annoying, their closeness not really solidifying. There is a mention of Zoe being used to the canned air of the Wheel as opposed to fresh air so it could possibly have taken place sometime after The Invasion (or now The Isos Network), otherwise, though, there are no clues as to its placement in continuity. This is as good a place as any.

NEXT EPISODE: THE SPACE PIRATES