The Discontinuity Guide
The Missing Adventures

Cold Fusion

December 1996

(Features the Fifth Doctor between Castrovalva and Four to Doomsday and the Seventh Doctor between Return of the Living Dad and The Death of Art)

Author: Lance Parkin

Editor: Rebecca Levene

Roots: Adam's views on the Scientifica come from Gulliver's travels.

Goofs: The fifth Doctor says that the TARDIS has never locked him out before. So he's forgotten about The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Roz says that Civilian is a Xhosa word meaning 'no guns'. I'm pretty sure that she's making it up, like Chekov did in Star Trek. She forgets that the fifth Doctor didn't recognise her at the Skitrain station, which should tell her that he's not the eighth Doctor. She also doesn't seem to know about security features in Adjudicator Armour - were they removed by the 30th Century?

Why does a computer-controlled Skitrain need two seats (or, indeed, any space for people) in its engine?

Adam's actions with the fusion bomb are quite interesting. The bomb he stole is located on the global scan at Nightingale but has disappeared by the time the Adjudicators get there. [He left between the two scans, and the local one had a very limited range.] He also transmats with the bomb. Given the volatility of the transmat system, it's a wonder the bomb comes out intact. Why not try a safer way of getting it to the scientifica? After all, it's not horribly urgent to blow them up.

The seventh Doctor's claim to have reversed the polarity of the neutron flow on the fusion bombs doesn't make sense. He was in the Ferutu dimension when he claimed to be defusing the bombs. Despite this, Adam's bomb doesn't work, even though this is the only way it could have been defused. Furthermore, as the Seventh Doctor apparently remembers what happened, he knew that his fifth self would defuse the rest of the bombs (and how). So why didn't he use a different technique? [Maybe because the two other fusion bombs would still rewrite Gallifreyan history, so he plays to win everything.]

The Doctors' plan seems silly. If the fusion bombs explode on the planet, they will destroy the Galaxy - including Gallifrey. [Maybe this is just further proof that Gallifrey exists only in our past.]

The Ferutu tell the fifth Doctor that this was neither the first nor last time that he met Patience. The first is hinted at in the plot. However, the last time never happens, as she died before the seventh Doctor could meet her.

Technobabble: The TARDIS has a 'lightspeed overdrive'.

Skitrains use inertial damping systems using gravitonics used in warpships to prevent squishing by superlight velocities.

Artificial extelligence is computer telepathy ('a long-term project for human science')

Warp field stabilizer (with cold fusion generators & other stuff, you can build a dimensional observatory).

Lacanian pre-Oedipal communication (i.e. a stream of consciousness).

Adric's description of the gate in Warriors Gate: A 'pan-dimensional structure' allowing 'transference between Minowski Space to other quantum states, access to non-Euclidean geometries, post-mathematic spatio-temporal co-ordinates and extra-universal ...' [most of this actually makes sense].

Manheim Radiation and Vendermann Flux may be associated with time travel.

Tachyon tides. Negative reality inversions.

Both Doctors use a technique "beyond the science of the Humanian Era" - reversing the polarity of the neutron flow (The Sea Devils, the Five Doctors).

How the Time Control Unit works: Statenheim signals are broadcast along the contours in the Vortex that accomodate the Eye of Harmony simultaneously on Gallifrey and within each TARDIS. Elementary chronon transduction.

Misphased Relativity Displacers or Tachyon Backflush could cause the fifth Doctor to forget these events.

Dialogue Disasters: Roz: 'I haven't got wings, I haven't got a plan, but I have got this service issue grappling hook and line. With integral rangefinder.' (this line is a quote from a movie mentioned in Decalog 4: Secrets of the Black Planet).

The seventh Doctor: 'I've crossed my own timestream. Oops.'

Dialogue Triumphs: The fifth Doctor: 'I died, and death is not something you recover from.'

The fifth Doctor: 'The cloisters are among the very oldest parts of the TARDIS. Everything else grew round them.'
Nyssa: 'Metaphorically.'
The Doctor: 'Yes, that's right, metaphorically. And literally too, of course.'

The fifth Doctor: 'To answer your questions in order: I don't know, and I don't know.'

Adric: 'We're being watched.'
The fifth Doctor: 'So we are. Try not to do anything illegal.'

Medway: 'Have you ever faced a Shliman in hand-to-hand combat?'
Falconstock: 'No sir.'
Medway: 'I could tell. You're still alive.'

On the machine (actually Patience's TARDIS): 'If only we had a time machine: we could go back and see it arrive.'

Adric: 'What did your last slave die of?'
Roz: 'I accidentally beheaded him.'

Adam on the Scientifica: 'They are magicians, trying to prove that magic doesn't exist.'

Roz's reason for not trusting the fifth Doctor is that 'He's just so damn ... trustworthy. It's suspicious.'

Continuity: The Wandarks are from the Wateh Galaxy. The Shark People are from the tropical world of Shimla. Their language is very concise. Kosnaks are another alien species on the planet. Eighty-One is the robot planet. The Klulakai raise their hand as a greeting rather than a surrender. Cat-people bare their teeth when they look like they're smiling. Balvanians of Balvar speak in irony & sarcasm - meaning the opposite of what they say.

The 7th Doctor orders a Dexheimer Spätlase Rädecke, a German eiswein (he normally doesn't touch synthetic wines). He has never got round to reading Gãnggãng Zhánzheng. He has a device that can detect military technology within 50 miles or anything coming over the horizon. He also has a curly straw in his pocket and his favourite biscuits are Chocolate Hob-Nobs.

A skybase includes 1,000 ground troops, 100 guncopters, 25 battletanks, 10 wardroids, neutron torpedoes, particle disruptors, cannon threads, etc. Wardroids are 7 foot tall, has laser and projectile weapons. The model we see in chapter 1 is a Saab-Royce MechInf 4.12 © 2681-2692. It has a windows-like help menu. The model 4's had bigger feet, but the programming didn't originally take that into account. Type twelve freighters have 8 crew, light armaments & hyperdrives.

The Machine is older than the cave it's in. TARDISes are grown in space well away from Gallifrey to avoid Time Pollution. Early Time Control Units look like cricket-ball sized gold spheres until opened, when they are like saplings.

The 5th Doctor says that a Hedera helix ivy is harmless to a Time Lord (despite Nyssa's warning). It's 3 days since his regeneration. His TARDIS has cold weather clothing - an overcoat for the Doctor, a tailored Cashmere coat for Nyssa, a parka and fur coat with earmuffs for Adric and a fur coat for Tegan. He has a time sensor (and there's another in the TARDIS) which tracks disturbances in the time field. The policemen on Traken were called Fosters. 11,000 years ago, Traken outgrew the phase where they were dependant on machines. But the 6-million year old Troxos 4 civilisation collapsed due to something to do with their robot servants. The fifth Doctor's body temperature is said to be 15 degrees (I think this conflicts with something said elsewhere). He says that he left Gallifrey to find the ideal society. Tegan's grandfather emigrated from Yugoslavia to Australia. Many of his memories previous to his second regeneration are missing. There is evidence of his DNA having been subject to genetic manipulation - explained by the Doctor as standard Time Lord improvements. Tegan can cope with the idea of transmats, having seen Blake's Seven. She has been on 4 alien worlds (The TARDIS, Logopolis, Castrovalva and now this) in as many days. She has studied aboriginal culture and languages. Nyssa is able to do some pretty complex things with the computers.

The planet is 107.9 million miles from its star, has 98% of Earth gravity, a slightly thinner atmosphere than Earth with slightly higher radiation, a 413 day year and a 16.9 hour day together with a low surface temperature. It was discovered when a science ship's hyperdrive misfired. The scientists set up a survival station and, upon discovery 3 years later, half opted to stay. A century later, plantations had been established and the planet was self-sufficient in energy. This was centuries ago. The Adjudicators have been there for at least 40 years.

HKI industries, Phobos manufactures Transmat machinery. Such devices must only be connected to Pentalion-compatible transporter machinery by approved engineers.

Skitrains are combinations of bobsleigh and steam train, used for the things that you can't transmat. They automatically stop when they detect an object of more than 25 kilos on the track. Snowships are ships (made out of pine) which sail on the snow.

Regeneration should ideally take place in an area with a low-grade telepathic field, another Time Lord should be there to assist in case of difficulty and total tranquility is required for a short time while the mind and body readjust.

Patience has only one heart and many of her organs are different. Her blood, hormones and pheremones have distinct differences. This is her first regeneration. She was born of the house of Blyledge, a senior house of Glorious Gallifrey. She has 13 children. Her husband [the Other?] was one of the first Gallifreyans to enter the vortex, and he brought back much knowledge with him. He married her upon his return to Gallifrey. When she left, he was beginning to find time apart from the rebuilding of Gallifrey to spend time with his family. Her first incarnation had dark hair. Guards with stasers came and executed the family (bar one grandaughter), even though the eldest was a Cardinal and a first rank Time Lord. Her husband and his father both sat on the supreme council. Her TARDIS was her husband's, and the name was coined after her time.

Chris' accent is similar to Canadian. He appreciates the latest Austin Martin hovercar. His teeth are pointed. Roz [and, by implication, all Adjudicators] have memorised every security code they are authorised to use, even ones declassified centuries ago. A Guntlet is a wrist-mounted laser fired by miming pulling a trigger. Adjudicator armour uses an eyecon of a duck to indicate the need to duck. They also use autocuffs - which only let you cuff hands behind the back. Under the Defence of the Realm act, they can place a planet under Martial Law. Legalware software include Volume 12, Paragraph 9, Subsection 4 of the Adjudicator Code which bans all forms of torture, physical violence and mental cruelty when questioning a subject. It carries a mandatory 10 year sentence.

Gallifreyan is an intricate language - designed to express things very precisely rather than be practical. Gallifrey is not mentioned anywhere in human records, including the Blue Book of the Unitatus and (discredited) early deep space travelogues.

The Unitatus (developed from UNIT) aim to defend Earth from military attack. In this century, they are a [men only] growing political force. By Roz's time, they are secretive & spend most of their time organising charity events & arguing over whether Lethbridge-Stewart was hyphenated.

"Primitive" transmats (like those in this century) can't transmit a serious wound properly, it can kill the person with the wound. If the signal is interrupted, DNA sequences could be changed and you might end up being mutilated. Humans of this era have energy scanners. Asteroid Express use PIN numbers.

The Ferutu are from another universe and can use something like magic to control time. In their universe, they evolve in about a billion years time. They discovered a rune & ritual-based magic, which makes them able to control space, time, matter and energy. They became Lords of Time and intervened on the side of good. They know of Rassilon's Rift, a starless area on the edge of the galaxy [But Gallifrey's at the centre!!!] They have not eliminated Vampires and Daleks. They also do not rule over their universe, as power and ambition are alien concepts to them. It requires several or many Ferutu to perform more powerful spells. In their universe, entire planets act as magic capacitors. The galaxy was known as the Mutters' Spiral and is home to a benevolent insect species. There is a rune which, if a circle is drawn around it, imprisons them. In their galaxy, the CyberHost wear that design on their armour.

Links: Mention is made of the 5th Doctor's recent regeneration (Logopolis/Castrovalva) and Tremas of Traken (The Keeper of Traken). Nothing important was lost when they jettisoned a quarter of the TARDIS. Adric mentions that Romana told him that the Doctor stole the TARDIS. Tegan reminds the Doctor that she never got a chance to be an air hostess. The 5th Doctor mentions that he used to be a scientific advisor. The Daleks are mentioned in passing. Adric believes that Patience resembles the Master (The Keeper of Traken).

Mention is made of the Doctor's early years as soon to be revealed in Lungbarrow. The mental contact between the fifth Doctor and Patience showcases many previous acquaintances of the Doctor including Romana, Kettering (The Mind of Evil), Jamie, Zoe, Ian and Morbius (The Brain of Morbius). Roz mentions the TARDISes on Mars (Godengine). The fifth Doctor mentions that Blinovitch Conservation wiped memories both times he met Omega (The Three Doctors, Arc of Infinity - where only one Doctor was involved, and the seventh Doctor mentions a third time) - is this an unrecorded adventure or two? I think it unlikely that this refers to The Infinity Doctors.

Location: The 7th Doctor left his companions a month ago in chapter 1. In chapter one it's October 31st. The planet isn't an outer world (it's implied that it is a core world), nor is it in a strategic sector. It's nearly 400 years before Chris & Roz's time ( so c.2600). The Adjudicators have been in existence for half a millenium (page 247 so the 27th century - 2601-2700). There's been an Ark Royal for a millenium and a quarter.

Future History: There was a pre-modernist revival in the mid 22nd century. Some settlers came from the Southern Chinese Union. The Particle Matter Transmission (deregulation) Act was passed in 2122. Slavery has been re-introduced on many worlds, the Scientifica being one of the first governments to do so. Mention is made of early inhospitable colonies such as Venus and Callisto (by implication founded around the same time as this one). Earth's fleet has been reduced in capacity since the Dalek wars. The Trakenite colony on Serenity survives in Chris's time, and is used by the Adjudicators as a model of peaceful and just society. They were spared the catastrophe that destroyed Traken by the Source (which was created there), at the cost of its own existence. During the third Draconian War, flying fortress bases proved they could keep back an entire warfleet long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Fusion bomb tests were done on the Rim in the 23rd century. 5 charges destroyed a planet, 8 shatter every solid planet in a solar system and ignite the gas giants. They were banned before 9 or 10 could be tried. They were never used by humanity, even in the last resort.

Human science has been improved by contact with aliens since [before] the Martian invasion. It had improved FTL drives and communications technology. An Arcturan broadcast, picked up from a terrestrial radio telescope had given sufficient information to build a working transmat. A map of the entire sector was retrieved from a derelict Dalek saucer.

The Kalkravian (fundamentalist) Revolution was 10 years ago. A fundamentalist EMP bomb scrambled a transmat beaming hostages out - causing a horrific sight that Medway saw.

The Galactic Wars led to a ban on over-able combat robots. The ban can be got round by having an organic operator having (even a tenouous) control over them.

Jaltarra scored the winning goal for Earth in the '84 World's Cup. He did so from 25 metres.

In 8 billion years time, humanity is long-extinct and the galaxy has been abandoned by all sentient life.

Unrecorded Adventures: The fifth Doctor implies that he may have met Francis Bacon (Asylum). Unrecorded encounters with the Master (4th Doctor) included attempts to capture the Eye of Harmony (The Invasion of Time?), rend asunder the constellation of Mandusus using a segment of the Key to Time and entering a pact with the Embodiment of Gris (The Embodiment of Gris was first mentioned in The Daleks' Masterplan and later in The Dying Days) - all to gain a new lease of life. Adric has only known the Doctor for a couple of weeks.

The 5th Doctor says that 'Old Edmund [Hillary] told me a mountaineer's maxim: "If you lose your gloves, you can lose your life."' Chris has clearly heard the Doctor mention Adric's death on a previous occasion, though Roz seems unaware of it. Zodin erased the Doctors' brains with mind-rubbers (thus making them forget events) when she encountered at least two incarnations - according to the fifth Doctor.

The Bottom Line: Apart from a couple of serious plot-holes, the story is very good. Everyone is well-characterised and the interaction between the Doctors and their companions is enjoyable. The script sparkles and, despite the complexities of the plot, it is fairly easy to follow what's going on (though a second read is recommended). The story never ceases to be gripping.