Dreamtime

Main Range #67

Released: March 2005

Listened: 12/5/20

This is one of the times where the show mixes with mysticism, except instead of Native American mysticism, it’s Australian Aboriginal. And unlike other examples, where unexplained mystical effects could be magic or undiscovered science, the Doctor comes down pretty firmly on the “magical” side of the argument this time. The story is set on an asteroid, where Uluru has apparently launched itself into space, along with the descendents of a group of believers and some aid workers who had been trying to evacuate them. When the Doctor, Hex, and Ace show up, the place is almost deserted, with most inhabitants having been subsumed by the Dreamtime. Some Galyari show up as well, because this is a Simon Forward story, but there’s no connection to “The Sandman,” nor do the Galyari do anything specific except be threatening and doubt the mysticism. The three spend most of the story apart, with the Doctor in the Dreamtime, Ace dealing with the Galyari, and Hex trying to help from the outside. Because there’s no real “baddie” aside from mistaken intentions, the story has kind of a languid pace, with lots of time to explain what’s going on, as well as some timey-wimey, Dreamtime flavor. The Doctor seems rather unusually calm about it all, aside from some moral speeches early on. This one has kind of a poor reputation, and I didn’t remember it well, but while it’s not great, it also isn’t terrible. Plus, you get to hear Sylvester McCoy say “Uluru” several times with his rolled R’s, and that can’t be all bad.