The High Price of Parking

Main Range #227

Released: 11 July 2017

Listened: 1/30/21

After a bit of a break in release time, Mel and Ace are back for another trilogy. This time, it’s a John Dorney story, and although it isn’t quite as twisty as his sometimes are, it does have a high concept. The planet Dashrah is a beautiful location that draws tons of tourists, so many that they built an entire planetoid as a parking structure, and named it “Parking.” The Doctor and friends never get to Dashrah, because there’s something nefarious going on on Parking, a conflict between the Parking Wardens, who aren’t really a police force, just administrators, and the Lost, whose ancestors never found their ships and their descendants are now natives, and the Free Parking movement, a splinter group of the Lost who are seeking independence. Both companions get to play to their strengths here: Mel gets the “inspire the authority figure to trust me” role that the Doctor normally has, and proves that she’s kept her computer skills up to date, as she’s completely adept with sci-fi systems. There’s also hints of her past with Glitz causing trouble with Galactic Heritage. Ace does perfectly well hanging out with the “streetwise” Lost, and also gets a chance to blow things up. It might look like she’s regressing a bit, but she’s really just doing what she does best. The Doctor solves the ultimate problem on his own, in a somewhat predictable manner, but it’s not that bad. Ultimately, it’s a pretty decent story, about the best you could manage for a story that takes place entirely inside a parking garage.