Who Reviews Target Zone: The Creature from the Pit

ISBN 0 426 20123 X

The planet Chloris is very fertile, but metal is in short supply, and has therefore become extremely valuable.  A huge creature, with most unusual physical properties, arrives from an alien planet which can provide Chloris with metal from its own unlimited supplies, in exchange for chlorophyll.

However, the ruthless Lady Adrasta has been able to exploit the shortage of metal to her own advantage, and has no wish to see the situation change.

The Doctor and Romana land on Chloris just as the creature’s alien masters begin to lose patience over their ambassador’s long absence.

The action the aliens decide to take will have devastating consequences for Chloris, unless something is done to prevent it...

Welcome back to Target Zone, this month foray into the Target Library brings us to the green and I mean GREEN planet of Chloris, can anyone spot the joke there.  This time we are back with the 4th Doctor and this time he excels himself in wackiness, ably assisted by Romana 2 and K9.

This story is one of them that, make you think okay is this the season when K9 finally realises that he is a bit buggered anywhere but flat solid ground, you wonder if his batteries are the same as smart phones and the laser is like a small torch.  Romana is in this story starting to think the Doctor is a bit loony and maybe thinking, soon I must leave.

In fact if you read the novelisation ably done by David Fisher, you will find a big change compared to the TV programme.  You start to see the plot, understand why the planet is in a fix, how dumb the robbers are and how cruel Lady Adrasta really is.  Let alone the raft of funny or sadistic characters which seem to get drowned out by the TV programme.  You realise how terrifying the monster is without the belly laugh you would get if watching it. 

So I say come to the green world of Chloris and be hugged by the wolf weeds, squashed by the metal producing blob monster, a hippy and a little sadistic maniac and the funny robbers, if you don’t love it then Lady Adrasta has a special for you.