‘ROMANS CUTAWAY’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Ian’s Dream before ‘The Romans’ with the First Doctor, Barbara and Vicki

This story called ‘Romans Cutaway’ is by David A. McIntee. It features the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki. What’s compelling about this short story is that it partly fills in the narrative gap at the beginning of ‘The Romans’, one of my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ TV stories from the First Doctor era. 🙂

Remember when the TARDIS fell from a cliff at the end of ‘The Rescue’ and at the beginning of ‘The Romans’? Well, this story is one of a couple of accounts depicting what happened in-between when the TARDIS foursome recovered after falling from a big height following their landing in Italy, 64 A.D.

I say this is one of a couple of accounts, because another account detailing the gap between ‘The Rescue’ and ‘The Romans’ is a novel adventure called ‘Byzantium!’. I’ve not read that story yet, but it gives a very different account as to what happened, which in turn, contradicts ‘Romans Cutaway’. 😐

Apparently, ‘Byzantium!’ goes to the extent of implying that ‘Romans Cutaway’ is actually a dream experienced by Ian on his way to Rome from Byzantium. I’m not sure I’m ready to accept that yet, as ‘Romans Cutaway’ does provide a very decent account of what happened to the TARDIS foursome. 🙂

The dream that Ian has is fascinating, as he used to love someone called Suzy, who got killed in a car crash. In this story, Ian comes to realise that he loves Barbara, and it’s implied Barbara loves Ian too. There’s also a lion that attacks Ian and Barbara, whilst the Doctor and Vicki discover the Roman villa.

‘Romans Cutaway’ rating – 8/10