Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter (or possibly multiple chapters for this one) of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
In the previous chapter we met Vicki, whose last name is added in later stories, so for now we only know her as Vicki. We also met Bennett and learned of a mysterious person named Koquillion, who we know from the back of the book is the enemy of the story.
Now we turn our attention to the current travellers in the TARDIS. For those of you late to the party, the current team is:
- The Doctor, a mysterious man who owns the Time And Relative Dimensions In Space box that’s bigger on the inside and currently stuck in the form of an old British Police Call Box because of
the show’s budget issuesa faulty chameleon circuit. At the time the writers themselves hadn’t decided if he was a man from the future or another planet entirely. This is the very first incarnation of the Doctor, accept no retcons, and one of two times the Doctor made it to old age. Premature aging doesn’t count, Tennant fans! - Barbara Wright, one of two school teachers who followed a mysterious student to a junkyard and got caught up space/time shenanigans. She’s a school teacher, and provided the show’s historical knowledge.
- Ian Chesterton, the other school teacher and basically the muscle of the group more or less. He’s a science teacher and provided the science info for the show. At least under the original plans. The teaching history and science stuff kind of went out the window early. You can read about the intended roles in the review of production notes for the early days of the show.
The final member is gone, and now the TARDIS is in a cave on the planet that Vicki and Bennett are on. We’re still in the first episode of the arc, “The Powerful Enemy”. Let’s see how our heroes are getting along.
BW Media Spotlight 
BW’s Saturday Article Link> The Real Culture/Politics Power Dynamic
What does this have to do with the topic? Admittedly little. I just needed an image and it’s Aquaman riding dolphins to chase the Penguin. I need no other reason.
We’ve heard that “politics is downstream from culture”, the idea that affecting the culture may in turn affect how people act politically. Making a case against that expression is author and commentator Brian Newmeyer, who makes the case that politics has more control over culture than you might realize. I’m not saying it’s necessarily wrong, but it may actually be more cylindrical, an oryborous of political culture. Culture can affect people when it sneaks past politics while the current climate will affect what draws people in culturally. So everybody’s right…except the people who are wrong.
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on November 29, 2025 in Uncategorized and tagged commentary, Politics, stories and culture.
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