Doctor Who: Black and White

In this, the second part of a trilogy, the TARDIS becomes embroiled in the legend of Beowulf, one of the earliest known works of English literature. While it will probably come as a surprise to nobody to discover that Grendel et al. have some connection with aliens, the story is quite a bit more than that.

For one thing, this as much a story about how legends get started as it about the “real” events of the Beowulf saga. We see how the legend has its genesis, and how the details of it become twisted even in Beowulf's own lifetime, as, even leaving the aside the alien involvement, what is going on is more than it seems.

But this is almost a sideshow to the other thread of the story, which concerns the larger “white TARDIS” plot arc, not only explaining some of what's been going on there, but putting some earlier stories into a different context. (There were, to be fair, hints back then that I missed, being relatively subtle without the visuals). Significantly, it takes half an hour before we even get to Heorot, and much of the story actually concerns the relationship between Ace, Hex, and the two new TARDIS travellers who appeared in the previous instalment.

This is quite well handled, with them being paired up and kept apart, each pair dealing with different parts of the Beowulf legend. As in Protect and Survive, the Doctor is barely in it, appearing only in a series of brief flashbacks. The tale is instead much more about the different attitudes that Ace and Hex have towards him, and how they feel about these new “intruders”.

The Beowulf elements of the story are initially a little clunky, but improve greatly as it becomes clearer what's actually going on. And some may find the heavy time travel elements (plus the flashbacks, which aren't all in sequence) confusing, with Hex and Sally seeing the after-effects of Ace and Lysandra's plot line before we see what actually happened. Although, if it's just paradoxes that you hate, you're safe on that front.

The identity of the plot arc's main villain is all but revealed at the end, but we finish still not knowing the full details of the Doctor's plan for dealing with it, beyond the fact that they appear to have gone horribly wrong. Once again, the story ends on a cliffhanger, leading into the final part of the trilogy.