Synopsis:
The Doctor and Izzy land in the 51st century Amazon Basin. The rich have fled Earth and those left behind are desperate.

They come across a dome, from which someone has sent an SOS through the space-time vortex. A group of soldiers promptly transmats in and captures them. The Doctor tell Izzy that this is the era of the Transmat wars, in which people could fight anywhere on Earth.

The captors' leader, Hsui Leng, believes the Doctor and Izzy to be from a device called the Keep and threatens to let his demonic pet Homunculus torture them if they don't reveal how to enter it. The Doctor and Izzy insist they do not know of what he speaks and are suddenly beamed away by scoop.

After Izzy wretches from the experience, an android named Marquez welcomes them to their new location inside the dome; the Keep, which cannot be penetrated by transmat. It was he who sent the SOS on behalf of his master, Crivello, an aged human suspended in a nutrient bath. Crivello communicates telepathically to the Doctor that he knew he'd come and wants him to help save the human race.

As the Doctor ponders how Marquez knows his name, the android shows them Crivello's Cauldron, a mass of plasma that can become the nucleus of an artificial sun. Marquez states that mankind's survival requires a sacrifice and shoves the Doctor into the cauldron...

Comments:
Nice setup. This story, although only two parts, creates an intriguing vision of Earth's future and a man's plan to save it. The cliffhanger is among the best, throwing the Doctor into seemingly inescapable danger. For the reader of this magazine at the time it shipped, it must have been an anxious wait until the next month's issue. It ranks up there with other suspenseful cliffhangers such as those in Fire and Brimstone - Part 2 and Wormwood - Part 2.

The 8th Doctor, who can sometimes be generic or unlike Paul McGann's telemovie portrayal in the strips, is in character this time out, comforting Izzy and showing wonder at Crivello and his cauldron.

Izzy spends most of this installment making amusing and often science-fiction related comments, although she strays away from being obnoxious and is therefore likeable. Her character is rarely smug and generally low-key, unlike what I've read of the Doctor's young female companion in the BBC novels, Sam Jones. Furthermore, Izzy's transmat sickness gives us a welcome reminder that she is a normal human girl with problems any of us might face on galactic adventures with the Doctor.

Garaghty's pencil work is decent in this issue, especially with Crivello and the future humans, but the facial expressions he draws sometimes look a little bland. Robin Smith's inks are what makes the art stand out, primarily in the dry Amazon Basin and the exotic machinery of Crivello's lab.

Other Features This Issue:
Roots of Doctor Who, Part 2; fanzines; The John Nathan-Turner Memoirs, Chapter 12; Graham Williams interview, Part 1; K9 interview; Pennant Roberts interview, Part 2; Archive: The Sensorites.