Doctor Who and the State of Decay

Rating:
Summary: Planet of the vampires
Review: The TARDIS is still in the other universe of E-Space, and a planet capable of supporting human life, which scanners show to be both inhabited and having a high level of technology. The TARDIS arrives, but it appears to be a primitive agrarian society. The local villagers appear somewhat shocked, not only by the presence of strangers but by their enquiries about scientists. They report them to the Tower.

Who lives in the Tower? Why is science banned? And what about Adric, who has stowed away in the TARDIS and is now wandering an alien world?

'State of Decay' was originally written some years earlier, but was not made for fear that it would be seen as sending up BBC's production of 'Dracula', which would have been shown around the same time. It is odd to see a story of vampirism in Doctor Who (and this has paved the way for several other vampire tales in the novels - 'Blood Harvest', 'Goth Opera' and 'Vampire Science'), but it does work to some extent. Unfortunately, it gets a bit silly towards the end.