Doctor Who: The Ripple Effect

Lucky Number Seven has his story penned by Malorie Blackman, author of the Noughts and Crosses series, so it should be no surprise that it tackles the subject of race and racism.

Escaping from a natural time hazard, the TARDIS is thrown down on a world called Skaro; home to the Daleks, the most civilised and peaceful race in the galaxy. Has something happened to change the nature of the Doctor's oldest enemies, or is this some nefarious scheme? And if something has changed, can the Doctor accept it?

Blackman chooses to play with alternate timelines in order to touch on the question of whether the Daleks are irredeemably evil, and if not, what that says about the Doctor, who can never believe in their redemption. The Seventh Doctor - mysterious, secretive, and himself somewhat sinister, yet at heart mired in the same self-doubt that kept the Fourth from wiping out the Daleks in their cradle - is a perfect foil for this.

The narrative is simple enough, and driven - as all the best Seventh Doctor stories are - by the dynamic of the relationship between the Doctor and Ace. Like a dark version of Troughton's cosmic clown, the Seventh Doctor's light exterior hides a dark and weary heart. More than any other companion the Doctor's protege, Ace's more open and trusting nature is a mirror for his suspicions and resignation.