The Revolution Game

The second Further Adventure of Lucie Miller is The Revolution Game, in which Lucie and the 8th Doctor attempt to celebrate her birthday at a roller derby on a slightly-low-gravity planet where everything’s run by a mega-corporation called Heliacorp, best known for its 120% efficient solar panels.

But there’s more than meets the eye at this game: people are playing for the lives of their impoverished loved ones; the corporation has a sinister hand overseeing proceedings; a vengeful and invisible alien presence wants their planet back.

Spoilers after the picture!

Unlike the previous story, this one is not “Doctor-light”, which was a relief.  Instead the Doctor and Lucie are in full swing, getting to know a pair of company employees, the Director, and an alien (well, native there) insect called Spartacus.

One of the noteworthy characteristics of the Lucie Miller era was humor, and this story has it in spades.  But it isn’t humor for the sake of humor; nearly every gag plays into the larger story and plot.  Lucie messing around in the low gravity and falling on her coccyx leads to her improved ability to participate in the derby and survive an abduction, covering longer distances with less effort.  The insect calling himself Spartacus is the first of several examples (continuing the humor while legitimately world-building) of the insect race imitating elements of human culture that they enjoy, especially movie night and the derby games.

The background scheme, of Heliacorp harvesting the insects special light-bending properties, to increase the output of their solar panels, was particularly brilliant.  It wasn’t just another exploitation- or disregard-of-the-natives story, but a calculated harvesting of their natural abilities for financial gain.  Dastardly schemes are always more compelling when they “make sense” in a clear way, and the bureaucrats aren’t just being cruel for the sake of being cruel.

One last comment is worth making.  These insects are, at point, referred to as “flying pests” by the company Director.  The previous story, too, included unseen “flying pests” that the Daleks were exterminating and the stranded humans were fleeing.  It could be a coincidence, but the repetition of the same phrase in similar situations in two consecutive stories seems more like a continuity clue to me.  So let’s keep an eye out for more clues as the other two stories unfold!