The Varos administration made an industry out of killing by airing the torture and murder of dissidents. So with that cheery thought in mind, this is a good place to start. Philip Martin's tale featured numerous offings, including a ludicrous sequence in which two rabid pensioners in nappies were stung to death by lethal plantlife. But it's the infamous acid bath sequence that begins the countdown. Everyone thought Colin Baker's Doctor had pegged it, him being tricked into believing he'd perished in a harsh desert thanks to the hi-tech hallucinatons of the Punishment Dome. What to do with a dead Time Lord? Why, throw him into a vat of acid, of course! Baker proved to be far from deceased, however, and proceeded to grapple with the two guards in a bout of dark slapstick which saw the pair permanently dissolved. In the Sixth Doctor's defence, though, he didn't push them in deliberately, but his parting shot of "You'll forgive me if I don't join you!" only stoked the flames of viewer controversy.
I am a journalist and comedian who enjoys American movies of the 70s, Amicus horror compendiums, Doctor Who, Twin Peaks, Naomi Watts and sitting down. My short fiction has been published as part of the Iris Wildthyme range from Obverse Books.
