The Clean Air Act (short story): Difference between revisions

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{{real world}}
{{real world}}
{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story
|image          =  
|range            = The Target Storybook (anthology)
|number in range  = 4
|image          = The Clean Air Act (short story).jpg
|series        = ''[[The Target Storybook (anthology)|The Target Storybook]]''
|series        = ''[[The Target Storybook (anthology)|The Target Storybook]]''
|doctor        = Third Doctor
|doctor        = Third Doctor
|companions     = [[Jo Grant|Jo]]
|companions = [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|The Brigadier]], [[John Benton|Benton]], [[Mike Yates|Yates]], [[Jo Grant|Jo]]
|featuring      = [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|The Brig]], [[Mike Yates|Yates]], [[John Benton|Benton]]
|enemy          =[[Alien Parasite (The Clean Air Act)|Alien Plant Parasite]]
|enemy          =  
|setting        = [[Oak Green]], [[1970s]]
|setting        = [[Oak Green]], [[1970s]]
|writer        = [[Matthew Sweet]]
|writer        = [[Matthew Sweet]]
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== Plot ==
== Plot ==
''to be added''
Returning from a scientific conference at [[Tarminster University]], [[Third Doctor|the Doctor]] and [[Jo Grant|Jo]] discover a number of people lying in the gardens of a housing estate in [[Oak Green]]: all have inexplicably choked to death, except for a young girl named [[Sally Hesketh]], who sits among them unharmed. The Doctor and [[UNIT]] are unable to determine the cause of death, although Sally’s parents appear to know more than they let on. Life in the village resumes – until a second incident occurs a few days later, and more of the Heskeths’ neighbours suffocate. Realising that the air around the Heskeths’ house has been drained away, the Doctor confronts Sally’s parents; in response [[Mrs Heskith]] turns into a fibrous, vegetable creature, which attacks the Doctor and joins its mind with his. Through their connection, the Doctor learns how Mrs Heskith ate an alien plant that her husband found in [[Papua New Guinea]]; the alien [[parasite]] has been draining off Earth’s air through a space tunnel, using it to replenish its own dying world. Struggling against the creature, the Doctor is able to cut it off at the roots using the folding metal frame of a sun-lounger. With the alien threat destroyed, UNIT closes down the village, attributing the incident to toxic paint cans buried during the war.


== Characters ==
== Characters ==
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* [[Anoushka Mastersson]]
* [[Anoushka Mastersson]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
''to be added''
''to be added''


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== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* Extracts from [[Charles Grover|Sir Charles Grover's]] book [[Last Chance for Man]] are seen throughout the story and it ends with the Doctor writing to Sir Charles politely declining to write the foreword to the book. ([[TV]]: ''[[Invasion of the Dinosaurs (TV story)|Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]'').
* Extracts from [[Charles Grover|Sir Charles Grover's]] book ''[[Last Chance for Man]]'' are seen throughout the story and it ends with the Doctor writing to Sir Charles politely declining to write the foreword to the book. ([[TV]]: ''[[Invasion of the Dinosaurs (TV story)|Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]'')
* Yates and Benton at one point discuss the possibility of Anoushka being [[The Master]], Yates waves it away saying "He's good...But he's not that good." ([[TV]]: ''[[Terror of the Autons (TV story)|Terror of the Autons]]'' et al).
* Yates and Benton at one point discuss the possibility of Anoushka being {{Delgado}}, Yates waves it away saying ''"He's good... But he's not that good."'' ([[TV]]: ''[[Terror of the Autons (TV story)|Terror of the Autons]]'' et al)
* Jo is becoming more environmentally aware and wants to go with Anoushka to a demonstration at [[Stonehenge]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Green Death (TV story)|The Green Death]]'').
* Jo is becoming more environmentally aware and wants to go with Anoushka to a demonstration at [[Stonehenge]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Green Death (TV story)|The Green Death]]'')
* Oak Green is not far from [[Tarminster]]. The Doctor uses readings from the [[Beacon Hill Research Establishment]] to deduce the nature of the sudden loss of air around Oak Green. ([[TV]]: ''[[Terror of the Autons (TV story)|Terror of the Autons]]'').
* Oak Green is not far from [[Tarminster]]. The Doctor uses readings from the [[Beacon Hill Research Establishment]] to deduce the nature of the sudden loss of air around Oak Green. ([[TV]]: ''[[Terror of the Autons (TV story)|Terror of the Autons]]'')


{{The Target Storybook}}
{{The Target Storybook}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:The Target Storybook short stories]]
[[Category:The Target Storybook short stories]]
[[Category:Third Doctor short stories]]
[[Category:Third Doctor short stories]]

Latest revision as of 19:52, 9 November 2023

RealWorld.png

prose stub

The Clean Air Act was the fourth short story in The Target Storybook.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Returning from a scientific conference at Tarminster University, the Doctor and Jo discover a number of people lying in the gardens of a housing estate in Oak Green: all have inexplicably choked to death, except for a young girl named Sally Hesketh, who sits among them unharmed. The Doctor and UNIT are unable to determine the cause of death, although Sally’s parents appear to know more than they let on. Life in the village resumes – until a second incident occurs a few days later, and more of the Heskeths’ neighbours suffocate. Realising that the air around the Heskeths’ house has been drained away, the Doctor confronts Sally’s parents; in response Mrs Heskith turns into a fibrous, vegetable creature, which attacks the Doctor and joins its mind with his. Through their connection, the Doctor learns how Mrs Heskith ate an alien plant that her husband found in Papua New Guinea; the alien parasite has been draining off Earth’s air through a space tunnel, using it to replenish its own dying world. Struggling against the creature, the Doctor is able to cut it off at the roots using the folding metal frame of a sun-lounger. With the alien threat destroyed, UNIT closes down the village, attributing the incident to toxic paint cans buried during the war.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]