Deep Stretch Review

A member of Gallifrey Base who calls himself Svelte Kroton (he used to be Cuddly) has embarked on a read-a-thon of all the Short Trips volumes.

Here’s his review of Deep Stretch from Steel Skies.

Deep Stretch
by Richard Salter

Starring:
The Third Doctor, and Jo.

Versus:
Justice

Location:
An underwater prison

Time Period:
Near future, at a guess.
Or at least, early enough 21st Century
for “the Sixties” to retain its meaning.

Sub-Theme
Incarceration.

Page Count:
12

The Writing:
As utilitarian as the prison it describes.
Conjures a sense of relentless oppression nicely.

The Doctor:
Brings the entire prison system to its knees,
then swans off before his involvement is noticed.

The Companions:
Jo feels very out of her depth.

Favourite Quote:
“There was something out there: a bizarre-looking,
almost spherical creature with huge teeth.”

The Verdict:
An extreme and cruel solution to prison-overcrowding,
although I don’t think there’s anything in the text
that ties it to Britain. A very-advanced self-sufficient
technology, albeit with a ridiculously-overlooked
weakness that the Doctor exploits. Fair enough that
the designers didn’t expect inmates to have access
to a sonic screwdriver, but if a passing submarine
cycling through radio frequencies is all it takes
to unleash hordes of vengeful prisoners, you
wonder why a foreign power hadn’t already thought
of it as a precursor to invasion, or just to maximise
political embarrassment. And the relay teams on
exercise bikes providing power for the escape
did make the whole story seem at times like a more
evil version of Big Brother.
5/10