Dexel Dynes

Dexel Dynes was an amoral journalist from the 31st century unconcerned about the deaths or suffering of innocent people so long as he got a decent story out of it.

Dynes first met the Fifth Doctor and Peri when they became involved in the search for the legendary treasure of Rovan Cartovall, which had been missing for five thousand years. Dynes followed the Marquis de Rosscarrino and his niece Arnella, accompanied by Professor Thorrin and his assistant Willis Brockwell, to the planet Gelsandor, where it was believed the treasure was hidden. Dynes was allowed to record the others as they went on a quest to prove their worthiness to receive the treasure, the Gelsandorans wishing to observe them to better understand humanity. At one point during the quest, when Peri was taken as a hostage to ensure the Doctor's cooperation, Dynes actually suggested that there were places where footage of Peri's torture could sell well, although Peri was able to escape that by arguing that they needed the Doctor's cooperation. At the quest's end, Dynes was left alone on the planet as the others either died or left on their own, lacking any reason for his time away as the films from his cameras had been removed; the Gelsandorans had allowed him to observe the hunt, but not to broadcast it for entertainment, and had ever erased his own memory and the ship's records of the planet's coordinates to prevent him trying to undertake the quest again. (PROSE: The Ultimate Treasure)

Some time after this, Dynes tried to rebuild his reputation. He recorded the exploits of Glavis Judd, a tyrannical dictator who subtly took over his home planet before going on to conquer others. Judd claimed he was "freeing" the people of these planets from oppressive leaders. In reality, Judd often created the situations he set out to "solve", but Dynes didn't care so long as he got a violent story as a result. Judd's expansion was forcibly put on hold when he attempted to "liberate" the planet of Esselven and the rulers fled before he could capture them, leaving him facing the problem of a safe containing all of the information necessary to run the planet. The safe was biologically locked. It would only open to a member of the royal family and so securely designed that any attempt to force it would destroy all the contents.

Judd tracked the Esselven royals to a pleasure planet, only to learn that the Esselvans' attempts to increase their shield strength had caused time behind the shield go five hundred times faster than outside. Generations had passed for the people inside. Despite Judd's best efforts, the Sixth Doctor and Peri dealt with Dynes and him by tricking him into thinking the planet was uninhabited and the palace was about to explode, driving them off while he took a short hop in the TARDIS a few minutes into the future.

As Judd and Dynes left the shield, the Doctor manipulated the shield to bring time back into sync with the rest of the galaxy. After that, he left to help the Esselvans' descendents re-learn their heritage with the aid of machinery in the palace. Judd and Dynes found themselves five hundred years into the future. Judd's "Protectorate" had collapsed. Judd was seen as a madman who thought he was Glavis Judd. Dynes had to accept he was a forgotten has-been, his sensationalistic, tabloid reporting style a thing of the past. He now could only make documentaries about the old days with his insight into the world gone by. (PROSE: Palace of the Red Sun)