The Scales of Injustice (novel)

The Scales of Injustice

1996 edition
2006 edition
2013 edition

Key crew

Publisher:

Virgin Books

Writer:

Gary Russell

Read by:

Dan Starkey

Cover by:

Andrew Skilleter

Release details

Release number:

24

Release date:

18 July 1996

Format:

Paperback Book; 8 Chapters, 262 Pages

ISBN:

ISBN 0-426-20477-8

Audio clip

Virgin Missing Adventures
← Previous	Next →
Killing Ground	The Shadow of Weng-Chiang

The Scales of Injustice, later reprinted as Scales of Injustice, was the twenty-fourth novel in the Virgin Missing Adventures series. It was written by Gary Russell and featured the Third Doctor, Liz Shaw and Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. This novel features Liz's departure from UNIT and the arrival of Mike Yates, reporting for duty. Yates saw his promotion to captain following the events of this story. Further developments in other Doctor Who media would contradict the events of this story.

Publisher's summary[]

1996 Virgin Books edition[]

"And what exactly, Doctor Shaw, do you think C19 does with the dead bodies of plastic dummies, reptile men, primordial throwbacks and all their human victims?"

A little boy goes missing; a policewoman begins drawing cave paintings; and the employees at the mysterious Glasshouse are desperate to keep everyone away — the Doctor suspects it's all down to a group of homo reptilia. His assistant, Liz Shaw, has ideas of her own and has teamed up with a journalist to search for people who don't exist.

While the Brigadier has to cope with UNIT funding, the breakdown of his marriage and Geneva's threats to replace him, the Doctor must find the reptiles alone.

And behind it all lies a conspiracy to exploit UNIT's achievements — a conspiracy reaching deep into the heart of the British government.

2014 BBC Books edition[]

When a boy goes missing and a policewoman starts drawing cave paintings, the Doctor suspects the Silurians are back. With the Brigadier distracted by questions about UNIT funding and problems at home, the Doctor swears his assistant Liz Shaw to secrecy and investigates alone.

But Liz has enquiries of her own, teaming up with a journalist to track down people who don't exist. What is the mysterious Glasshouse, and why is it so secret?

As the Silurians wake from their ancient slumber, the Doctor, Liz and the Brigadier are caught up in a conspiracy to exploit UNIT's achievements — a conspiracy that reaches deep into the heart of the British Government.

Plot[]

Prologue[]

to be added

Episode One[]

Grant Traynor is exploring a tunnel in hopes of finding evidence that he can use to convince the papers that an unspecified corporation is up to no good. Just then, he hears a noise and fears that someone called the "Stalker" has been sent to deal with him. As he begins to run, Grant hears a voice confirming that the Stalker has been sent after him and he is needed to come back to them. Grant then runs into a man with sunglasses who says that he has blown his chance before he is killed by the Stalker.

At UNIT HQ, Liz Shaw is displeased with the disorganized lab that the Doctor is working in whilst singing "The Sun Has Got His Hat On". The Brigadier enters the lab to inform the Doctor and Liz that Sir John Sudbury is coming to inform them about the amount of money they will be earning in the financial year, which means the possibility of a new Captain.

The Doctor, however, is more interested in fixing the TARDIS console which he has placed inside the TARDIS so he can repair the dematerialization circuit. The Brigadier leaves to prepare for John Sudbury and General Scobie's arrival and invites Liz for lunch. As the Doctor starts singing "Raindrops are Falling On My Head", Liz throws a clipboard at him and leaves.

Retired actor Jossey O'Grahame (Formerly known as Justin Grayson) is staring at the ocean from a clifftop until he hears an unusual hissing noise. He assumes that it's his colleague, Larry, messing with him, but then he is attacked and killed by a scaled creature.

Liz receives some spares from Mister Campbell so that she can improve the electron microscope. She returns to the lab and encounters some of the new staff, including Private Boyle and Mike Yates, who is taking am armful of rifles to storage.

Marcus Marshall is writing in his diary about his frustrations about the new house that he and his father moved into a couple of days ago. He adds that his father is an MP and he will be going to Dungeness so he can stand next to the nuclear reactor in an attempt to commit suicide. Just then, his Aunt Eve calls him to lunch, which is potato skins filled with cream cheese and red kidney beans.

Liz is having lunch with Major-General Scobie. Boyle brings John Sudbury into the room so that the discussions about UNIT's funding can begin. Standing in the outer office, Liz listens to the discussion between the Brigadier, Scobie and John Sudbury before she answers a phone call from the Doctor.

The Doctor tells Liz that he has reconnected the stabilizing dionodes and needs to feed in the directional wafers so that his TARDIS console can be fully repaired. Liz tells the Doctor that she wishes to go to Cambridge, much to his puzzlement. After Liz hangs up, the Doctor resumes work, only to receive a phone call from a man who seems to be asking about Liz Shaw. Before the Doctor can find out how the unknown caller bypassed the switchboard, they hang up.

Jana Kristen watches a group of policemen gathering on the bay before deciding to return to the bed in her hotel room. After looking at the white walls, she decides to leave with her camera and use a coin-operated phone to call a London number.

Marcus continues writing in his diary about his experiences with Dungeness, including how he was denied the chance to explore the nuclear power station. He writes that he might stop by Casey's to see if Eve's magazines have arrived and he wishes he was home in Manchester where the rest of his friends live. As he's making his way to Eve's house, he catches sight of the police, as well as something moving inside an abandoned cottage that, according to Eve, should be demolished. He decides to investigate, leaving his bag and diary behind.

WPC Barbara Redworth finds Marcus' bag and diary, then enters the cottage to try and find its owner. After some searching, she finds Marcus hiding in the bathroom, as well as a body lying in the bathtub which is full of unclean water. Barbara investigates the body, only for it to emerge from the tub and attack her, traumatizing her, She then begins drawing patterns on the wall with the mud on the floor.

to be added

Episode Two[]

to be added

Episode Three[]

to be added

Episode Four[]

to be added

Episode Five[]

to be added

Episode Six[]

to be added

Episode Seven[]

to be added

Characters[]

Worldbuilding[]

Individuals[]

The Pale Man was modified with Cyberman technology. The Pale Man was originally an employee of International Electromatics before the Cybermen experimented on the human form.
The Irish Twins were modified with Auton technology.
The Stalker was created by injecting a Doberman with Stahlman's ooze.
Sir John Sudbury and C19 control UNIT's budget in Britain.
The Brigadier and his wife Fiona married eight years ago. Their daughter, Kate, is five years old. He and his wife are nearing divorce.
Liz joined UNIT the previous October.
Liz's landlady is Mrs Longhurst.
Thomas Reynold was killed by the Silurians. His body was found by PC Stuart Halton.
Tommy Taftitti is a janitor at Hastings General Hospital.
John and Sheila Lawson are the owners of the Bayview Guest House.
The Doctor, Sir John Sudbury and Lord Rowlands play bridge at the Pemburton club.
Morley knew John Quinn and calls him "old Scotty".

Locations[]

The C19 Vault contains WOTAN, the lower half of an Imperial Dalek, Nestene energy units, the Silurian virus and Cyber weapons, as well as the frozen bodies of Melvin Krimpton, Stephen Weams, George Ratcliffe, George Hibbert and Mark Gregory.
There is a nuclear power station located in Dungeness.
The Doctor stays at the Sandybeach Hotel.
Sir John Sudbury is the MP for Woodhaven.

Species[]

A Myrka is used by the Silurians.

Planets[]

The Doctor tells Liz they could travel to Florana or Majus Seventeen in the TARDIS.

Pets[]

Two guinea pigs, John-Paul and Ringo-George, were given to Liz by a friend at Cambridge when she moved to London.

Notes[]

The chapters are referred to as "Episodes". The novel is seven "episodes" long, plus a prologue.
This story was released as an ebook on the BBC website in 2006, with the book remaining on the BBC's site until 2009.
This novel was reprinted and released as an ebook on Kindle by BBC Books on 6 March 2014 as The Monster Collection Edition.
This story retroactively fixes some of the apparent inconsistencies of the television story Warriors of the Deep. Specifically, this story explains how the Doctor knows Icthar and how he knows of the Triad and the Myrka.
As in Warriors of the Deep, Sea Devils are called that by the Silurians. This novel makes it clear that their full name is Sea Devil Warriors and they are a caste as much as a sub-species.
C19 and Sir John Sudbury are mentioned on-screen only in the television story Time-Flight. C19 was also explored more fully in the novel Who Killed Kennedy.
The Myrka, which first appeared on screen in the television story Warriors of the Deep, is used by the Silurians in this story.

Continuity[]

The "Older Silurian", "Younger Silurian", and "Silurian Scientist" of TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians are here named respectively Okdel L'da, Morka and Bokka K'to.
Sir John Sudbury mentions Sir James Quinlan's death. (TV: The Ambassadors of Death)
The Doctor mentions using steady state micro welding to repair the TARDIS' dematerialisation circuit. (TV: Terror of the Autons)
Sir Marmaduke shows Morley a UNIT file containing information on Major Norman Baker, Dr Charles Lawrence, Doris Squire, Edward Masters and Phyllis Dawson. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
Captain James Munro has left UNIT to go back to the regular army. (TV: Spearhead from Space)
Captain Jimmy Turner has married Isobel Watkins and been promoted to Major. (TV: The Invasion)
Corporal Nutting once interrupted one of the Doctor's experiments involving non-moving air molecules. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
Captain Walters is in charge of the UNIT hangar which was the temporary UNIT HQ during the Cyberman invasion. (TV: The Invasion)
It was Air Commodore Ian Gilmore who suggested Lethbridge-Stewart, then a colonel, for the commander of the British branch of UNIT. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks) Lethbridge-Stewart reflects on how his life changed after meeting with him. (PROSE: The Dogs of War)
The Doctor has told Liz about the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Zarbi (TV: The Web Planet) and the Drahvins. (TV: Galaxy 4) He has also mentioned Magnus Greel. (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang)
Professor Rachel Jensen suggested recruiting her University of Cambridge protégés Allison Williams, (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks) Ruth Ingram (TV: The Time Monster) and Anne Travers (TV: The Web of Fear) to the Intrusion Counter-Measures Group.
Rachel mentions Dr Judson and the ULTIMA machine, which was stored at a British Army base in Maiden's Point in 1943. Later in his personal timeline, specifically during his seventh incarnation, the Doctor and his companion Ace would visit Maiden's Point that year and defeat the ancient sentient force Fenric, who had taken possession of Judson's body. (TV: The Curse of Fenric)
Corporal Maisie Hawke mentions that she has sent a Nestene energy unit to the National Space Museum. (TV: Terror of the Autons)
The pale young man tells the Doctor that the Vault contains two Cyber-guns, (TV: The Invasion) Nestene energy units (TV: Spearhead from Space) and phials of the Silurian plague. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians) It also contains Mars Probe 6, which Sir Marmaduke recognises. (TV: The Ambassadors of Death)
The Doctor does not recognise what the pale young man describes as one of the Vault's first trophies: "the lower half of a cream-coloured Dalek, stained with green and pitted with bullet holes." The Doctor notes that he has never seen a Dalek of that configuration before, least of all on 20th century Earth. It was obtained by the ICMG in the aftermath of the Shoreditch Incident in November 1963. Later in his personal timeline, the Seventh Doctor and Ace would be present for that event. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
Tobias Vaughn, (TV: The Invasion) secretly still alive, (PROSE: Original Sin) is ultimately behind the conspiracy within C19.

Illustrations[]

The e-book version published by the BBC on their website included several illustrations by Daryl Joyce. Titles of illustrations are as they were on BBC's site.