Rightly famed for his succinct novelisations, Terrance Dicks has contributed original novels to several Doctor Who ranges to variable effect, now reaching a nadir with the empty Catastrophea. Kastopheria is an Earth colony, with peaceful natives disturbingly happy to function as servants, and war with Draconia is an increasing threat.

Economy of expression is a laudable objective, but there must exist an idea to be expressed. The lack of complication here is more an absence of style, with passionless text the result. Most irritating is the style of literary and filmic allusions, which are not subtle anyway, and are rendered completely ineffectual by over-emphasis.

Worse than the style is the insubstantial plot. There is about enough development in this novel for perhaps a short story, at most fifty minutes' worth of television - not that it's low on incident. No, the first hundred and fifty pages present an abundance of artificial narrative excitement, as the Doctor (or Jo, or both) are captured by the local military force, or escape, or are rescued by the mandatory crew of freedom fighters. None of the characters have any life, the human soldiers being the least convincing. Far too many chapters end with their threatening to put the Doctor (or Jo, or both) to death, only for them to change their minds within two pages. In one particularly comedic case this comes after the regulars have been ordered to be shot on sight.

Around two thirds of the way through, a story unravels, although the drug-based plot which leads to this development doesn't even aspire to the level of subtlety of Nightmare of Eden. However, this peters out rapidly, the resolution is barely there and some not uncharacteristic trite philosophising concludes.

In the book's favour, it starts quickly, the limited detail at least means it's not tedious, the Doctor and Jo are just about right although not endearingly presented, and there's one almost funny gag on page 242. Other than that, it reads as if Terrance made it up as he went along, never pausing to revise. I hope this is the case, as the alternative - that this is the best he can do - is not a pleasant thought.