Doctor Who: Ribos Operation

Ian Marter & British Broadcasting Corporation

Book 52 of Doctor Who: Target

Language: English

Publisher: Target Books

Published: Dec 9, 1979

Description:

The Doctor and K-9 Mark 2 are sent on a mission by the immensely powerful White Guardian. The six segments of the Key to Time, currently disguised and scattered throughout the cosmos, need to be brought together. Once assembled, the Key will allow the Guardian to restore balance and good to a universe that is descending into evil and chaos. It will also thwart the plans of the fearsome Black Guardian!

As if accepting such a daunting task wasn't enough, the Guardian appoints a new young assistant for the Doctor, Romadvoratrelundar - or Romana for short. Fresh out of the Time Lord Academy, the 140-year-old Romana is confident that their mission will be easy and, if the Doctor can curb his irrational behaviour, can be rapidly completed.

Using a special Tracer, the TARDIS locates the first segment on the feudal planet of Ribos, where two inter-galactic criminals are using a lump of Jethryk as bait in a plot to trick a visiting nobleman into buying the planet - which is not theirs to sell. The Doctor finds himself drawn into the con-men's fiendish plan while Romana has to confront the monstrous Shrievenzale...