Purple Dust was a challenge laid down by a member of the MSN forum where these stories get posted for discussion. The member’s nickname IS Purple Dust, taken from the title of a play by Sean O’Casey. I read that play a very long time ago, but have completely forgotten the text now. However, that doesn’t matter since the challenge was to interpret the title ‘Purple Dust’ as I saw fit. The same challenge was offered to my friend Prue, who interpreted it HER way. She went for a mysterious dust that invaded the TARDIS’s time rotor and Eye of Harmony. I interpreted it as a kind of drug that caused people to behave in insane ways – as, of course, most recreational drugs do, eventually.

 

A similar idea was explored in the Tom Baker episode, Nightmare From Eden, when people behaved irresponsibly because of a drug called Vraxoin.

 

Lyria, of course, has featured in Theta Sigma before, being the place Chrístõ took Julia to recover from her ordeal on the Aldous Huxley. It is also the setting for the Unfinished Business story, Riddle of the Sands, which homages Jaws and some other creature feature Holywood films. Here, paradise is spoiled by the actions of the dust sellers.

 

The foolish behaviour of the people ‘surfing’ with their cars on the promenade was actually sparked by a news item that I saw which highlighted people in California risking their lives doing that sort of thing. It is called either car-surfing or ghost-riding and is regarded as an extreme sport by some youth sub-cultures, but a danger to life and limb by just about everyone else. The ones doing it in California possibly also have drugs to blame for thinking anything that stupid is ‘cool’ or ‘clever’. Anyway, it served as a way of demonstrating just how reckless people using the Dust could get.

 

The idea that the drug was as harmless as sherbet until it mixed with Human saliva came from another movie source. In the film 51st State, there is a recreational drug called ‘POS 51’ which was supposed to give the best possible high, and which was made of ingredients that on their own are neither illegal or narcotic, but mixed together in a certain way became ‘active’. In fact, POS stood for Power of Suggestion and there was NO active ingredient. Purple Dust, is actually more dangerous since it BECOMES active when ingested. Just how different a Time Lord saliva should be from Human is a moot point. He IS an alien, after all.

 

Humphrey’s part in the defeat of the drug barons sees a bit of a come-back for the darkness creature. He hasn’t featured in many stories recently.

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_O%27Casey

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_ride

 

http://www.pearsecom.co.uk/doctorwho/44riddleofsands.htm

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_51st_State