Set in the far future, the TARDIS arrives on Space Station Nerva, a dormant ark designed to preserve humanity’s remnants after Earth’s devastation. The crew lies in suspended animation, but the station has been infiltrated by the Wirrn, a swarm of parasitic, telepathic insects that absorb their victims’ knowledge and memories while consuming their bodies. As the Doctor revives the surviving humans, including the resilient Vira and the skeptical Noah, the group must outwit the Wirrn’s relentless advance and prevent the extinction of the human race.
Marter’s adaptation expands on the TV serial’s tension and body horror, delving deeper into the Wirrn’s grotesque transformation of Noah and the claustrophobic terror of the station’s corridors. His prose captures the Fourth Doctor’s eccentric bravado (“You know, I think the Wirrn are rather splendid creatures… in their own way“) while amplifying the story’s themes of survival, sacrifice, and the resilience of life.
