Recap / Eighth Doctor Adventures: The Janus Conjunction

"They were waiting for a dawn that would never come."

The light on Janus Prime is backwards. The sand glows a sickly blue, while none comes from the sky. A bloated moon in geostationary orbit has put its sun into a perpetual solar eclipse.

The Doctor and Sam, of course, land on Janus Prime right in front of a giant cyborg spider that is chasing a woman through some ancient ruins. They, as always, get involved straight away. They break some stuff, confuse some people, end up in trouble, and learn some disturbing facts about Janus Prime:

1. The sand is radioactive. You stay there too long, you die
2. There's a hyperspatial link between Janus Prime (which is ruled by a bunch of stranded mercenaries) and its twin planet (which is ruled by a bunch of peaceful farmers).
3. Said hyperspatial link is actually the trigger for a doomsday device that can destroy the whole solar system.
4. The mad and dying leader of the mercenaries on Janus Prime has his finger on the button.

It seems the Doctor and Sam have arrived just in time to prevent the destruction of a solar system.

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Tropes present in The Janus Conjunction include:

• Always Night: Janus Prime (Although technically it's always a solar eclipse).
• Continuity Nod: Of course. Its an EDA.
  • "There was that one time in San Francisco..." the Doctor says when Sam asks him if being shot at shortly after stepping from the TARDIS is a record for him.
    • Also, "singing a song about leaving hearts in San Francisco."
  • When asked what the Doctor's name is, Sam says it's "tricky to say," just like in Vanderdeken's Children.
• Lost Superweapon: The Mendans thought that the Link was just a transmat.
• Mythology Gag: The Doctor says, "I hate watching myself on TV, don't you?" The Eighth Doctor only had one televised adventure.
• Race Against the Clock: Several:
  • Every time someone from Menda goes to Janus Prime, they have to get off before they get radiation sickness
  • The Doctor and the Mendans have to stop Zemler before he can destroy the sun
  • The Doctor and Lunder have to get back to Menda and/or stop the moon before it crashes into Janus Prime
  • The Doctor needs to figure out a way to cure the radiation sickness before Sam dies
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Theoretically impossible, or, more accurately, just an extremely bad idea, so the Doctor has to keep reminding people not to even try it. The Doctor manages it anyway.
• Shout-Out
  • "Where no one has gone before, eh?"
  • "'Course. I've seen Stargate."
  • "Alas, poor Yorick."
• Total Eclipse of the Plot: Menda's moon is the other half of the doomsday weapon's trigger. It goes into a solar eclipse when the weapon is about to be fired.
• Weird Moon: Moon in geostationary orbit causing a perpetual eclipse