Vislor Turlough is in trouble again: piloting a stolen ship through a pocket universe on a mission that is strictly forbidden by the Doctor. He would be going it alone, but there is unwelcome company in the form of Huxley, one of the legendary novelisors of Verbatim Six, who is narrating and recording Turlough's life.
As they hurtle towards unknown peril, Turlough recalls his arrival in the TARDIS, and the circumstances that propelled himself, the Doctor and Tegan into the Ringpull universe. He has a story to tell. But only Huxley knows how it might end...
Ringpullworld contains examples of:
- Berserk Button: As we have seen before, Tegan does not take kindly to being dismissed because of her gender, and she lets the aliens have it when they derisively refer to her as "the female companion" one time too many.
- Call-Back:
- Turlough says that the TARDIS has been having landing troubles (more than usual) since leaving the Death Zone on Gallifrey several weeks earlier.
- Huxley reminds Turlough of his old school friend Hippo, and calls him by that name for most of the story.
- When trying to convince Turlough that the Doctor might not be able to save him, Huxley asks if Tegan ever told Turlough about what happened to Adric.
- Distressed Dude: As usual, Turlough can't get through a story without being locked up and in need of rescue.
- Explosive Leash: The Psychic Link that the novelizers establish with their chosen subjects can only be broken by the novelizers themselves. Any other attempt to sever the connection will burn out the brain of the host.
- Flash Forward: The novelizers have this ability, and can share it with whoever they're bonded with. Most of the last half of the story is Turlough narrating a possible future where he is rescued from the alien prison, even though by the end he is still trapped in his cell.
- Heroic BSoD: For a given value of "heroic". Joyce, the novelizer bonded with the Doctor, becomes traumatized by all the violence and spaceship crashes that take place and is reduced to a gibbering wreck, unable to carry on novelizing.
- Hidden Depths: Everyone is shocked that Turlough has such a great amount of empathy for the aliens trapped in the Ringpull universe, nobody more so than Turlough himself.
- Huxley is surprised that Tegan notices the shrinking field coming upon them before anyone else. Turlough notes that Tegan might be brash, but she is nonetheless very quick on the uptake.
- Malicious Misnaming: Turlough spends most of the story calling Huxley by the name of his old school friend, Hippo. As he says, Hippo was fat, ugly and over-eager, so the name fits Huxley much better than his own.
- Maybe Ever After: A mild case, as Turlough surviving is obviously a Foregone Conclusion, but the story's end doesn't make it clear that the future Turlough saw is what will actually come to pass in order to effect his escape.
- Narrator: Takes the usual convention of Companion Chronicles up to eleven, with Huxley (and his entire species) being a race of novelizers, who compulsively narrate everything that happens to the person they are linked to. Turlough eventually picks up the habit, and Huxley tells him he has a knack for it.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: For once, Turlough is driven by entirely altruistic motives to free the aliens trapped in the Ringpull universe. Naturally, they turn out to be bloodthirsty warlords who imprison him and plan to assault the main universe once they are free.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Turlough feels compelled to open the ringpull and release the denizens of the pocket universe because he knows all too well what it's like to feel abandoned, cut off and isolated with full knowledge of a great wide universe just beyond his reach. As it turns out, there are rather more differences between him and the trapped aliens than he believed.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Turlough accuses Huxley of this, once it becomes clear that he is much more cunning and manipulative than he appears in his fussy, nervous guise.
- Planet of Hats: The novelizers of Verbatim Six are all driven to seek out other life forms and bond with them in order to document their exploits.
- Pocket Dimension: Contained in a tin can.
- Psychic Link: The novelizers of Verbatim Six form one of these with people they find interesting enough to document. This is done completely against the will of the subject of their narration, and Turlough is disgusted to find out later that they have the cheek to charge for this "service".
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Literally, as the pocket dimension containing the Monster of the Week is in a small cylinder like a tin can, complete with titular ringpull.
- Squee: The three novelizers are overjoyed to bond with the Doctor and his companions, as their entire race had been trying to get someone aboard the TARDIS for centuries. The novelty quickly wears off when the dangerous reality of travelling with the Doctor becomes apparent.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: As usual, Mark Strickson's Australian accent when relating Tegan's dialogue sounds more alien than the actual extra-terrestrials do. Given Turlough and Tegan's usual relationship, this might be entirely on purpose.
