"Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters" by Kit Pedler & Gerry Davis Viking 1972, Book Club Edition, with dust jacket. In very good condition, probably never read, some slight shelf-wear to dust jacket. See photos.
Based on the classic British science fiction television programme "Doomwatch", produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC1 between 1970 and 1972, "Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters" is an expanded version of the first episode Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis wrote for the Doomwatch series.
In the gripping science fiction novel "Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters" by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis, the world is faced with a terrifying ecological crisis. Plastic waste has reached catastrophic levels, overwhelming the environment and endangering all life forms.
Dr. John Ridge, a renowned biologist, is summoned to a secret research facility known as UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) to investigate a baffling phenomenon. A deadly organism, dubbed Mutant 59, has emerged and is rapidly consuming plastic, causing havoc and destruction in its wake.
As the mutant spreads, it becomes clear that it poses a significant threat not only to the environment but also to humanity itself. The plastic-eating organism's insatiable appetite and ability to adapt make it virtually unstoppable. Dr. Ridge and a team of scientists, accompanied by military personnel, are thrust into a race against time to find a solution.
As they delve deeper into the research, they uncover a shocking truth. Mutant 59 is not a naturally occurring organism but a bioengineered creation, deliberately unleashed upon the world. The origin and purpose of this deadly creature remain shrouded in mystery, raising suspicions of a malevolent plot lurking in the shadows.
As chaos and panic grip society, Dr. Ridge must navigate a treacherous landscape of government conspiracies, corporate interests, and personal vendettas. Alongside his colleagues and the UNIT operatives, he battles not only the mutant itself but also the hidden forces working to manipulate and exploit the situation for their own gain.
As the global crisis escalates, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. Dr. Ridge and his team must unravel the truth behind Mutant 59 and find a way to neutralize it before it consumes everything in its path. With time running out and the odds stacked against them, they face increasingly desperate challenges that push the limits of their scientific knowledge and personal resolve.
"Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters" is a thrilling and thought-provoking tale that explores the consequences of environmental negligence, the dangers of unchecked scientific experimentation, and the power of human resilience in the face of a cataclysmic threat.
This book hits the mark as far as showing our over-dependency on plastics. What if there was a mutant bacteria released that turned plastics into bubbling liquid? Well, even in 1972, (spoiler alert!) the city of London shuts down completely and thousands of people die.
About the authors:
Christopher Magnus Howard "Kit" Pedler was a British medical scientist, science fiction author and writer on science in general.
He was the head of the electron microscopy department at the Institute of Ophthalmology, University of London, where he published a number of papers. Pedler's first television contribution was for the BBC programme Tomorrow's World.
In the mid-1960s, Pedler became the unofficial scientific adviser to the Doctor Who production team. Hired by Innes Lloyd to inject more hard science into the stories, Pedler formed a particular writing partnership with Gerry Davis, the programme's story editor. Their interest in the problems of science changing and endangering human life led them to create the Cybermen.
Pedler wrote three scripts for Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet, The Moonbase and The Tomb of the Cybermen. He also submitted the story outlines that became The War Machines, The Wheel in Space and The Invasion.
Pedler and Davis devised and co-wrote Doomwatch, a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme which ran on BBC One for three seasons from 1970 to 1972 (37 50-minute episodes plus one unshown) covered a government department that worked to combat technological and environmental disasters. Pedler and Davis contributed to only the first two series.
Pedler and Davis re-used the plot of the first episode of the series, The Plastic Eaters, for their 1971 novel "Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters".
His non-fiction book The Quest for Gaia gave practical advice on creating an ecologically sustainable lifestyle, using James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis.
He died of a heart attack at his home in Doddington, Kent, while completing production of Mind Over Matter, a series for Thames Television on the paranormal that he presented with Tony Bastable.
Pedler is buried at All Saints' Church in the Kent village of Graveney, where he lived before moving to nearby Doddington.
His daughter is novelist Carol Topolski.
About the television series "Doomwatch":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomwatch
Opening credits sequence from "Doomwatch" BBC TV series (1970-72) at YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5OUi50bC-s&ab_channel=icemachine79