Grand Theft Planet!

                                      

"Another clank. Everyone slowly turned to look at the armour. The museum display had its lights dimmed, and the armour looked sinister in the near darkness. Then one of the suits of the armour clanked again, and turned to face them. The other suits did the same. They raised their swords, and marched forwards to attack."

Writer: James Moran
Format: Short Story
Released: 1st August 2008
Printed in: Doctor Who Storybook 2009

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna

Synopsis

The Doctor takes Donna to see a famous floating city but as vehicles roll and buildings start to shatter, the Doctor and Donna try to find their way to the city's gravity compensators...

Verdict

Grand Theft Planet! was a massive improvement from the previous short story I read. Hello Children, Everywhere was awful but this story was excellent! The pairing of the Tenth Doctor and Donna was absolutely fantastic and the banter between them was a particular highlight of the story. Never lacking was the humour! I liked the character of Jellop a lot, taking pride in Coral City, what seemed to be the capital of the floating planet! The illustrations from the story were outstanding and I loved the idea of a floating planet! The Sarriflex were intriguing, seeming to be extremely stupid yet conjuring up a genius plan trying to literally steal a planet for its metal and usage in a war of their own. But the best villain was the 'middle man' so to speak. Trefgar was callous and fantastic. A really good villain. I liked how once the explanation of the planet floating was given to the Doctor, he knew things weren't right. Spoiling the party. But it's a good job he did! The climax was good and the dangers sparked from the city being tilted at an angle of 45º was great! The brilliance of the Doctor in solving the problem, bringing the city back from afloat and sending the evil Trefgar and Sarriflex floating into the sun! The Doctor saved the day, and although she didn't like to admit it, Donna was mightily impressed. A wonderful little story!

Rating: 8/10