Battle Planet

"You must need assistance badly to kidnap the first ship to stray into your orbit."

Writer: Not Stated

Format: Short Story

Released: September 1984

Printed in: Doctor Who Annual 1985

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis 

The Sixth Doctor and Peri arrive on a planet that was absolutely not the planned destination for the TARDIS. Quickly becoming engaged in the middle of an interplanetary war, the Doctor and Peri are sent on a vital mission. 

Verdict

Battle Planet was a fantastic short story from the 21st Doctor Who annual! I really liked it from start to finish. The Sixth Doctor and Peri is one of my all time favourite TARDIS pairings and the relationship on screen was perfectly portrayed in print here. Humour, aggression and annoyance, that's what I see this pairing's relationship as and it's fantastic! I loved the setting of Belstar and the dynamic of the two species on the planet was very intriguing. You had the Debans, creatures who seemed like they should be living underwater as they weren't very mobile. Despite their somewhat inactivity, I liked their intelligence and technological abilities. They managed to pull the TARDIS onto the planet from orbit. Terrific! The other species, who the Debans were at war with was the Siro and these creatures were extremely mobile and very hostile! The CP10 ray they possessed was scarily horrifying. Disintegration in an instant if you were struck with it! The mystery and secrets hidden in the blue stone was a good concept and I adored how the Debans instructed the Doctor and Peri to retrieve it for them. The mission carried out was good and I really liked how the Doctor asked no questions about retrieving the stone and just got on with helping the Debans! Quite short in length, hence the format, but very good! The climax was met with anticipation with a momentary lapse of misplacing the transport ring but once it was found all was well and the Debans would let the Doctor and Peri depart. Short but sweet and absolutely terrific! 

Rating: 9/10