Tip of the Tongue

"How can you punish anyone for the truth?"

Writer: Patrick Ness

Format: Novella 

Released: November 2014

Series: 12 Doctors, 12 Stories: 05

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Nyssa

Synopsis 

There's a strange new craze for Truth Tellers, which is sweeping through the kids of small-town America. While the Doctor and Nyssa investigate the phenomenon, they discover the truth about the Truth Tellers is far more sinister than anyone could ever have imagined...

Verdict 

Tip of the Tongue was a pretty decent little read but I think the reason it is comfortably the worst novella from 12 Doctor, 12 Stories thus far is due to the lack of appearance from the Doctor and Nyssa. It almost seemed to me like the fact the writer was having to write for Doctor Who was an inconvenience. Don't get me wrong, the story was good but at times it just didn't feel like a Doctor Who story. For the first two thirds the Doctor and Nyssa barely featured and they were only actually named nearer to the end of the story. Although, once they were prominent I thought their characterisation was very good, particularly Nyssa. The description of her was wonderful. This seems to be set very shortly after the finish of Season 19 with the Doctor referencing two recent companion losses of Adric, who died in Earthshock, and Tegan, who went home in Time-Flight though not through a choice of her own! She would of course rejoin the TARDIS team in Arc of Infinity. This story is slotted in what has become a huge gap between those two stories thanks to the Big Finish audios and I was quite surprised that the Doctor asked Johnny and Nettie to become his companions. It was quite the shock I must say as I'm not convinced the Doctor liked having quite the crowd travelling with him! Maybe he thought two school kids would be easier to control and handle than Adric and Tegan. I can actually see that working but I still didn't expect to get a companion offer in this little novella. The format of the book was very intriguing with no chapters and it just flowing constantly for 60 pages. I'm not sure that was a good thing. Chapters, even in stories as short as this, help things flow and advance the story so I think they should have featured here. The 1945 setting in USA was very good and I liked the numerous references to the Second World War. Johnny having a German surname and being a Jew wouldn't hold him in high regard that's for sure! I found it quite funny that his surname translated as staples though I must admit. The story behind that was quite humorous. The 'Truth Tellers', or Veritans as they were actually known, we're certainly an interesting species though not one I don't think I'd intend on buying. Everywhere you go they just blurted out the truth about anyone you encountered. I don't think I'd like that very much at all. Annabelle using one in school resulting in her suspension was interesting and I loved her comment which I immediately chose as my opening quote. Johnny having an obvious crush on Marisa was nice but I liked the way the story headed in a typical love story direction with Johnny eventually falling for Nettie, though the ending regarding that was left a little ambiguous which I liked. The Acklin house blowing up in unfamiliar circumstances was good. Nyssa's explanation was a brilliant analogy as well. I really liked her in this story but I just wished she featured more! That was the problem I felt. The Dipthodat being xenophobic was good but I don't think they were quite on the scale of the Daleks! The climax was good with Veritans being freed from slavery but overall, I just wish the Doctor and Nyssa featured more prominently. 

Rating: 7/10