Pluto

"This is what her life was now. Counting the moments between dead bodies."

Writer: Dale Smith
Format: Short Story
Released: October 2005
Printed in: Short Trips: The Solar System 09

Featuring: Second Doctor, Polly, Ben

Synopsis

The Second Doctor, Polly and Ben arrive on Charon, one of Pluto's moons, in the far future and discover that there is a shadow living here. When a crew of humans arrive in search of their colleague who lost contact, something sinister is uncovered...

Verdict

Pluto was a very good penultimate story in The Solar System edition of Short Trips prose from Big Finish! I was really glad to see a marked improvement on the previous story and I was very excited to be getting a new story with the Second Doctor, Polly and Ben. They're actually a pretty rare trio as far as adventures come by and I really loved how it seemed to immediately follow The Power of the Daleks. Ben was still sceptical over whether the newly regenerated Doctor was the same person and that theme was excellent to see in terms of continuity. Polly was less suspicious and firmly believed they were the same person due to just how different things were for the Doctor. Her desire to get home was an interesting theme to explore and seeing the recent adventures in the TARDIS from her perspective with death following them and becoming somewhat frequent and almost expected was very intriguing. She was horrified that people died in the Doctor's footsteps and she really was struggling to deal with it. She was quite off with Ben which is very unlike her and this did certainly highlight a different side to her which was very interesting. I was impressed with the use of Pluto in this story and I thought it was fantastic to use companions that would not have even been aware of the planet's existence. It's quite staggering to think that during the time Doctor Who has been on the air, a planet was discovered and now subsequently demoted to a dwarf planet! Regardless, Polly and Ben didn't seem like they had much to question which showed just how much trust they placed in the Doctor and the wonder they had experienced in the TARDIS. The arrivals of Magellan and co were good and I liked how it seemed that the Doctor and his companions were responsible for murder. Learning of the history of the mission to Pluto's moon for water - yes, there was now a shortage in the far future! - was very interesting and I liked that Ask was found after being presumed dead. I thought the jumps in this adventure were very good as they actually told a story, specifically when Ben revealed that Magellan had killed all of the creatures that were sleeping in stasis to hold the shadow in containment. I thought the presence of the shadow was good and provided a decent threat. Scrivens was a good character and I thought that Spinks and Ray were pretty decent too. Magellan being a robot with his brain kept despite his body failing (dying, basically) was very good and I enjoyed Polly and Ben's reaction to that very much. The Second Doctor's characterisation was very good throughout and I loved the moment at the end where he retrieved the TARDIS key from his shoe! That was perfectly in line with his personality. The ambiguity of the ending with Polly wanting to know where exactly the shadow was now was very good with the Doctor basically trimming its evils and keeping that contained beneath the ice of Pluto. The highlight of the story for me though occurred when the group all amalgamated into one to bring the shadow into containment and Ben could hear the thoughts of Polly and heard the voice of the First Doctor, making him firmly believe that the Doctor with them now was the same person. I like the idea of Polly being the one that convinces Ben. Overall, a great story!

Rating: 8/10