Blood Will Out

"Mind-bending, Rib-tickling Reflections!"

Writer: Richard Dungworth 

Format: Short Story

Released: September 2017

Printed in: Tales of Terror 10

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna

Synopsis

Verdict

Blood Will Out was another very good little short story to continue my way reading through the Tales of Terror collection! I enjoyed this one quite a lot as I get into the final stretch of the book and I think I'm just going to plough on now and get it complete before I have to return it to the library. I was very glad to find that the Tenth Doctor wouldn't be travelling solo as the last two outings in the collection of Organsim 96 and The Patchwork Pierrot have had Doctors travelling on their lonesome, so Donna was a welcomed addition as a familiar character and companion for this one. The relationship she shares with the Doctor was nicely captured in the story and I loved the idea of the pair playing 20 Questions and I Spy. It was just good hearted and fun companionship which is what their relationship was all about. The use of a mirror maze has a lot of potential and bringing back Daughter of Mine and ultimately three-quarters of the Family of Blood was terrific! They are perfectly suited to a collection of stories like this one with the terror theme and the description of their head movements and their natural form definitely fitted the bill as far as that was concerned. The way Daughter of Mine actually managed to escape from the mirror, every mirror, was very clever and I loved how by having the vantage of looking out of every mirror, she had learned from watching. Donna knowing about the girl in the mirror was really nicely done as she hadn't believed that it could be real, but she got her confirmation here which she reacted to greatly. This particular adventure is of course completely contradicted by The Shadow in the Mirror that was released earlier this year, but as Jonathan Morris is so brilliantly describing in DWM, continuity is loose to say the least with Doctor Who and it can be whatever you want it to be. For me, this is just another take or interpretation on events as I like to use my historical vernacular. The Doctor reflecting on the events of Human Nature/The Family of Blood and seeing quite worried by the return of the Family was excellent and it was interesting for Donna to see what he is capable of as he described the fates of the family members. The comment about losing human life, including his own, was also very nicely done. I was a big fan of that. Donna getting annoyed with the way the Family were talking and threatening was terrific and her retaliation of threatening to pop the balloon was outstanding. I must admit that it seemed a little weird for Daughter of Mine to have taken over as Head of the Family, but her time in the mirrors had shown her that there was more than the Doctor's lifespan that they could take over. She reminded the Doctor that he was mortal and that she'd seen him die many times which was very good. They just wanted the TARDIS now to save Mother of Mine from the collapsing star, and then they could truly take eternal life from a creature in the Vortex. Of course, in a short story the nature of this one, the length provides the ability for a little disappointment and I felt that was the case for the conclusion. It came a bit suddenly and easily for my liking with the TARDIS simply recognising the Family of Blood and putting them out. It was a little bit quick for my liking, but the comment at the end with the Doctor thinking he might have been harsh and reuniting them with their Mother was somewhat a nice touch. Overall, a very good adventure that could have been even better if it had more room to play with. 

Rating: 8/10