Organism 96

"The Mysterious Miss X of the Mediterranean."

Writer: Paul Magrs

Format: Short Story

Released: September 2017

Printed in: Tales of Terror 08

Featuring: Eighth Doctor

Synopsis

The Eighth Doctor is aboard the W. H. Allen when Marie discovers an old lady overboard in the sea. However, she turns out to be much more than an old lady, but only the Doctor can see her true form as a squid with razor-tentacles intent on feeding on human brains...

Verdict

Organsim 96 was a somewhat average continuation of the Tales of Terror collection of short stories. I think this one was definitely the one I have least enjoyed of what has actually been a really positive book so far, as I now reach the two-thirds of the way through mark. This one didn't quite capture my attention which was a shame as I was quite looking forward to getting a new adventure featuring the Eighth Doctor on his solo travels, something quite different to what is usually presented by Big Finish in this incarnation's audio travels. This tale was very much a standalone one with no continuity or references of any description, which I guess you can get away with when it comes to the era of the Eighth Doctor. I actually thought the writing of the Doctor himself was pretty good and I rather enjoyed the relationship he built with Marie who filled in as the companion of sorts for this adventure. They were rather enjoyable together and with the Doctor travelling alone here, it seems strange that he wouldn't at least hint towards her coming with him in the TARDIS as this kind of adventure would certainly fit the bill for a companion introduction. In a collection like this though, it's very doubtful that would be a result. The characterisation was also good in having the Doctor drinking a milkshake, something I would also be accustomed to myself, along with the description of his Edwardian velvet attire. That set things up nicely, but from there what we got just felt a bit too kiddish for my liking. I fully appreciate that this kind of book is not exactly targeted towards a 23-year-old, but the first seven tales have had quite a mature feel but this one felt like a marked departure from that style. The mystery behind Miss X who Marie had found overboard was decent, but the sudden switch from her being an old lady to the Doctor's over the top reaction to her true squid-like form was definitely one for the children. I liked that it was only the Doctor who could see her true shape, but it didn't make a huge amount of sense for his own camera to also be fooled. The description of razor sharp tentacles was also a little childish for my tastes. It didn't feel very serious despite the level of threat that was being presented. Things could have improved if more was made of the serial killer onboard vibe, but that didn't last long enough as we already knew the culprit was Miss X. Finding out that the Soviets had programmed the squid to kill and hide its true nature as part of a failed experiment was interesting and I think something along these lines could work really well for Doctor Who stories, but that immature feeling just kept coming back to me with the idea of the De-mesmoriser making the planned unmasking all feel very much Scooby Doo. That's obviously fine for the younger fans, but for me it was nothing more than average. I did like the twist that Hulke knew she was a monster all along and brought the Doctor's MI5 comment at the start full circle very nicely, and I was quite stunned when he decided to take both himself and Organism 96 out with the ring bomb to fulfil his duty for his country. The Doctor didn't seem so fussed on that sacrifice which was a little strange as surely there could have been another way of dealing with the threat? It did all happen quite suddenly though which made for a pretty good pace. Overall, a somewhat decent story but not up to the standard of previous tales in the collection. Oh, and Marie using singing Whitney Houston to escape the grasp and the brain feeding were terrible. 

Rating: 6/10