Venusian Lullaby

"Don't question miracles."

Writer: Paul Leonard

Format: Audio

Released: October 1994

Series: Missing Adventures 03

Featuring: First Doctor, Ian, Barbara

Synopsis 

"You want me to help you eat your children?" Ian said. Jellinhut's eye-stalks twitched. "How else would we remember them?"

Venus is dying. When the Doctor, Barbara and Ian arrive they find an ancient and utterly alien civilisation on the verge of oblivion. War is brewing between those who are determined to accept to death, and those desperate for salvation whatever the cost.

Then a spacefaring race arrives, offering to rescue the Venusians by moving them all to Earth – three billion years before mankind is due to evolve. Are the newcomers' motives as pure as they appear? And will the Doctor allow them to save his oldest friends by sacrificing the future of humanity?

Verdict

Venusian Lullaby was a good little novel! Whilst there were certainly some elements of this book that I didn’t enjoy, I thought as a whole it was a more than solid adventure. I really loved the placement between The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Rescue as that allowed us a whole story with the trio of just the First Doctor, Ian and Barbara! We never got that on television, unless you count the start of the latter serial mentioned, so a whole novel with the three of them was a delight. It was clear that Susan’s departure was still very fresh and the Doctor was putting on a brave face despite clearly hurting to no longer have his granddaughter travelling with him. It was nice to see that softer side of the first incarnation but it didn’t last long! A glimpse was more than enough. It was fun to have Ian suspicious of the Doctor once again and it couldn’t really be argued that he had locked Susan out! Ian pondering on whether the Doctor actually did have control of the TARDIS was a delight as he did say to Susan that he would come back! There was logic there and I enjoyed the cagey atmosphere that came from it. Barbara was less suspicious and wouldn’t believe that the Doctor would essentially keep them hostage. The setting of this one was incredibly unique and I really liked that. Going to Venus in of itself is exciting given its proximity to the Sun and the impossibility of life, so venturing over three billion years into the past was brilliant! I thought it was excellent and it was a joy for the Doctor to already be known on the planet. His suggestion that the TARDIS was more controllable in the distant past had its merits, although that did seem to be forgotten as the book went on. Things really shifted into gear when Barbara gave her extraordinary outburst to the Doctor in a move that emboldened her with a serious amount of courage. Of course, what had happened to her in the early arrival on Venus more than warranted it as the Doctor was still just out to appease his own curiosity which is a theme I rather enjoy. The very idea of eating the meat from a Venusian corpse unbeknownst is pretty horrifying, but it giving you their memories within your mind as part of it was frightening! That must have been so uncomfortable and it was a little weird to read. I enjoyed it though as that was the intention and it would prove quite useful as the story went on. I liked the clan makeup of Venus and having the Doctor’s walking stick referred to as a third leg and his people as the Stickwalkers was excellent. Venus being in natural danger was a great threat and I loved how that sparked a number of belief systems. We had the Acceptancers (which I think I would have been a part of!) and the Rocketeers to the Volcano People and the Magnetologists. It was really fascinating to read all of the different viewpoints put forward and hVs scientists challenging each other. Now, a big grievance of mine is probably a selfish one but I thought the Venusian characters all had unnecessarily difficult names. It didn’t make for easy reading and whilst I appreciate the intention of highlighting how different Venusian society and culture was, I really would have liked more simplicity. Vivojkhil was probably my favourite of the Venusians as she offered a lot and definitely felt like a focal point, whilst Mrak-ecado was also really good as a more senior figure sharing a strong relationship with the Doctor. Mrodtikdhill also offered a lot but just reading these names time after time being tiresome and I’m convinced it extended my reading time! I read most of the book on the train journey to the airport as I headed for Qatar, but I didn’t think I’d finish it halfway through my trip on the Gulf! I must admit though, it was lovely to be reading in the sun on a stunning beach with the Doha skyline backdrop. The arrival of the Sou(ou)shi came unexpectedly and again the difficulty of their name! Do we pronounce the brackets? I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. They were an intriguing race though and their intention to save the Venusians by memory alone and eat them was a bit of a rubbish deal if you ask me! But they’d manipulated things to get permission for that to be the case. They were offended at the insinuation they lied despite openly admitting they didn’t tell whole truths. Is there much of a difference? They haunted Ian in a pretty drastic way when they simply murdered and then ate the corpses in front of him, and they really didn’t understand his shocked reaction. Ian going so far as to slap one of them was brilliant, but it didn’t have a big impact. The Sou(ou)shi were rather to the point and I imagine that sS annoying for the companion. Splitting the story into five books was a little odd and not entirely correct as it was very much all one story, and it was probably just the Missing Adventures finding their feet when it came to incorporating parts to their story in line with what happened on television. Except, we don’t need that in a book! It didn’t harm anything though. Trikhobu going into the TARDIS was nicely done and I was intrigued that she actually found a way to pilot it by tracking an individual! Well, that was brand new for this era. I appreciated that Barbara wanted to see her mum and the 1965 date for that along with Ian mentioning that Christmas had just broadcast was a nice nod to the broadcast date of Susan’s departure serial. I thought the impending volcano was good and that genuinely worried the Sou(ou)shi, but I was a little unsure about the Doctor’s methods in defeating them. Using an unknown sonic device is a nice nod to what I assume (and hold!) was the sonic screwdriver in its earliest iteration, but I don’t understand why it couldn’t just be named! It sounds so poor to just have an unknown device be the resolution to an entire book! Anyhow, the reunion between Ian and Barbara was really lovely and their relationship really blossomed here. The idea of the trio now heading off to find some gold for Susan’s wedding ring was nice, and a reunion with her so soon would be odd but certainly welcomed! Overall, a good read. 

Rating: 7/10