A Star is Born

"The idea of a supreme being loses its attraction."

Writer: Richard Dinnick

Format: Audio

Released: August 2011

Series: Short Trips 4.01

Featuring: First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara 

Synopsis

The Doctor and his companions answer a distress call from a vast spaceship carrying the remnants of a dying race...

Verdict

A Star is Born was not the greatest of Short Trips stories to kick off the fourth series unfortunately! Once again the hit and miss nature of this early run in what is actually a terrific little range bites again. I find that with these adventures things are often great or really bad. I think describing this particular story as really bad might be a bit harsh and still gets a somewhat decent rating, although for me and my generosity that is pretty darn low, but it just didn’t work for me. I must say that I found things a little boring and not engaging enough when it came to the stakes. I did just find myself asking the question of why should I care? I still don’t know. It’s always nice to have the Doctor answering a distress call as he’s there to help and always would do so, but having that in the era of the very first TARDIS team didn’t seem to fit in. The TARDIS at this point of the time was far from reliable as we know by the risk Ian and Barbara took in The Chase with the Dalek Time Machine to get them home, so for the TARDIS to have picked up and successfully locate a distress call here didn’t feel right. It also isn’t wholly in line with the personality of the First Doctor at this point in time in my opinion. Not that he’d be against it but I’m not sure it would be his port of call. I thought William Russell’s narration was absolutely great and he is always a joy to listen to, but the story material he was provided left a lot to be desired in my estimation. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Metraxis as the alien race that sent the distress call and even though it was sent seven generations ago, surely if it was ongoing they could expect visitors? The introductions felt clumsy. I did like harkening back to The Daleks though with Ian remembering his own experience with radiation poisoning. Egrabill and Graneva were decent enough characters but they didn’t have any major standout qualities. I thought the entire thing was just a bit dull which I don’t like saying but I must be truthful. The revelation of Rode being a traitor to his species just felt a bit random and the slow radiation poisoning was good but not entirely effective. I just didn’t really care enough that he was the culprit and some more background information would have been beneficial. That’s always difficult in a story of this format though as twenty-five minutes really isn’t a lot of time to get to know them. Especially with four main characters as well, there wasn’t much at all for Susan or Barbara to do which was a shame. The fate that became of the Metraxis should have been more of the focal point as I like the idea of a race going sterile through each generation of cloning. There’s potential there to try and exploit it or put it right. The discussion on religion was a highlight for me though when they said it was quite silly to think of a supreme being, but all civilisations and society had that idea. Overall, a decent enough listen but lacking in stakes or reasons to care. 

Rating: 5/10