The Puplet

"We have an alien called Jess living on top of the scenery."

Writer: Gary Russell

Format: Short Story

Released: August 2008

Printed in: Doctor Who Storybook 2009

Featuring: Tenth Doctor

Synopsis

A teacher is in need of serious help when an alien that only the children can see sets up shop on the Christmas play decor...

Verdict

The Puplet was a decent little story to conclude my reading of the 2009 Doctor Who Storybook! At long last, over a sporadic reading spree that encompassed nine long years, I have completed this jazzy little collection of short stories! Whilst most of the previous adventures in the collection featured Donna alongside the Doctor as companion, this one went the more 2009 route of having him travelling solo. That’s absolutely fine in this kind of adventure and there wasn’t really any moment that I felt a companion was missing. In saying that, the closest we got to a companion was Mr Warner who was quite a fun little character that served as the point of view for the adventure. I think it’s a fine line when involving children in a Doctor Who story as they sometimes tend to become a little childish but that didn’t feel the case here. It was far from being adult content that’s for sure but I’m not sure adults would be the target audience of the 2009 Storybook so no complaints there! One thing I must heap a huge amount of praise on is the artwork that accompanies this adventure. It really is stellar! The detail is nothing short of sensational and whilst I don’t think this particular story leant itself to too many options when it came to illustrations, the vibrancy and detail was outstanding. Just look at the image of David Tennant as the Doctor on the opening page. The likeness is incredible. I thought the school setting was decent and the humour that came from an alien being, in Earthly terms reminiscent of a cat, on top of the scenery of the school play was decent. I did like that only the children could see what would be dubbed as Jess because their minds weren’t closed off to not believing in things as silly as aliens. Mr Warner couldn’t see it but his reaction to the Doctor mentioning Quinnis was fun, because of course that would be ridiculous if Jess was from there! Just getting a mention of Quinnis was fun though as we know that’s a planet the First Doctor and Susan visited prior to the events of An Unearthly Child when the TARDIS wasn’t even a police box! Terry was a typical shy man and the fact he’d been a teacher for thirty years was admirable, but if he had such feelings for Mrs English then it is scarcely believable that he waited a decade and for an alien encounter to conjure up the confidence to ask her out for dinner. The three children of Stewart, Colin and Deena were here or there for me but as a combination they worked well and their keenness to look after Jess and fulfil the rota over the Christmas holidays was nicely done. The fear of the headmaster who didn’t appear was quite good and I imagine something that would be prevalent amongst teachers at any school. The Doctor using the psychic paper to show that he had authority to film the play was amusing, especially when he gave it a little shake to change the wording from Christmas to Hanukkah. That was probably the highlight! Jess being an Alluren didn’t really mean too much considering we hadn’t encountered them before, but it was fun to have what was basically a Doctor Who large scale version of a cat being stuck up a tree. And the Doctor was the fireman tasked with bringing her down from the scenery of the school play as it was soon due to be taken down. The way things ended with the Doctor helping Jess be found by her parents was neat and tidy, and as a whole this was a rather simple adventure. But for sure an enjoyable read!

Rating: 7/10