The Masks of Makassar

"You will understand, Doctor, when this mind leaves its frail body and takes yours!"

Writer: Paul Cornell 

Format: Short Story

Released: September 2005

Printed in: Doctor Who Annual 2006

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis 

The Doctor and Rose visit a world where everybody seems to be wearing masks that link the race all to one mind. Rose doesn't think anything wrong but the Doctor has suspicions evil is at work... and he might just be right.

Verdict 

The Masks of Makassar was an outstanding little short story and that's saying quite a lot coming from me with it being printed in a Doctor Who Annual! I'm no stranger to Annual stories, now both Classic era and since the 2005 revival, and with this story being in the first one printed since the Classic era it's certainly similar to the Annuals of that era. Now, I can only compare it to the 1980 Annual as that's the only one I own and have read in person (I have delved into other Annual adventures thanks to Scribd) and the short stories are certainly the same in format really. A more than adequate length, some terrific artwork to accompany the text and a magnificent story! This was better than the Annual's previous story of Doctor vs Doctor and I loved the relationship between the Ninth Doctor and Rose here very much. I found it really intriguing that she was eager to try and learn of the Doctor's home planet and his people. She worked out, to both my and the Doctor's surprise, that he'd ran away because he didn't want to be a sheep in the herd. He wanted to explore. And I loved how he absolutely backed that decision here. After the events of The Day of the Doctor, we know the Doctor didn't really blow up his own planet and people but this incarnation of the Doctor is living with the grief of an atrocity he did not commit. That emotion was captured in print tremendously well. It really was shown as giving him torment. I loved how he was suspicious of Makassar throughout which I thought was actually pretty sad. After all his travelling and after everything he had seen, it just wouldn't be right if something was actually done with good intentions. Of course his presumptions were proved correct and I did like how he was able to gloat to Rose but it just showed how much evil the Doctor had encountered! The idea behind the masks linking back to one mind is something I think is awful so I was surprised by the support Rose gave it. It would take away so much about individuality! The scenes taking place inside the Doctor's mind were just brilliant and I thought it was lovely how much he cared for Rose in creating an environment she'd recognise and be comfortable in - the Powell Estate. It would allow her easier access into his mind too. The Units were very good accessories to the villain and I liked how they just obeyed orders. The climax was shown out expertly and for a short story I really was thoroughly impressed! It's a shame I can't mention more due it's length but amazingly it was almost perfect for the story! Overall, superb. 

Rating: 9/10