The Planet that Wept

"It rained for a hundred years, and the people and their civilisation - buildings, cars, everything - dissolved. Washed away for ever."

Writer: Justin Richards 

Format: Short Story

Released: September 2007

Printed in: Doctor Who Annual 2008

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha

Synopsis 

The Doctor and Martha take a break from being chased by monsters and maniacs as they rest on the beach of a planet with no intelligent life. That's until trees start talking to the Doctor and Martha is approached by a reflection in a lake.

Verdict 

The Planet that Wept is a title I just love and the story that came with it was actually really good! Yes, this was a second consecutive Doctor Who Annual from the revived series that I didn't really have any problems with, suited the length and told a great little story. Hmm, there's that word again. Little. I don't think I'll ever fail to mention it when it comes to blogging about short and comic stories that appear in these Annuals because I really don't understand why they can't be longer! Half of the book itself, well over half actually, is just full of garbage. I'm not sure why it's aimed so much at children (that's clear with the DWA team being given the nod to write it) and even if that's so, then why can't we have two Who Annuals? One for the little ones and then one for the older ones like myself by the brilliant DWM team. I know I'd enjoy their comic strips! I rarely don't give below 7/10 for recent comics (8/10 most probably for most!) but I have given below a 7 when it's come to recent stories. From my perspective, if I rank anything less than that then I really haven't enjoyed it or disagreed with just too many aspects. However, I couldn't disagree with anything in this story. Now, you may be wondering why I didn't give it full marks then? That'd because the plot wasn't worthy of a ten but I couldn't think of any improvements. It is what is - a very good and solid story but it doesn't rank up there with the likes of The Time Sickness or Reluctant Warriors which are probably my two favourite Annual stories. The former features the Doctor at hand and I loved how he still wore that suit despite being on a sun baked jungle planet! Martha was changed to suit the weather but there he was in his converse and tight blue suit. I didn't understand the tanning reference with Martha as companion. I highly doubt her reasoning for enjoying the sun was getting a tan now was it. I loved how the Doctor disapproved of Martha's idea of travelling. She just wanted a rest which was nice. She'd gone through a lot facing Judoon, Daleks and most recently in my watching of the third series the Family of Blood. I do hope this story is set prior to Blink or somewhere close, though I'm not too sure it really matters. Martha being called by the reflection in the water was intriguing and I liked how it came almost immediately after the Doctor emphatically claimed there was no intelligent life on the planet. Well, trees couldn't exactly talk - or could they? The Doctor got into a good old conversation with one and learned of the planet's history and how acid rain dissolved a civilisation in a horrific anomaly of life in the universe. But the people became part of the rain in an intriguing plot and after millions of years stuck in the water, a leaf or a tree they were bored. But properly bored. Bored like we couldn't begin to imagine. The planet had ran out of stories. Nothing was new and boredom was driving them insane. But after the Doctor safely got Martha into the TARDIS before the acid rain fell once more, the Doctor allowed his hand to be touched and so a part of him would live on as a raindrop in the collective mind. He would have new stories to tell them. And what stories he has...

Rating: 8/10