The Mission

"The planet was alive, although he was the only thing living on it."

Writer: Paul Crompton 

Format: Short Story

Released: 1976

Printed in: The Amazing World of Doctor Who

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Sarah, Harry

Synopsis 

The Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry are thrown into the midst of trouble when a long dormant giant robot suddenly wakes up and emerges from a swamp.

Verdict 

The Mission was a great little story to finish my reading of The Amazing World of Doctor Who! I was very happy with what I read and I'm glad that the book finished on a high after some low points, most notably with yesterday's Neuronic Nightmare. I finished the book with another text story and although the layout wasn't really great - it didn't seem to have been planned out well at all - the story itself was actually very good. After coming up to my grandparents over a week ago fresh off reading The Five Doctors novelisation on the train journey up, I noticed this little gem of a book in the bedroom and with my cousin temporarily living here I knew there could only be one owner. I still can't quite believe he has it and actually acquired it at a car boot sale for a mere £1.10. My auntie got one hell of a bargain there and I'll be forever envious. However, whilst I had the chance I took advantage of the resource and have since, unexpectedly, blogged all seven stories within its pages as well as watching Revenge of the Cybermen to tie in with the time period in which the collection of stories was printed. Unlike the common saying, I actually started with the best in A Fresh Start rather than saving the best until last and although the rating for that story wasn't matched, this collection does house a couple of stories that I thoroughly enjoyed, most notably with this short story and The Vampires of Crellium. It's certainly been an eventful week in which I have continued my reading of the 500th issue of Doctor Who Magazine and I must say I'm really enjoying it. Something else I'm enjoying is the Doctor Who Legacy game even if some of the levels are starting to prove pretty difficult. But I do like a challenge so I'll be continuing to have one with my team that includes an Ood and Osgood. It's quite a combination but I think that's the beauty of the game and is certainly a huge part of the appeal. My cousin absolutetely loves watching me play it but I have finally persuaded him to download it himself. Anyway, back to the story itself and I thought it was excellent for the length that it was. Even for what it was, it seemed longer than the usual Doctor Who Annual stories which was good and maybe that allowed for it to have some added quality. The idea of the Bremtonians and Tyranians being split across time and having different ideas for the planet was superb. I thought Tamrik was good but I wasn't buying into a chance signal setting off the giant robot (no, not the one from Robot) after years of being dormant. That was the only real issue with the story for me but it was a pretty big one and that's why the story suffers a little despite securing a brilliant score. I would have liked Sarah to appear a little more but it was good to see more of Harry in a story, even if it was only one of a length like this. The characterisation of the Fourth Doctor was pretty decent with Tom Baker's likeness being captured well. The ending was not as climatic as I might have hoped but it still worked very well which is all I can ask for. Overall, a very decent story to finish the book! 

Rating: 8/10