The Armageddon Chrysalis

"The TARDIS had been attacked, quickly and successfully..."

Writer: Unknown

Format: Short Story

Released: September 1982

Printed in: Doctor Who Annual 1983

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan 

Synopsis 

Something has drained the TARDIS of its power. That isn't supposed to be possible. So what has caused the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan to be knocked out and just what has taken the energy out of the TARDIS?

Verdict 

The Armageddon Chrysalis was an excellent little story and I really was thrilled with what I read! I'm always sceptical prior to doing a Doctor Who Annual story but this was simply seven pages of brilliance. It had everything you want out of a text story and although the plot wasn't perfect, as my rating reflects, it certainly was not too far away. I loved the idea of TARDIS exploration but I thought the start of the adventure was brilliant with the whole TARDIS trio knocked out after some disastrous occurrence. The Doctor's reaction to waking into what he found the situation to be was good and he was trying to think of a way to put things right but he felt the energy being drained out of him. The scenes in the observation room were good and I loved how the scanner was revealed to not be the only means of seeing what laid immediately outside of the TARDIS. Nyssa was petrified and huddled in a corner when the Doctor and Tegan found her and it would soon be revealed why. The Voorvolika was a brilliant enemy and I liked how big it was with its sheer size dwarfing the TARDIS and everything around, or rather inside, it.  The Doctor's exploration outside and into the realm of the Voorvolika was very good and I thought the characterisation of Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor was very well with the actor's likeness being very well captured in the print. That isn't always the case in these Annual stories because of how short they are but there were no such worries here thankfully. I really loved the mention of Leela and the reference to The Invasion of Time as talk of a past story is an extremely rare occurrence in a Doctor Who Annual so I was delighted to see that it happened here. I liked how the Voorvolika was reaching out and touching the minds of the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan and it was good how it deduced their names and a bunch of other information from simply touching the mind. Well I say it's simple but that's really not the case is it. It takes quite a powerful and unique being to be able to touch somebody's mind and take information from it. The only minor problem I had with this story was that once the Doctor went outside and literally into the Voorvolika, we didn't see Tegan or Nyssa again which was a bit of a shame. I did though like the resolution and the way the Doctor came up with it under literal pressure was terrific. I'm pretty confident in saying that this is the only instance in which a pressure point has been used as a resolution in a Doctor Who story. I'm also quite amazed that I still scored it so highly but incredibly it worked brilliantly for the predicament that the Doctor was in! The Voorvolika felt pain for the first and last time and that was an end to the drainage or energy on the TARDIS. Overall though, an excellent story with a great plot, a past story reference and even bold text to indicate the thoughts of the enemy. I guess italics weren't quite in the know for the Doctor Who Annuals. But nonetheless, a great story.

Rating: 9/10