Strangers in the Outlands

"These beings literally dropped from space?"

Writer: Paul Finch
Format: Short Story
Released: February 2014
Printed in: Tales of Trenzalore 04

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor

Synopsis

40 miles away from Trenzalore, impossible beings have dropped from out of the sky. They're quite far from the Doctor's jurisdiction, but he is as keen as anyone to know about the strangers in the outlands. Especially when a young girl arrives in Christmas without her father.

Verdict

Strangers in the Outlands was another very decent continuation of the Tales of Trenzalore collection of stories! This one saw things advance a little further out from the town of Christmas being the central setting and I thin that was definitely a good idea in a volume all set during the same episode of The Time of the Doctor. It felt different to the previous two adventures in this book and that was certainly refreshing. The Autons getting a new story alongside the Eleventh Doctor was magnificent but I was a tad surprised it took so long for them to actually appear and be named, even if there was a big hint that they had arrived on Trenzalore. The Doctor's descriptions of them definitely gave them some fear factor which I really was impressed with as they never seemed to be the most deadly of enemies in my head. But when I stopped and actually thought about it, they were pretty domineering! They were made of plastic so they could withstand anything and didn't fail pain. That says it all really! The reactions of some of the Christmas inhabitants was very good and I liked how dumbfounded they were by the Doctor's plan to abandon them and have them go on a two-day walk back to their home from the Outlands while he took off in the lifeboat up the path that was always avoided. Why? Because that's where the Autons had gone. They took the quickest route and the obstacles in their way were no matter. The Nestene Consciousness having the original plan of every other enemy stationed around Trenzalore was pretty good and I liked how it just wanted the Autons to fall through the technology barrier and do the damage physically, which was a pretty frightening thought. I loved how horrendous the Doctor thought the prospect of an Auton with a club was, even though they usually have guns pop out of their hands. It was quite humorous to think about but I think it was equally as horrifying as they never tire so the damage they could do bares thinking about. Tiberius being quite sceptical of Christmas with all the attention focused there was completely understandable and it actually seems surprising that not more people escaped to the Outlands. However, that does show how much trust they may have in the Doctor. His elderly was fully described in this story but it didn't seem to effect him so much which I'm not sure should have happened. One thing I think should have occurred during this story is a better full circle ending for Yalala. She just seemed to be forgotten about once the Doctor and co set off on their expedition to the Outlands which was a big shame. The fate of her father was quite saddening though. The ending for this one was a little shaky in places and I felt that their needed to be some more elaboration and clarity on what exactly was happening with the Doctor luring the Autons to the lifeboat in order to trap them beneath the ice. The use of explosive was somewhat okay and the thought of the Autons being trapped was slightly comforting, but surely it wouldn't be in perpetuity. The Nestene wouldn't be around though, I guess. Overall, some bumps but still a very good story!

Rating: 7/10