The Feast of the Stone

"If it's evil you want, then it's evil you shall have!"

Writers: Cavan Scott & Mark Wright
Format: Short Story
Released: April 2004
Printed on: BBC Website

Featuring: The Doctor, Alison, The Master

Synopsis

The Doctor and his companions encounter a vampire entity, intent on a sacrificial death for Alison Cheney at the alter. Something has latched onto a presence in the TARDIS, and the Doctor will have to go to great lengths to sever the connection...

Verdict

The Feast of the Stone was a very decent little short story that continues the adventures of the alternative Ninth Doctor, Alison Cheney and the android version of the Master from Scream of the Shalka! I thought now was a good time to get this little unique piece of a Doctor Who story blogged seeing as I have only recently watched the tale in which they first appeared. Now, I wasn't much of a fan of it at all, but I did quite enjoy the adventure's novelisation and I like the dynamic of this TARDIS trio. There's a lot of potential there which is obviously exciting and just the fact that there is an adventure continuing the events for these characters is quite mind-blowing if I'm honest. I do wonder how many people have actually read this tale and I find it very interesting that it was released online at a time when the announcement of Doctor Who's televised return had already been made. Picking up the adventures from a webcast that had already been deemed defunct in terms of continuity is a strange yet intriguing move. I thought it worked well. The Doctor's care for Alison is still fully on show and despite not having much to go on, I thought the characterisation of Richard E. Grant's unique incarnation of the Doctor was pretty good. There's still the inklings there of something gone wrong in the past and I'm still going to link this with the Time War given his placement after the Eighth Doctor. It would perhaps make sense. Some sort of Time War weapon to distort a younger John Hurt as seen briefly in The Day of the Doctor into Richard E. Grant? It would work. I'm definitely not clutching at straws. Whilst being incredibly short, I thought this adventure was pretty exciting and I enjoyed the vampiric theme. It was just enough and didn't consume the story which is always a potential issue in such a short word count. Alison didn't do much other than fall victim to the vampires and for the purpose of the plot, that was absolutely fine! She was in distress and the Doctor was needed to save her. I thought the use of the Master in this one was the story's highlight with him always not quite seeming to be trustworthy. Who could actually think that he would be? His connection with the essence that was felt in the first paragraph of the story was really good and I liked how when questioned about not telling the Doctor, he had a pretty good excuse with him leaving promptly after arrival. The ability of the Doctor to just turn the Master off though is excellent and could have had potential for some serious humour down the line. The fact that it was the means for the story's resolution was good, if not a little easy. I liked that Alison pointed that out. She seems like she could have been a really great companion had this trio's adventures continued. Perhaps she was the history that Liz 10 had with the Doctor seeing as they were both played by the same actress? And maybe this version of the Doctor was just Doctor Simeon all along with him stepping into the Doctor's time stream in The Name of the Doctor? There's potential there! That might explain why the Doctor so suddenly enjoys a drink. I'm not sure that is a good trait to suggest for the Time Lord hero, even whilst toying with whatever it is that impacted on his life in recent times. Overall though, still an enjoyable tale that was probably just a bit too short.

Rating: 7/10