The Girl Who Stole the Stars

"I'm the smartest person he knows."

Writer: Andrew Cartmel

Format: Short Story

Released: June 2015

Printed in: The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who 13

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace, Raine

Synopsis

The Seventh Doctor, Ace and Raine arrive at the imminent launch of Canterbury AI. Ask the artificial intelligence anything and it will know the answer. So why is Gina so sceptical about its creator, fellow undergraduate Raymond Luthier?

Verdict

The Girl Who Stole the Stars was an average continuation of The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who. It really didn’t live up to my expectations that were based on a quote wonderful title, and whilst you really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, that is essentially what I did! I really thought that having a name like that along with Andrew Cartmel writing would have made for yet another brilliant little short story, but alas it wasn’t to be which was a shame. I can’t complain too much about this collection though because it really has exceeded my expectations right from the off. I was not at all surprised to find that the adventure featured the Seventh Doctor and Ace given that it was Cartmel as the author, but I certainly wasn’t expecting Raine to also feature! That was a terrific little surprise and I thought she had a pretty decent story considering that it didn’t allow much for the characters. I enjoyed the beginning with the university setting and Raymond Luthier having created a Canterbury AI and basically become a billionaire overnight. Oh how I would love to come into riches like that! I don’t think I have the abilities to create artificial intelligence though, but what was interesting was that Gina didn’t think he did either. It was definitely an interesting tale but once we got to the action within the virtual reality, I lost a lot of interest to be honest. Now, I’m pretty darn good when it comes to understanding and using technology, but when it comes to computer code and different types of software like we saw here well then I don’t have a clue. I really can’t comprehend how Gina’s anti-virus worked and had the Canterbury AI defences in the form of spaceships. It just didn’t make sense to me but it isn’t the first time I’ve heard that this can be the case. While I can appreciate that this tale might have had its fans, it just wasn’t quite my cup of tea and I’m disappointed that was the case. I thought Ace had a pretty good story and was definitely the best of the TARDIS trio for this one. Raine wasn’t allowed to blossom in surroundings that didn’t suit her and I wasn’t really sure what the Doctor was up to if I’m being honest. The idea of him being more interested in an orchard than the important mission of his companions, where death was literally a big possibility, was just baffling and didn’t seem right. Gina falling asleep was also a bit rubbish but I was quite intrigued that Ace and Raine had been within the binary spaceship setting for a lengthy spell of time. Raine had stolen the stars which turned out sadly to be nothing more than a cheap metaphor and cheesy line to conclude the short story, whilst Ace got to show off her combative skills. Again, the Doctor wasn’t doing much at all which I thought was strange. Even Raine was able to showcase some of her skills with her unlocking of doors and cabinets, but the Doctor was just standing around twiddling his thumbs! That’s really not what he should be doing, regardless of how long or short a story may be. I would’ve liked to have had more from Raymond and hear his side of how he created the Canterbury AI. There was definitely a lot of potential in this one but I do think it was trying to cover too much in such a short space. That’s why I couldn’t understand why there was so much focus on the action inside the virtual reality. It went on a bit, even for a short story! The idea of something coming out of the portal was good because of how things may or may not commute with a mesh of artificial and reality. Some examples of the Canterbury AI at work would also have gone down a treat but that wasn’t a major issue. The ending was a slight let down to what was as a whole an average and mixed bag of a story. Potential, but it probably just ran out of space. 

Rating: 6/10