Punting

"Did he just say the Doctor no longer exists?"

Writer: Susie Day
Format: Short Story
Released: October 2019
Series: The Target Storybook 05

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana II

Synopsis

While punting in Cambridge, the Doctor and Romana are attacked by a time scoop; their attempt to escape backfires, and they become trapped inside a warping field within the Time Vortex. As the two friends try using a section of the scoop to free themselves, they see glimpses of the Doctor's other selves in the Death Zone on Gallifrey...

Verdict

Punting was a terrific continuation of my reading through The Target Storybook! It was undoubtedly a big improvement on The Clean Air Act and saw the beauty of the prose format realised in tremendous fashion. The idea of depicting what occurred for the Fourth Doctor and Romana during the events of The Five Doctors is just magnificent and the utilisation was fantastic! This was an excellent story from start to finish and just a joy to read. It was a great deal of fun to revisit the Doctor punting with Romana and I thought the writing of the pair's relationship was really good. It had all of the traits so common between the pair when the companion was in her second incarnation and that just made the adventure even better. I love how Romana was expecting something quite laid back, but instead she was the subject of a time scoop thanks to her association with the Doctor! I liked the idea of Romana suggesting that the scoop might actually be for her as that reminded us of her importance as well, and that frankly not everything has to be about the Doctor. That was really good. I was a big fan of how different scenes from within the 20th Anniversary Special were depicted with the Doctor and Romana getting some semblance of control over the obelisk that even involved them severing a Yeti's hand! That was quite the moment. The Doctor's comment about the coat seen to be worn here by the Second Doctor was brilliant and full of humour. I thought it was lovely for the Fourth Doctor to get a glimpse of Sarah Jane Smith post-The Hand of Fear from his perspective and it was clear to see in just one line how much she still meant to him. I liked the Doctor's acknowledgement that anytime his previous regenerations get together there is bickering which was an obvious nod to The Three Doctors. The idea of the Doctor and Romana wondering around the Death Zone unseen and unable to impact things was fun, especially with the imagery of the Cybermen! Their spying on in the meeting where the Master was recruited by the Time Lords to help was wonderful and I loved how early the Fourth Doctor worked out that the culprit behind the whole plot had Borusa behind it. The paragraph we got at the end of the story with Rassilon introducing Borusa as one of the faces now able to have immortality was very humorous, even if it was perhaps a little too casual with the names of the other faces. There was a good opportunity there! The Doctor's comments about Cambridge and their bridges was fun and I think that city, although I have never visited, just seems right for the Fourth Doctor and Romana II based upon its reputation. The action that came with the adventure was terrific and exciting and you can't really ask for more! The Mederi and their relationship with the Time Vortex was very intriguing, but based on the Grim Reaper explanation of them before being named I was almost expecting the Reapers to show up. That would have been pretty cool, but the Mederi were still good. The Fourth Doctor experiencing the nothingness and that feeling of parts of him going missing as we saw with the Fifth Doctor during The Five Doctors was fantastic and I thought explaining the analogy as lifting a whole jigsaw puzzle and some pieces falling away was brilliant. I was a huge fan of that. As a whole, this is such a good idea and it was pulled off wonderfully well. Overall, a great adventure!

Rating: 9/10