Colony of Death

"This is the land of plenty."

Writer: Unknown 

Format: Short Story

Released: September 1980

Printed in: Doctor Who Annual 1981

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana II, K9

Synopsis

With the threat of the TARDIS literally turning inside out, the Doctor, Romana and K9 stumble on colonists that have been fed an incredible lie...

Verdict

Colony of Death was an excellent short story to kick off my reading of the prose content on offer in the 1981 Doctor Who Annual! After starting with the Every Dog Has His Day comic strip and being a little disappointed by that one, I was delighted by this text content! Right from the off I was encouraged by the writing of the TARDIS team of the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K9 as I got the impression straight away that the writer knew all about them. He got the banter and humour that comes with this combination and that really is a delight. Knowledge of the Doctor and his companions is, quite staggeringly, not a very common thing for the authors of Doctor Who Annual stories in the Classic era, but that was no such case here. It was superb characterisation with that comical lack of knowledge of the Doctor clearly present. Romana questioning him on the status of the omnidirectional impulse stabiliser was brilliant and whilst that was obviously a mouthful, it was terrific TARDIS console jargon. The Doctor’s realisation that if it was malfunctioning that their next materialisation would be inside out was a very fun thought! That’s something I’d love to explore moving forward as I’m not sure where all of the TARDIS interior and its contents would fit! We’ve explored the TARDIS many times and we’re still nowhere near discovering its full size. That’s a wonderful thought. I really liked the plot of this one and the story opening with the strange characters of Heleen and Harvard was good as that set the basis for the truth of Paradise. The latter was pulled in by the advertisement of a planet where there was no overpopulation and plenty of space, but the five million dolas fee was going to be tricky. So he’d rob a bank. We wouldn’t meet them again but exploring the situation in 23rd century New York was very intriguing. It was all rather dystopian and I definitely had vibes of the future we saw a few centuries later in Day of the Daleks. I liked that a lot. I thought Garderon served as a fantastic villain and the Doctor’s appreciation of the devilish plan he’d concocted just sold it as even more impressive. I liked that the Doctor rallied the colonists against Garderon in what was a pretty quick conclusion, but it was a neat and tidy one at that. I think had the story been extended slightly then this may have reached full marks! It really was terrific and had all of the hallmarks of a fine Doctor Who story. I think the artwork that accompanied the adventure was probably too focused on the faces of the main characters and not encompassing much of the action, but they were drawn nicely and did more than a sufficient job. I think it was also a clever usage of Romana by not showing angles where we could see her face. It seems strange that the Doctor Who Annual wouldn’t have the rights or references for Lalla Ward’s appearance, but thankfully there wasn’t a generic blonde woman featuring here. We only saw from behind and the likeness was more than good enough. Having her accompanied by K9 was lovely too. The Doctor getting the parts to fix the TARDIS component was also a nice touch to finish things. Overall, a fantastic read! 

Rating: 9/10