Pitter-Patter

"Everyone on this planet is frightened."

Writer: Robert Shearman

Format: Short Story

Released: September 2005

Printed in: Doctor Who Annual 2006

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis

The day Andy became a spaceman was the day his Daddy lost his job selling television sets. But the day he chose to be a spaceman, he was already living amongst the stars. It was the day the Doctor came and saved them from the rain.

Verdict

Pitter-Patter was a pretty average short story to get me  back on track with my reading of the 2006 Doctor Who Annual! It’s actually been a considerable amount of time since I last blogged anything from its contents, so it was nice to delve back into the era of Series 1 and get a rare bit of short prose for the Ninth Doctor and Rose! I can’t even remember the last time I blogged any new content with this TARDIS pairing so that was a big positive, but unfortunately I didn’t think the story was all that great. The concept of rain as an enemy is fantastic but I’m not sure it was utilised too well. The scale never felt big which is weird considering the threat and the distance that rain can cover on the mining planet, but focusing just on the small family really diminished things in my opinion. I wasn’t a big fan of Andy and he seemed a bit spoiled with his demands for water despite repeatedly being told of the shortage, and he even enjoyed seeing his uncle Bernard sliced to pieces in front of him. How an eight year old can revel in seeing death is beyond me! That seems a little odd. No wonder the Doctor didn’t even want to look at him, maybe he knew there was something evil there. Rose had a bit more of a relationship with him and it was clear he took a liking to her when he was embarrassed to have fell asleep against her. Andy’s parents were clearly going through some considerable relationship issues and that added to the already tense atmosphere. There wasn’t much of a nice feeling accompanying this adventure. The story of Susie being consumed by the rain and trying to get out into it was heartfelt as Jack saved her because he loved her, but things got very dark when they both sometimes wished he let her go. Andy hearing that was quite shocking! One thing that was of a high standard for this story was the artwork. The likeness of both the Ninth Doctor and Rose was impressive, although the placement was a little questionable as they seemed quite spoiler filled coming for text that was right at the bottom or end of a page. You can’t not look at the artwork immediately! I think my biggest qualm with this story was how things ended. It was good for the Doctor to try and confront the rain and the actual idea of it targeting people is excellent. The moment where Andy’s mum captured some water for him to drink and boiled it with it screaming was eery stuff, but for the Doctor to be able to just walk outside, say he wanted to have a talk, and then that be that was awfully disappointing. There was no explanation as to how the family could get away, and how would that even leave the rest of the planet under threat? It hardly seemed like mission complete. But I can’t believe we didn’t know how the Doctor won the rain over as all we got was a smile! Sure, we know the Doctor is clever and can talk his way out of anything, but to not hear the dialogue was just silly. Overall, some good concepts but not the best delivery as a whole for the story. 

Rating: 5/10