No Fun at the Fair

"Coming soon: Super Slitheen Space Spectacular!"

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner

Format: Short Story

Released: June 2006

Series: Doctor Who Files 03

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis

Enjoying a Saturday by attending the funfair, the Doctor is having the time of his life. However, a solo journey on the ghost train for Rose sees her encounter a rogue Slitheen and soon a human hunt is uncovered...

Verdict

No Fun at the Fair was a great little short story! This was a fine way to continue my reading through the Doctor Who Files released during the time of Series 2 and they're a really fun little collection. After the first two releases focusing on the Doctor and Rose, as you might expect, this was an obvious choice to go to for the first monster. The Slitheen made a big impact during Series 1 with their humorous and emphatic debut in Aliens of London/World War Three before becoming the first modern era villain to return in Boom Town at the end of that debut series. They made a big impact and with the younger audience the target with these releases, they're an obvious go to for a book like this. There's a lot of potential with the Slitheen and having one in a fairground environment was a lot of fun! That's not a setting we see enough of in Doctor Who in my opinion. They're naturally scary when isolated and there's always so much going on so the potential there is endless. Rose being on the ghost train by herself was quite amusing because she couldn't really keep up with the Doctor's ebullient energy, but when she saw a Slitheen she soon turned into serious mode. I liked that she was unable to initially reach the Slitheen because the ride was continuing on its automated route, but when she tried to get back in with her pound entry fee the ride was closing. She caused a scene which wasn't encouraged when the Doctor caught back up with her and simple patience would be the way here. I thought it was good for Rose to feel pity towards this Slitheen as it just seemed to be enjoying the fun of a fair, but when it turned out to be scouting for its own potential torture of humans she was shocked with herself for feeling such a way! That was good humour. I liked the idea of the quote I've taken with a Slitheen space spectacular sounding pretty special indeed! That is certainly something I would love to see. The idea of the Slitheen picking humanity for research of this kind is possibly a little farfetched given the history of their race on the planet, but I was all for it as it gave us the first meeting they had with the Tenth Doctor. I'm a sucker for a familiar monster meeting a new incarnation of the Doctor and that was handled very well here. Rose being part of the human hunt at the fairground was terrific and the imagery created there was sublime! It was really creative and I loved how she hoped to get in the ghost train again. How things change! The human hunt heading towards the waterslide was quite something as that's a rather unique attraction for the Slitheen to designate as the end. I'm not sure there was much logic there, but it did bring us an effective conclusion. Once Rose was sent down the waterslide first, I kind of predicted how things were going to finalise. She crashed into the water with a thump but then the smell of chips had her second guessing. The Slitheen exploding gag was fun on paper and the idea of the Doctor using vinegar from the burger van to soak the pool and send the Slitheen into chunks of goo was great. The way things ended with the Doctor having gone and purchased Rose a photo of her and a Slitheen on the ghost train was hilarious! And it was even incorporated into the pages of the story with a mashed together image of Rose and the Slitheen within a heart. That was a neat little touch which really rounded out this adventure. Sure, it was a little immature at times but on the whole this was just good fun! A nice little read. 

Rating: 8/10