Moon Graffiti

"The amount of times I've had to deal with dead men falling on the dead man's handle."

Writer: Dave Stone

Format: Short Story

Released: March 1999

Printed in: More Short Trips 04

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis

Here on Earth or out in the depths of the cosmos, the Doctor and his companions are never far from adventure. 

Discover things on Earth you were never meant to know. Get around the universe. Get short tripping. 

Verdict

Moon Graffiti was a decent little story to continue my way through the More Short Trips anthology within the Short Trips prose range! I had no idea prior to reading this particular instalment that this was not the first version of the adventure as it had actually been released as an audio a year prior which is fascinating. I must admit that despite a strong rating I won't be rushing to experience the story again in a slightly different form, partly because I imagine it would be incredibly similar given the nature of the audio release. I can't confirm but I suspect it would pretty much be an actor reading the prose I had read with a few additional sound effects and the like. It is cool though for there to be two different forms of release for a niche little story like this. I thought the story did a tremendous job in capturing the characterisation of both the Sixth Doctor and Peri. This really did feel like it took place during Season 22 on screen with Peri questioning a lot of what the Doctor was actually doing whilst he was typically irritable. I enjoyed the references to The Caves of Androzani and Vengeance on Varos as a means of establishing the timeline for this story to fit into as since the regeneration the TARDIS had been playing up a little and even after obtaining some zeiton-7 the old girl was far from 100% and full capabilities. I do find it a little amusing as to how many times the TARDIS has required recalibration over the years. It's happened so many times in numerous media forms now! It's a fun little gag. I would assume that this hampered some of its other systems though, in particular the translation circuits as Peri was unable to communicate with the Wibliwee as she remarked how they spoke good human. That was a little stupid as Peri herself acknowledged as there are obviously an abundance of human languages with this one clearly communicating in English! I thought they were an intriguing little race and having Doctor Who tackle the world of bacteria and unfathomably small races is good, but it does get a little beyond the brain sometimes as even happened to Peri here. Just how can we begin to comprehend billions upon billions as a scale? The Doctor describing to Peri what the graffiti on the moon said was fun because he really took it as just another trip, but for Peri this was on the lines of defilement. Her moon had been tarnished! The Doctor making her own time and the Earth she knew sounding insignificant was typical of this incarnation at this time which was good character work, and he couldn't help those that would die. It would spark a whole new Earth which Peri could begrudgingly accept, but I understood why it was difficult for her. I thought the Parachnids were a decent monster and I really liked the name! The swarm element was decent and I appreciated the Doctor not understanding their biological evolution. What was the point of them ridding things to uselessness? Kimo Ani was a strong central character to have alongside the Doctor and Peri although it was a little strange for them not to help him much after the awakening of millions. Peri challenging the Doctor on that was nicely done. The coming of the Monitors to rid the world of the Parachnids was good and I loved that the Wibliwee were on hand to do simple work in recalibrating the TARDIS for the Doctor. The Line was left to run and the TARDIS was now all better. A nice way to end the story! Overall, a strong read and continuation of the book. 

Rating: 7/10