Zombie Motel

"We're being haunted by the ghosts of 1979."

Writer: Paul Magrs

Format: Short Story

Released: August 2007

Printed in: Doctor Who Storybook 2007

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha

Synopsis

The Tenth Doctor and Martha come to investigate the Hotel Splendide in the present day, and with something ringing a bell in the Doctor's mind, a mystery spanning nearly three decades starts to reveal itself...

Verdict

Zombie Motel was not the greatest of short stories to continue my way through the 2007 Doctor Who Storybook. Unfortunately I'd describe this one as bang average and that's potentially being a tad generous. It just felt a little awkward right from the start which is a shame as I did think there were a couple of good ideas at the heart, but the presentation was just a little wrong. In this kind of adventure, I do think the illustrations are important but the ones we got here actually hampered my enjoyment of the story. I thought they looked too animated and not really having any semblance of realisms to them, and some of the choices to illustrate were strange. I think the last page showing the Doctor kissing Margery was just weird as not only did that not need to happen in the story, but it's a very powerful image to finish on with the burning of the motel in the background. Doctor Who taking on a zombie story is something that should work, but this was a little too much satire and self-deprecating which was my fear before reading when I saw the name of the story. I understand and appreciate that the Storybooks are probably not intended for fans like myself in their late-20s, but I thought the entire point was to go a bit more mature than the Doctor Who Annuals that were released alongside. This one didn't hit the boat. I liked the mystery that was at hand at the Hotel Splendide and the Doctor having a nagging feeling of something at the back of his mind was good. Seeing that come into fruition when he learned about the inferno that Margery was the sole survivor of was intriguing. I thought it was quite fun for the Doctor to leave Martha in the present day and return to 1979 himself to investigate, but she didn't seem all that scared by the prospect of being left behind. That felt a little off. I thought the characterisation of the Doctor and Martha was decent enough, although the latter felt like she was missing some enthusiasm and charisma which was a slight shame. She was engaging though and that mattered. I thought Cecil made for an interesting villain, and I did find myself laughing at the decoy of food colouring when it came to the strange assortment of colours for the banquet. For whatever reason, I just couldn't find myself wholly invested in the zombie slime. Sure, it was effective at the start with the chambermaid getting covered in it in room 413, but the follow up from there seemed poor. Why was the hotel not under investigation if there had been so many similar incidents in the month since opening? And what are the odds of Margery actually working at the same motel on the same site after being the sole survivor of the inferno? There was too much coincidence. And if the Doctor was the one too save her from something so traumatic, surely she would have recognised him instantly? Especially with the unnecessary kiss. The Doctor being contained to history in knowing what happened in 1979 was good, although he didn't seem too distracted by the countless lives that would be lost when he was present at the fire. That felt strange. I thought the ending was a little rushed as well with the Doctor setting everything in place in offering Cecil off on his home world in return for the antidote. That was weak. Overall, some good ideas at the heart but not the best of adventures in my book. 

Rating: 5/10