Kiss of Life

"We just have to wait for a crash?"

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Short Story

Released: August 2007

Printed in: Doctor Who Storybook 2008

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha

Synopsis

When the Doctor and Martha receive a distress call, they go to the site of the crash to offer the help they can. But there's more to the first response than meets the eye.

Verdict

Kiss of Life was a great story to continue my way through the 2008 Doctor Who Storybook! I really liked this one and it grasped my attention right from the off which doesn't always happen with these kind of adventures. I thought the illustrations in particular were fantastic! The style was so good and I was really impressed with the quality. It really helped bring what was already a pretty visual and vibrant story to life. It certainly aided with my reading of the story which is exactly what you want when we get these kinds of drawings alongside the text. It just injects life and this certainly had that in abundance with a rich dose of colour and just a strong variation of illustrations. There didn't seem like any shortcuts taken and we got a good range from the castle to the lizard creature and then even Martha in her gown. It was fantastic. The story itself is a little cheesy by the end but it works very well. I thought the starting point with the premise of the Doctor and Martha receiving a distress call in the TARDIS was good, and even more so by the fact the former couldn't do anything to prevent. He had a somewhat semi solution though in regards to getting to the crash site before it actually happened so they could be the first response. That was a nice touch and worked well. When disaster couldn't be averted, it was nice to know that the Doctor and Martha would be on hand to help. Except they weren't the first to meet the ship. That honour went to Sastra as one of the servants, supposedly, on board the ship of Prince Rodrique. He was an interesting little character and the description of him being half in and half out of the crashed ship made it a little surprising that he made such a recovery. But that was the beauty of an alien world like Geravalon. It was home to the best medical machines and a quick overnight usage meant he was ripe as rain. Of course, the same kind of medical treatment would not be on offer to Sastra as a mere servant. And this is where Martha absolutely shone. I thought she was presented in stellar fashion as a companion and it was brilliant for her to utilise her medical expertise. She was keen to help and as a woman of colour, she could relate to the suppression of the servants. She tried on numerous occasions to make the likes of Rodrique and Padros see that servants deserved equal treatment and ensured that Sastra would get a chance to go to the ball. It was a bit too Cinderella in parts and especially once midnight hit, but it was fun for the Doctor to acknowledge the ridiculousness of the situation. The whole slipper fit was just a bit silly considering that Sastra could not have gone too far! I liked the illustrations in particular here with the period dress captured well and it was nice for Martha to also be drawn in regal get up. I thought it was quite funny for the Doctor to just be holding his mask in front of his face because everyone knew he was already as the mystery man, but it was actually Sastra getting all of the attention. She was witty and intelligent which was lovely and that eventually piqued the interest of Rodrique. It came just a little late though as once midnight struck the Doctor's digital painkillers wore off immediately and the truth about her came out. She was actually one of the chameleon lizard creatures the Doctor and Martha had met earlier and whilst we'd seen it take on the tones of a striped suit and then the darker tones of the companion, the one here had got too much of the blood from Rodrique and became the full thing. At least it was trying to maintain that but it would need a continuation of the genetic template. And that would come in the form of a kiss. Every twenty-four hours. So no time apart for those two! The little Smith and Jones reference to give credence to the genetic transfer was nicely done too. Overall, a great little read!

Rating: 8/10