The Cat Came Back

"You are my plaything."

Writer: Gareth Roberts

Format: Short Story

Released: July 2006

Printed in: Doctor Who Storybook 2007

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis

A cat named Mitzi is deemed the First Pioneer on the road to helping humanity travel by hyperspace. Thought dead, Mitzi has been enacting her revenge on mankind...

Verdict

The Cat Came Back was a good little story to continue my reading through the 2007 Doctor Who Storybook! This was another unique tale and I must admit my prejudice regarding the name continued here as was the case with the Cuckoo-Spit opener in the collection. I try not to judge things just from a name alone but these short stories can vary dramatically in terms of content and quality so it's a little difficult not to go in with expectations for a title like this! Thankfully it was a very solid read and was a nice addition to the Series 2 era of the Tenth Doctor and Rose. I thought for the most part the illustrations that accompanied this story were very strong, although the editing could have been improved as the image I have chosen to represent this blog entry was on a separate page to the events being described. That felt like a bit of a big mistake and could so easily have been avoided with some proper text placement. I don't think it's asking a lot for the illustrations to be on the same page as the events in which they are depicted! Also, the drawings of Rose felt very off in capturing the likeness of Billie Piper. I don't think that was good at all which was a bit of a shame. It didn't take away too much for the story though thankfully. I enjoyed the concept at the heart of this story and venturing into the future of humanity was fun at a time where hyperspace travel had recently been achieved. That's a big step forward for space travel and the Doctor's description of it being a motorway in spatial terms was appreciated. It seems baffling that you have to puncture a hole in space to get there as surely that causes structural damage to the fabric of the universe, but who am I to judge futuristic science? Encountering Mitzi was fun and as an owner of two tuxedo cats myself (Polly and Pirate if anyone is wondering – and yes the former is named after the Doctor Who companion!), the idea of them talking is quite frightening. Let alone them bringing humans into their servitude. As if we're not already though! Mitzi actually starting the story with her internal thoughts as she was sent as the very First Pioneer as a hyperspace travel test run was good, especially when the passage ended with her developing speech. I'm not sure how that works physically with a cat's mouth but that's probably overthinking things slightly! Mitzi didn't have much mercy for all of humankind which was intriguing and meant bad news for Rose. She was impressed by the Doctor's internal makeup as a Time Lord and she had no quarrel with his kind, it was just humans she was out to get. Jonah being on hand to warn the Doctor and Rose of using the word cat was actually decent in providing a fear factor, although I did find it difficult at times to take her seriously as a threat. I mean, she hadn't grown in size or anything! And that image of the cat launching itself at the Doctor was terrific. I appreciated the New Earth referencing given this TARDIS pairing and their previous encounter with cats of the future, but this was quite different! The way Rose did something clever to sever the energy link that expanded the cat's horizons and abilities was pretty simple and I'd have appreciated some more clarity on what and why it had happened, but it was still a fun little adventure. A good glimpse to the future, although finding out that Mitzi was actually Rose's cat who would live for another five years was a bit strange! I didn't see that it added much to the story at all and was more than a little coincidental. Overall though, a decent read! 

Rating: 7/10