Aries: The True and Indisputable Facts in the Matter of the Ram's Skull

"We shall bridge the gap between this plane of existence and the next."

Writer: Mark Michalowski

Format: Short Story

Released: March 2002

Printed in: Short Trips: Zodiac 01

Featuring: First Doctor, Ian, Barbara 

Synopsis

Take a TARDIS trip through the constellations, as the Doctor travels to twelve thrilling tales inspired by the mystical zodiac. 

Telepathic fish, miniature lions and twin planets are the least of his problems, as the Doctor – all eight of him – faces the Capricorn Killer, endures a mind swap with the Machiavellian Master, and dances with Death herself. 

And that's not the half of it – as the two K9s can attest.

Verdict

The True and Indisputable Facts in the Matter of the Ram's Skull was a good start to the Zodiac edition of Short Trips! This is the first release of the Big Finish versions of the Short Trips books and it’s a very fascinating start! I must say that I’m not very familiar with the signs of the Zodiac and the whole concept of astronomy, but I find it very intriguing. Whilst I’m firmly not a believer that the positioning of the stars and planets on your day of birth would determine the personality and future of one’s life, I’m not dismissive of it in the way I largely am regarding religion. I actually quite enjoyed the little introduction giving us some background on astronomy and it was fascinating to be from the perspective of science in the fourth millennium. That’s quite a bit into the future from now! I thought it was fun to have the idea of how Gallifrey’s constellation came to be named as Kasterborus and having a little introduction about each star sign from this character is terrific. I liked the story here in its relative simplicity and the mystery that came from the Doctor and company being ominously invited by Miss G to the mansion of Mr R was strong. I can’t quite understand why these names were omitted and it’s almost bugging me now that there seems no indication of who they were supposed to be! It almost feels a bit of a cheat that purely by omitting the names it feels like they’re supposed to be important, but there’s no indication that they are unless I’m missing something! I think it’s intriguing for Edgar Allen Poe to be the author of the piece that comprises this adventure and it’s good that he’s so formal as you would expect of a scholar from the Victorian era. Miss Wright and Mr Chesterton are how Barbara and Ian are referred to throughout. I think the placement of the story is also a quirky choice going between The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Rescue as that gives us an adventure with just the First Doctor, Barbara and Ian. That’s not something we ever got on screen other than at the start of the latter serial, so I’m delighted to get more of them. I think there’s something missing given the story placement to not have a reference to Susan, but I guess that can be attributed to Poe writing the account. I thought the nature of the ram’s skull was really interesting and I liked how eery things felt. I almost felt I should have been reading in the dark at night rather than on a bright train at 7.30am on the weekly commute to work! The image of everyone sat around the table and an incantation taking place was really strong and it was pretty amusing for the Doctor to keep interrupting! That was typical of the first incarnation and did put a smile on my face. The skull being the basis of a gateway to another realm or dimension was good stuff and the gradual way in which the entity behind the ram’s skull was taking form through Abigail was good tension. I almost felt a tad disappointed by the resolution in having Poe pull the cognac over after Barbara managed a desperate plea, but that just made me think that the Doctor and his companions didn’t really need to be there at all. Sure, Poe began to realise what the Doctor was planning and took the initiative, but I felt like it should have been him or even Ian that conjured up the strength to do what was needed. Ian and Barbara weren’t exactly thrilled with what had happened and why they were invited to the get together. Abigail died in quite horrific circumstances as she was basically burned alive but the Doctor didn’t seem to have much sympathy as they’d stopped the entity reaching this plane and using Abigail and the ram to form its existence in this dimension. I would have liked at least a hint or some semblance of information about what the entity or creature on the other side was, but it was still a decent fear factor. I liked the little note at the end confirming Poe died mysteriously in Baltimore and a bottle of cognac was left at his grave. The concept of the words to defeat the being from the other side is certainly interesting! Overall, perhaps a tad weak finish but a strong start to the collection!

Rating: 7/10