The Book Report #87
Episode #86
Doctor Who – WetWorld By Mark Michalowski
The Book
First published in 2007 by BBC Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing, Ebury Publishing is a division of the Random House Group LTD.
My copy is a 2nd printing hardback. This book has 258 pages with an acknowledgement and advertising for several books in the series.
What Did I Think
Colonisers are slowly building their new lives on a strange new swamp planet. Until they are hit by an asteroid, leaving everything underwater.
But on that asteroid, it carries an extra slimy entity.
All Martha wanted was to spend time with the doctor, but the Doctor is busy tinkering with the TARDIS. After a while, the Doctor gets hungry and decides that they are going out for breakfast at Tiffany’s, but of course, Martha and the Doctor were thinking of a different Tiffany’s.
The TARDIS doesn’t care about their hunger, and they end up on the swampy planet named Sunday.
This story felt like a mild attempt at Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Still, it’s only one entity that uses its ability to cut off chunks of itself and send them to other planets to grow stronger, and not an unlimited number of pods. And this slimy bugger will kill you, whereas the pods absorb you.
… I digress…
Martha is captured. But she is eventually found by the Doctor and friends. The slimy thing infects her with its personality. In the full swing of the infection, she turns feral and is a threat to those around her. But eventually, the Doctor worked out how to help get her sanity back.
Turns out the infection is more like an allergic reaction, so a large dose of antihistamines does the trick.
Takes Control
The Doctor does what he always does. Finds civilisation and uses his authoritative personality to start taking control. And with the help of his psychic paper, he gets them to help him; then he helps them with their problems while belittling whatever bully is in charge of the colony. This would be Pallister.
When the colonists arrive, they find the local inhabitants of the planet are a cross between otters and beavers. And have been an easy target for the slimy entity. It slowly collects them, forming an army. The colonists collect a new subject now and then, and without realising, help the otters become free of the infection by keeping them away from the rest of the group.
So they help the humans deal with the problem.
And by the end of the story, the Sundayan Otters decide to keep the humans around. The same notion that humans were doing.
This is a nice, simple story that is fun and playful, enjoyed by fans of all ages. It has plenty of twists and turns, keeping you interested. There is a character, Pallister, who may have been there to create problems for the doctor, but wasn’t developed enough to understand his full intent. We do get a basic understanding of fraudulent behaviour, but it doesn’t feel complete. I don’t know if there were restrictions on how long the story should be or how much to cut out. These books are around 246 pages.
Would I Recommend
This is a fun Doctor Who story, and I would recommend it to any fan or someone looking for a quick read. The story isn’t dense, but a light read and the author does a great job of bringing the feeling of the Tenth Doctor and Martha to life.
Please give this book a go.
Would you like to purchase your very own copy?
You could try these online stores: Amazon UK/USA. Waterstones. AbeBooks UK/USA, Barnes & Noble or eBay UK/USA.
Alternatively, you could try your local bookshop or even your local library.
