Doctor Who Review: The Day of The Trolls
I’ve been racking up the DW audio content lately - Big Finish Stories, audio books, commentary, you name it. Some of it has been awesome and some of it truly, truly awful. The Day of the Troll was definitely the latter.
I was really excited about this one. A future dystopian society, fairytales based on truth and instinctual memory…if you had said, “Hey, SG, what key elements would be in your perfect story?” these would have been on the top of my tick list. Even the set up - an England abandoned because of global warming is targeted by a philanthropist for a research site to explore new techniques for growing crops to feed a starving world. The preciousness of the operation being based at his ancestral home doesn’t deter from its potential. But potential only gets you so far.
The biggest roadblock is that there are truly no likable characters in this story. As a subset of that, the characterization of the women in this book is eyebrow-raising.
We open with the amazing, dashing, philanthropist-with-a-dream-of-saving-the-world Karl Baring taunting his sister, Katy, about being afraid of going under an old bridge on their former estate. It might be typical brother-sister sort of stuff but as an introduction, the result of which is his destruction, it’s hard to come back from. You can tell me he's amazing and fabulous all you want, what you showed me was a jackass.
It’s also hard to get to know Katy because she immediately goes into catatonic shock after seeing Karl being trolled. She’s pretty much the crazy lady in the attic until the final scene. Of course, her hair turns completely white from shock. Because that's what happens when you leave no trope unturned.
Then there’s Petra, the default head of the operation once Karl goes missing. It is reiterated over and over and over again that she is an ineffectual leader and simply wants to abandon the project and be evacuated.
The third female character, Vanessa “simply the poshest person Petra has ever met” reacts to the crisis by fainting, more than once. I kid you not. Her final appearance is being given the choice to help the Doctor or run for the coast. She runs.
Now, mind, these are three research scientist, selected and trained to work at a remote outpost. While the fact they are humanitarians and willing to work for a pittance is stressed, they are not unprepared for hardship. To have every single female character be so incredibly stereotyped is appalling.
The male characters don’t fair much better, there is the timid Tim, the mechanic guy who the Doctor mocks for not making more of a fuss over his sonic and the belligerent scientist guy whose name I can’t even remember. Oh, and the requisite evil government official.
Then there’s the Doctor. He quips and yells and ruffles but simply looks at the whole event as a mystery to solve because, as he states, the not knowing would drive him crazy. This is the same Doctor, with the same motivation, we saw on The Waters of Mars, but, in that case, he formed some sort of connection with the people, particularly Adelaide, on Bowie Base One. You don’t get that sense AT ALL here. It’s a mystery and a game and he’s determined to figure it out. If he saves a few lives in the process, bonus!
This story brings up one of the fundamental flaws of “The Doctor On His Own Stories”, without a companion to act as the emotional ballast or foil, he needs to form a connection with someone in order to give the story heart. If not, he comes off as the mysterious gunman in “High Plains Drifter”. There to do a job and to move on packing his own brand of morality on his hip. While there is always an element of this to the Doctor’s characterization, it shouldn’t be the only element. It’s too cold and unlikeable, particularly for the Tenth incarnation.
I stuck with this one to the bitter end hoping it would get better. It didn’t. To sum it up, trolls fall and everyone dies. Except the Doctor and the womenfolk. I guess they were just too delicate.
I was really excited about this one. A future dystopian society, fairytales based on truth and instinctual memory…if you had said, “Hey, SG, what key elements would be in your perfect story?” these would have been on the top of my tick list. Even the set up - an England abandoned because of global warming is targeted by a philanthropist for a research site to explore new techniques for growing crops to feed a starving world. The preciousness of the operation being based at his ancestral home doesn’t deter from its potential. But potential only gets you so far.
The biggest roadblock is that there are truly no likable characters in this story. As a subset of that, the characterization of the women in this book is eyebrow-raising.
We open with the amazing, dashing, philanthropist-with-a-dream-of-saving-the-world Karl Baring taunting his sister, Katy, about being afraid of going under an old bridge on their former estate. It might be typical brother-sister sort of stuff but as an introduction, the result of which is his destruction, it’s hard to come back from. You can tell me he's amazing and fabulous all you want, what you showed me was a jackass.
It’s also hard to get to know Katy because she immediately goes into catatonic shock after seeing Karl being trolled. She’s pretty much the crazy lady in the attic until the final scene. Of course, her hair turns completely white from shock. Because that's what happens when you leave no trope unturned.
Then there’s Petra, the default head of the operation once Karl goes missing. It is reiterated over and over and over again that she is an ineffectual leader and simply wants to abandon the project and be evacuated.
The third female character, Vanessa “simply the poshest person Petra has ever met” reacts to the crisis by fainting, more than once. I kid you not. Her final appearance is being given the choice to help the Doctor or run for the coast. She runs.
Now, mind, these are three research scientist, selected and trained to work at a remote outpost. While the fact they are humanitarians and willing to work for a pittance is stressed, they are not unprepared for hardship. To have every single female character be so incredibly stereotyped is appalling.
The male characters don’t fair much better, there is the timid Tim, the mechanic guy who the Doctor mocks for not making more of a fuss over his sonic and the belligerent scientist guy whose name I can’t even remember. Oh, and the requisite evil government official.
Then there’s the Doctor. He quips and yells and ruffles but simply looks at the whole event as a mystery to solve because, as he states, the not knowing would drive him crazy. This is the same Doctor, with the same motivation, we saw on The Waters of Mars, but, in that case, he formed some sort of connection with the people, particularly Adelaide, on Bowie Base One. You don’t get that sense AT ALL here. It’s a mystery and a game and he’s determined to figure it out. If he saves a few lives in the process, bonus!
This story brings up one of the fundamental flaws of “The Doctor On His Own Stories”, without a companion to act as the emotional ballast or foil, he needs to form a connection with someone in order to give the story heart. If not, he comes off as the mysterious gunman in “High Plains Drifter”. There to do a job and to move on packing his own brand of morality on his hip. While there is always an element of this to the Doctor’s characterization, it shouldn’t be the only element. It’s too cold and unlikeable, particularly for the Tenth incarnation.
I stuck with this one to the bitter end hoping it would get better. It didn’t. To sum it up, trolls fall and everyone dies. Except the Doctor and the womenfolk. I guess they were just too delicate.