This story is a prequel written in the form of a letter to Barbara. It refers to a time before 1963, and tells a story of the Doctor and Susan landing in pre-WWII Germany.

 

As with the last story, the setting is the strongest part. It shows poverty, distrust and the beginnings of unreasonable hate. But it also feels kind of shallow. It feels like it takes very carefully chosen snippets to expand, like the science fair, a café, a street with beggars and 3 nazi soldiers, but it fails to make it a cohesively presented whole. It is all there, but it doesn’t feel as impactful as it should.

 

Maybe part of that is the portrayal of fewer characters than usual. We have a team of 2, but the doctor gets kidnapped after a little bit, so that leaves us with Susan. Since we have a single character and just an hour of story, perhaps perspective has to give way for a more personal tale. Still a bit of a shame, but it’s okay if the personal tale works.

 

Putting aside that the kidnapping of a character feels almost routine at this point, Susan’s journey alone feels disjointed and aimless. We eventually solve the mystery of the kidnapper by accidentally meeting up with him and Susan getting kidnapped as well. It isn’t really a earned resolution and makes Susan look weak. She’s in some perilous situations and knows how to escape, but we know she’s smart as well! So show that in the tale. Instead, it’s wandering around in an unfulfilled setting, then getting kidnapped, then the Doctor saving the day.

 

The real big gaping problem in this story, however, are the really botched morals. We basically get a “War is good for the growth of the people, so not all conflict should be prevented” message from the doctor, and Susan agrees.

 

That’s just f**ked up! I know this is an early doctor, and this message isn’t even out of place for him. According to him, you can’t change history.

 

The problem is that the story agrees with him. This statement isn’t questioned, reflected upon or challenged in any way. It’s just a fact. A fact that was apparently so important, that Susan put it down in a letter for next generations to learn. That’s just vile!

 

Look at how this kind of situation is handled in other stories. Last of the Romanovs, Farewell Great Macedon. They have similar situations where history is cruel. But this always makes the characters reflect! There’s always time to discuss this, because this is important! Changing history always needs to be handled with care, logic and respect. By both the characters and the writer. Here it isn’t.

 

This story is a mess. The morals already drop it down the rating list, but it really has nothing else. Setting is flimsy and non-cohesive. The actual story would not even require Susan, but she’s our main character. There’s even little things I haven’t discussed, like the terrible accents and the retroactive softening of the first doctor.

 

I can forgive most of these though. But I can’t forgive these morals. This is forever the story where the Doctor and Susan tell us that 50,000,000 people deserved to die, so that our science and world could grow. And that is unacceptable. Don’t listen to this.