A decent historical that could’ve done with a bit more background and details.

The Doctor, Ben and Polly land in the middle of a battlefield in the Highlands of Scotland. Soon, they come across a small party of Scots that are hiding from the English army. Together they will face the odds as they get captured, split up and make new alliances.

First things first: This story is missing with no animation in sight. There is some fan stuff, but nothing too exciting, that leaves you with three real options: The Target novelization, the telesnap reconstruction, or the narrated soundtrack. For this one, I decided to combine the telesnap reconstruction and the target novel. Overall, I’d recommend the target novel as the best way to experience this story, as it adds a few more character insights. It’s also a bit easier to follow.

That being said, I wouldn’t call this story a powerhouse by any means. The structure is fine, there are plenty of memorable moments, but it doesn’t really stand out as anything noteworthy. Except, of course, for the introduction of Jamie. But even that noteworthy tidbit feels like an afterthought. It just sort of happens.

It actually reminded me a lot of my experiences with “The Crusade”. It is one of the more serious historical stories, but it never really bothers giving you the actual history. From my perspective, it puts stories at a disadvantage. I am not British and I am not too familiar with British history, so I do not know what fight I am even watching. On top of that, the story is missing, so what am I even left with?

Of course, part of that is on me. I am not a British kid from the 60s, so I am not the target audience. But on the other hand, shouldn’t this make kids curious too? Shouldn’t this be the bait to get kids into that history?

There are some interesting parts that show why this is a setting worth exploring: Jamie has a job his entire family has had. The Highlanders have all kinds of honor codes. The “medical” art of bloodletting gets a short mention and we have several mentions of the game whist. All these things make the setting a bit fuller. A bit more realized. But I think it could still have had a bit more meat on its bones.

The story also has its fun moments. Especially surrounding Polly, who is blackmailing a lieutenant in the British army. But all these little parts do not make the story complete. They add little dots to an otherwise blank canvas. It helps, but doesn’t make the total picture more convincing.

But on the other hand, I don’t feel like I have the chance to be entirely fair to the story. It is missing! How am I going to complain about a lack of depth and detail when the story cannot even show me what it had?

That’s why I read the novel. I wanted to see if the story had more to show me when it was completely in prose. But even then, it still left me a bit hollow. Like it could’ve done more.

For example, I really don’t know anything about Jamie yet. He’s a piper and has a bit of a temper. I’d love to see how he develops, but as it stands, there’s really nothing to latch on to. Nothing that defines him.

And I think that conclusion carries over to the entire story. It is by no means bad, insulting or terrible, but it also gives you practically nothing unique or charming. It just happens and then it is over. Far from the worst, but nowhere near the top either.