Last Rites

Short Trips: Monsters - #3:

--- "Last Rites" by Marc Platt

Plot:
As the Doctor investigates a temporal fault on a decaying world, Ace gets friendly with a group of environmental activists as a product of the planet's ravaging grows in power.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Marc Platt's a writer who can vary from being one of Who's most respected writers to one of its most reviled. His short story in A Universe of Terrors was one of the worst in the collection, so I wasn't exactly looking forward to his entry in this anthology. Last Rites is simply nothing special; there's a nice atmosphere with the airport on a deserted planet, it captures that liminal feeling of empty airport terminals pretty well and Seven and Ace are both well characterised, but nothing here is standout.

Unlike the last two stories, there aren't very many novel ideas here, it attempts environmental commentary but simply doesn't follow through on the concept and our main threat here is a comically realised "rat-emperor" (a rat king but with hundreds of rats included rather than simply ten). Last Rites is just not very interesting, it has an underwhelming threat and is built on a shaky metaphor. Throw in a temporal fault and a deus ex machina that both feel like unnecessary additions to the story and you have something that can only be described as unremarkable. Also, quick writing tip Marc, just acknowledging a deus ex machina as a deus ex machina does not make it any less lazy.

6/10

Pros:
+ Great, quiet atmosphere that captures a real world emotion well
+ Seven and Ace are both really well characterised
+ In the end, completely inoffensive

Cons:
- Fails trying to use an underlying metaphor
- Weak antagonist that should be horrifying but just comes off as humorous
- Lazy ending that adds nothing to the story
- Inclusion of minor point details come off as padding

Monsters | Ranked:
11.
10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3. Last Rites by Marc Platt - 6/10
2. From Eternity by Jim Mortimore - 8/10
1. Best Seller by Ian Mond and Danny Oz - 8/10

Overall - 7.3/10