Spookasem

I've had a pretty good run of Doctor Who Short Trips. Quality of Leadership certainly had its ups and down, but I never read a story I wouldn't consider, at the bare minimum, acceptable.

Christmas Treasury on the other hand, seems far less reliable. Spookasem was just awful on every level.

I found the narration painful to get through, taking the perspective of 11 year old Melissa. I really had a lot of trouble getting past her disorganized and inaccurate view of the world, or her focus on her parent's arguing all while being possessed by an alien sprite. It isn't even that it was difficult to follow Spookasem, it just felt unproductive and failed to add anything to the experience. If this story were more traditionally written with an adult's level of thoughtfulness of the matter, it might have worked better, as it stands as just a confusing mess.

What is particularly odious about this is that it is in the service of nothing. The story itself is a bit of nothing as Melissa nearly summons an alien thing, only for the Doctor to help her not. And that's it! It is little more than a waste of time.