Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“THE PLANET THAT WEPT: A POETIC BUT UNDERDEVELOPED MICRO-ADVENTURE”

The Planet That Wept follows a familiar structure seen in many stories in this collection—the Doctor leaves Martha to her own devices, and she inevitably stumbles into danger. This time, it happens while she’s simply enjoying the sun on an alien planet, only to be drawn in by disembodied voices calling to her. At least here, we also follow the Doctor’s own eerie discoveries, as both he and Martha witness humanoid faces and voices emerging from the very elements around them. The descriptions of the landscape and its surreal, unsettling atmosphere are a definite highlight, painting a vivid picture of an alien world unlike any other.

A GREAT PREMISE, BARELY EXPLORED

The story’s core idea is genuinely fascinating—an entire civilisation adapting to a world devastated by acid rain by literally merging with the environment. These beings, now part of the planet itself, crave new stories because they’ve exhausted their own. It’s a haunting and poetic concept that would have been perfect for a full-length novel, but here, it’s reduced to a brief exposition dump before the adventure is neatly wrapped up. The lack of depth means the story never quite realises its potential, leaving a lingering sense of wasted opportunity.

VERDICT: ANOTHER MARTHA SOLO INCIDENT

The Planet That Wept offers a beautifully eerie setting and a unique sci-fi concept, but it’s ultimately too short to explore its ideas meaningfully. The poetic final image of the Doctor telling stories to the weeping acid rain is a lovely touch, but overall, this feels like a prologue to a much bigger and better story that we never get to see.

📝7/10

A great bit of worldbuilding, a terrifying concept for a 'monster', a quick environmental message, and a beautiful ending. This is just a really great short story, the kind you could read a kid just before bed for them to doze off to the end of.

The characterisation is solid here too, especially for 10 who tends to get the short end of the stick in Martha stories (presumably given how he treats her for a lot of that TV run which is understandable), but that last moment here with his is just lovely.