Gallifrey to Trenzalore #10: The Arboreals by Marc Platt

The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who
"The Arboreals"
Written by Marc Platt
Published: 4th June 2015
Read: 28th February 2016

The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who - "The Arboreals"

"The Arboreals" is the most recent release in our "Season 0" run-through, being released in June 2015. I recall The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who being released, but at the time I assumed it was one of those rather dry academic titles that would bore me to tears. It wasn't until I was compiling an updated list of short stories for this marathon that I stumbled on it. Therefore, this will be one of the few stories in this portion of the marathon that you'll be getting my initial impressions.

Noting that Marc Platt had written this particular tale, I was relieved, knowing that he could handle a pre-An Unearthly Child Doctor and Susan as he had done so in The Beginning and Quinnis.

We're pretty quickly launched into the story as the TARDIS materializes on a luscious green world and the Doctor and his granddaughter start exploring. Soon after, they stumble onto a graveyard near a smashed up spaceship. From the decay on the graves and the spaceship it is obvious that this all happened some time ago, but the Time Lords identify two mysteries: the first, how come there is a fresh grave that looks like it was recently dug, and secondly, there are only a few graves, yet the spaceship looked like it could carry hundreds. So where did everyone go?

Susan is anxious about the entire situation and is very keen to head back to the TARDIS and leave this world. The Doctor, however, has the bit between his teeth and he is determined to solve this little mystery. Fortunately for them both, answers start to arise quite quickly when a woman in a atmospheric suit surrounded by drone-like cameras arrives and starts mouthing off at the Gallifreyans. From Bethan Finch, we learn that this planet is being visited by expeditions in search of mineral wealth and colonization initiatives. It is also learned that the fresh grave belongs to her associate, Captain Tino Driscoll.

After spending the night at Finch's spaceship, Susan awakes to find both the surveyor and her grandfather missing. Naturally worried that something on this planet had done something to them, Susan dons an environmental suit and sets off in the direction of the graves. Here she finds Finch, incensed, and digging out Driscoll's shallow grave with her bare hands. Amazingly, she finds no sign of his body and, even more staggeringly, Driscoll then steps out from the forest to greet his former colleague! Driscoll, now starting to resemble some kind of tree creature, goes on to explain that the grave represents the death of his old life and personality and that he wants to become one with the forest and the planet.

They go on to find the Doctor sitting on a branch ten-feet in the air, his feet dangling over the canopy as he observes the forest. He has determined that this planet has evolved so that everything on it is in perfect balance. The colonists in the crashed spaceship had evolved to join this harmony and so too had Driscoll, just days earlier. Susan wasn't so sure it was evolution at work on this planet, but de-evolution, yet the Doctor simply stated that everyone was better off. Mystery solved, the Time Lords leave the tree creatures behind and return to the TARDIS.

"The Arboreals" is an interesting story and, fitting the pre-requisite of the book it is contained in, looks at evolution in ways that only a science fiction story could do. Indeed, humans being evolved into other life-forms is quite a staple of the genre, but as a committed Star Trek fan, the episodes "Identity Crisis" and "Extinction" spring instantly to mind.

While the story might not be exploring any new territory, Platt does an excellent job at creating a new alien world for us to explore, however briefly. Having previously listened to The Beginning and Quinnis as part of this marathon, it's obvious he has a fascination with forests, jungles and plant life of various forms and that gives a different spin to many of the other stories we've seen in the pre-An Unearthly Child range which have varied between historicals or stories based in 1963. A refreshing change, yet nothing completely original.

6/10

Next Story
"A Big Hand for the Doctor"