Doctor Who: Rain of Terror

Eleventh Doctor Adventures #5

by Mike Tucker

In "Rain of Terror," terrible tiny creatures swarm down from the sky, intent on destroying everything on planet Xirrinda. As the colonists try to fight the alien infestation, the Doctor searches for the ancient secret weapon of the native Ulla people. Is it enough to save the day?


Originally published in Doctor Who Book 3: Alien Adventures

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

Mike Tucker is a special effects expert who worked for many years at the BBC Television Visual Effects Department, and now works as an Effects Supervisor for his own company, The Model Unit. He is also the author of a number of original tv tie-in Doctor Who novels (some co-written with Robert Perry), and three books based on episodes of the television series Merlin. He co-wrote the factual books Ace! The Inside Story of the End of an Era with Sophie Aldred in 1996, and BBC VFX - The Story of the BBC Visual Effects Department with Mat Irvine in 2010.

Reviews

[Alyssa Greatbanks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually, as far as Doctor Who books go, I tend to base my ratings on how well the characters and story are written in comparison to the show. I felt like the Doctor was okay, but not as clever as you would expect him to be, and with some personality differences. Amy and Rory also seemed kind of off to me. While they both had a few things to do, they didn't really feel like part of the story, just that they were present when these things were going on.

As far as plot goes, this is a pretty typical Doctor Who story. Strange creatures wreaking havoc, they are going to destroy the planet (if not universe) if they are not stopped. The book takes place in a safari resort on an alien planet.

Overall, I didn't feel like things were getting resolved, but that things just happen to get solved.
**SPOILER** They struggle to figure out a way to defeat the pebble monsters, but then find out there happens to be a machine built generations ago that was made to defeat these specific creatures in case they came to the planet in the future. But, whoops, the instructions to the machine have been lost to time. So the Doctor hypnotizes a character to bring out a memory, what he calls a 'race memory'. Something that the character being hypnotized would never have experienced, but somehow knows anyway, because he is part of the race that built the machine. **SPOILER** I know that Doctor Who is a science fiction series, but it was just too convenient without having much of a backing. Usually when something like this happens, it comes out of the Doctor's memory, which is more believable considering how long the Doctor has been exploring space. A "regular" teen/young adult isn't going to have a memory from hundreds of years ago.

If you still wish to read it, which I would have either way (but that's mostly because I plan to eventually read all the Doctor Who books), it's pretty short. I was in the library for 2 hours, in that time I looked around through the shelves, came upon this book, and had it finished before leaving. It's about 150 pages, and with other 11th Doctor books, the font is somewhat large.

[John Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Eleventh Doctor story, and in this one he, Amy and Rory are trapped with a bunch of school kids when a swarm of alien creatures that devour everything in their path arrive on the planet. The Doctor has to try and work out what the natives have in reserve to stop the ravening horde.

A fun adventure, cleverly contrived and well written. An entertaining tale.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It reads like a Target novel circa 1979...short, to-the-point transcripts that weren't very deep but fast and exciting. This book could easily slot into that era, a pretend-Target for an unmade episode. Mike Tucker has a very satisfying command of the characters of the 11th Doctor, Amy & Rory.

[Dante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love adventures with the Ponds and the Dr. Cute story and liked how the Faye as saved. Short for a nice quick read

[David T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Doctor Who tale was short like the last one. It was indeed quick and a easy and only took me a week to read again. In this tale instead of ending up at a party The Doctor, Rory, and Amy are on Xirrinda. Tiny evil creatures are hear in a cloud of despair. They where originally created by the Ulla and now they are their worst nightmare. It’s up too The Doctor, Rory, and Amy to bring an end to them. If they can.

[Joe Pranaitis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory stop on a safari planet for a party that the Doctor had promised the Ponds but wind up in the middle of an invasion that the inhabitants of the planet have known would come about for a long time. The Doctor battles the toothy rain while fighting to bring a culture back from hibernation and a mad man that wants to make a prophet from the toothy creatures.