‘A BOY’S TALE’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

The Story of Pets on Alzarius with Adric

This story is by Gary Russell and it features Adric. This story is written in the form of a letter by Adric to K-9 in E-Space, since he writes it in the first person. It takes place after ‘The Keeper of Traken’. I enjoyed reading this story and it was very nice to get some insight into the character of Adric here. 🙂

Adric writes to K-9 about a dream he had regarding something that occurred to him in real-life on his home planet. It’s interesting how Gary Russell depicts Adric on Alzarius before he meets up with the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K-9 in ‘Full Circle’. It’s rare we uncover Adric’s early life in ‘Doctor Who’.

We’re also introduced to Adric’s best friend in the story called Zayn. We also meet Zayn’s mother as well as two people who allow Adric to see their dogs that were once pets on Alzarius, including Máire and Lok. Decider Draith also makes an intriguing appearance in this little story featuring Adric.

It’s fascinating how Adric becomes curious about dogs and pets since he was never brought up on them beforehand whilst doing lessons in a classroom. It’s also fascinating how a character like Decider Draith allows Adric to learn more about dogs compared to how we saw him in ‘Full Circle’. 😐

I like how Adric writes in his letter to K-9 that he felt a close personal connection to him during the time he spent travelling with him, the Doctor and Romana in E-Space. I like the references made to Nyssa in this story as it’s made clear she made an impression on Adric when meeting her on Traken.

‘A Boy’s Tale’ rating – 8/10