‘LARKSPUR’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Larkspur with the Seventh Doctor and Benny

This story is by Mark Stevens, and it features the Seventh Doctor and Benny. This happens to be a tale about a man called Larkspur, who has an obelisk that turns out to be a TARDIS. He also keeps hearing a voice in his head. Presumably, that voice is coming from the obelisk that is really a TARDIS.

You could be forgiven into thinking that Larkspur is a Time Lord, but I don’t think that’s the case, since the Doctor and Bernice Summerfield don’t seem to regard Larkspur as a Time Lord. Honestly, having Larkspur being a Time Lord would make sense in order to account for how he has a TARDIS. 😐

I found this short story oddly structured when I read it, even upon revisiting it in 2022. It starts off well with the Seventh Doctor and Benny, but sadly, I got lost halfway when it came to Larkspur’s sections, as he narrated from his point of view. I don’t think I’ve got a clear idea on what’s going on.

It doesn’t help when we’re having to jump from different time zones including 1982 and 1928. Some of the locations include Bluff Cove, East Falkland and Midhurst in Sussex. It was a challenge to keep track of everything and it’s sad that the Doctor and Benny didn’t have a huge part to play in the story.

The story is mostly plot-focused than character-focused. I’m also not sure what these {CLICK} {CLICK} {HISS} sections are all about when reading them. I know the Eurovision Song Contest gets mentioned as well as the Doctor name-dropping Andy Warhol, but it didn’t make the story interesting enough.

‘Larkspur’ rating – 3/10