Natalie's Respite introduces a rather fantastic world, Coreworld, a planet that is inside out, in that it is a bare rock on its surface and a paradise in the core. It was partially inspired by the core of Crop Tor, the planet in the 2006 Doctor Who episode, Impossible Planet. In a deleted scene from that episode there is a detailed discussion of its gravity, the fact that it has its own weather, actually snowing at one point, and so on. There is also a touch of Magrathea, the mythical planet from Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy. Either way, Coreworld is a NICER place than that.

The Biekoos were a problem in one respect. How to make them NOT look or sound like Ewoks from Star Wars. I don’t think I quite succeeded in that respect, but never mind.

Chrístõ being accused of hypocrisy for wearing a leather jacket and criticising a fur coat wearer is an issue I wanted to address because I had mentioned a few times that on Gallifrey people don’t eat meat. So the fact that he DOES wear real leather is slightly relevant. Of course, the jacket comes from the TARDIS wardrobe and may have been created without need for any cows to be involved at all. But personally, I do think there is a difference between leather, which has always been used for clothing, and is a by-product of food production, and the making of fur coats for mere fashion and vanity, often killing an animal that has no food value. It is a fine line, but there you go.

The immorality of using the Biekoos to bear the pain transferred from the patients in the hospital, raises the issue of vivisection, animal experiments etc. I’ve been against that sort of thing ever since I was at school and The Plague Dogs was one of the most popular books going around. And I’ve not seen any compelling argument to suggest that such things are justifiable. I always sign anti-vivisection petitions.

As for the Euthensia issue at the start of the story, well that is just unconscionable as far as I am concerned, and The Doctor, generally speaking, shares that view, although there have been instances, such as the cyberman ‘Sally Phelan’ in Rise of the Cybermen, when death was the kindest thing. The Doctor is probably the only person in the universe qualified to decide such a fate for another being.

A story, therefore, that opens up a fair few cans of worm for discussion.