‘TIP OF THE TONGUE’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Truth Tellers with the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa
The fifth story of the ‘Doctor Who’ Puffin e-shorts series is ‘Tip of the Tongue’ by Patrick Ness. Here’s a YouTube interview with Patrick Ness.
Patrick Ness has written books like the ‘Chaos Walking’ trilogy and ‘A Monster Calls’. Nowadays, he’s well-known for being the creator, executive producer and sole TV writer of the ‘Doctor Who’ spin-off TV series ‘Class’. I’ve yet to see ‘Class’, but I’d like to think it’s better compared to ‘Tip of the Tongue’. 😐
‘Tip of the Tongue’ features the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa. The story has no chapters. It’s set in Maine, 1945 and it mostly focuses on two youngsters Jonny and Nettie. The audiobook version of this story is read by Nicholas Pegg, well-known for being a Dalek operator in the new ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. 🙂
I would’ve preferred it if Sarah Sutton read the audiobook version of this story instead. I was really looking forward to reading ‘Tip of the Tongue’, especially since it featured the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa, my favourite TARDIS duo. I was so pleased they were chosen for this special Fifth Doctor tale.
Sadly, I found the story rather disappointing and underwhelming when I read/heard it. It does have an element of ‘Blink’ to it since the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa don’t appear much and make a pivotal brief appearance at the story’s climax to save the day. Not good in celebrating the Fifth Doctor era. 😦
Reading the story again, I appreciate the racism/prejudice themes with Jonny being a German Jew and Nettie being a coloured girl. The Truth Tellers concept could’ve been intriguing, but I would’ve preferred it if there was more interaction between the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa with Jonny and Nettie.
‘Tip of the Tongue’ rating – 4/10
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Bradley's Basement 
Great review Tim.
I agree that this story is very lacklustre. This is the first story in the Fifth Doctor/Nyssa arc that I haven’t enjoyed. I think it would have worked better as a novel. The plot and concepts could have been expressed more clearly.
My copies of ‘Hexagora’, ‘The Children of Seth’ and ‘Aquitane’ arrived yesterday. Speaking of ‘Hexagora’, did Sarah Sutton say that she found Nyssa to be a snob in that story, or did she say she finds Nyssa to be a snob in general? If it’s the latter, then that’s what I meant when I was surprised by it in our ‘Castrovalva’ discussion. I agree that Nyssa isn’t a snob in general, although in the case of ‘Hexagora’ I will have to see once I’ve listened to it.
Also, I thought I’d talk a bit about Nyssa and Tegan’s loyalty to the Doctor. I think calling Nyssa fiercely loyal is a bit of a stretch. If the Doctor told Nyssa to jump off a bridge would she do it? 😀 I agree that Nyssa is more friendly and loyal to the Doctor than Tegan is, although I actually found Tegan to be quite loyal to the Doctor in ‘The Five Doctors’ and Season 21.
My ‘Full Circle’ and ‘The Twin Dilemma’ reviews should be ready in the near-future. I’m still halfway through the latter story. I also need to finish ‘Spare Parts’ before sharing my thoughts on it.
Take care, WF92,
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Hi WF92,
Glad you enjoyed my review on ‘Tip of the Tongue’. Yeah, it’s a shame about this story. This story is meant to celebrate 50 years of ‘Doctor Who’ with the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa and they’re not the main focus. I agree, the story could’ve worked better as a novel with more time developed on the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa as well as the two kids Jonny and Nettie. I’ve just finished writing up my first draft of a short story for the Divergent Wordsmiths, and the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Billy have more time devoted to them.
Hope you enjoy ‘Hexagora’, ‘The Children of Seth’ and ‘Aquitaine’ when you hear them. I believe Sarah said she found Nyssa to be a snob in general rather than in a snob in ‘Hexagora’, though you’ll have to listen to the CD extras of that story to be sure. I don’t think Nyssa would readily jump off a bridge by the Doctor unless she had to, but I still think she has a quiet strength that makes her constantly loyal to the Doctor. Tegan can be loyal to the Doctor as well, although it’s easy to be put off by her negative attitude to things, especially in some of her earlier stories when she didn’t want to be in the TARDIS. Had her attitude been more positive in Seasons 20 and 21 and she wasn’t so bolshie as she continued to be in her return to the TARDIS from ‘Arc of Infinity’, I would like her in the same manner as I like Nyssa. Again, Nyssa comes across as nicer and friendlier than Tegan, which is why I like her more.
Looking forward to your reviews on ‘Full Circle’, ‘The Twin Dilemma’ and ‘Spare Parts’. I’ve scheduled my updated review on ‘Attack of the Cybermen’ for September. Looking forward to updating ‘Vengeance on Varos’ next.
Tim 🙂
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