Venusian Lullaby

Susan is gone. The Doctor is keen to get on with business as usual, but Ian and Barbara are perplexed at how casually he has taken his granddaughter's unwilling departure from the TARDIS. They arrive on Venus at the invite of an old friend of the Doctor's to attend a funeral and find the planet in its last days and different sects of society at odds over how to cope: accept it, fight it, survive it. Knowing the Doctor of old, the Venusians ask for his help, as well of that of Barbara and Ian, but as they try to work with the Venusians a third party with the perfect solution arrives into the mix, but it may just be too perfect in the end.

First, the title: Venusian Lullaby comes from events further ahead in the series, when the third Doctor will tame a savage beast with a spinning charm and a song, a song which he says is actually an old Venusian lullaby verse that goes "close your pretty eyes my darling; well, three of them, at least". As with a lot of the trivia of the televised series it was just a matter of time until it was picked up in the expanded universe, its origins explained somewhat. This is not the only time this sort of thing will happen.

The Venusians themselves, then, have at least three eyes. In fact they are described as having five, as well as five legs, five arms, and five mouths. The cover illustration of the novel gives an interesting take on the offered description, although people I have shown it to have said it looks a little too gynecological for their liking. Their society is well ordered for the most part until the imminent demise of their planet causes it to break down and fracture, and then all manner of terrible things start to go wrong including plans to blow the planet up early and mass slaughters of the population where the people have become redundant. Different factions want different things, and each of the TARDIS crew are at one point or another kidnapped by them and then are freed or escape and end up separated for long stretches of time. The Venusians also have a custom of eating the brains of their dead (even their children) in a remembrance ceremony, an act which is to them only logical as the chemicals in the brains of the dead fuse with those of the living and memories are preserved. Barbara and then Ian partake and are swamped by the memories of those who have died, temporarily losing themselves in the wash. The important thing is, though, that the Venusians are not monsters; Barbara forms a close friendship with Trikhobu after eating parts of her father's brain, and Ian is rescued from the incredibly sensitive Jellenhut and becomes a travel companion. Mind you, the names... some of them are tongue twisters to say the very least.

Having encountered the Venusians before, the Doctor is dismayed at their plight but knows that Venus will die eventually, and he isn't going to do anything about it, nor can he. When more aliens arrive with a promise of salvation, though, he knows that it's not right and sets our to make the Venusians see it for themselves rather than tell them directly. Even if he is working this way the Doctor is still trying to let things happen on their own with just a slight nudge. If he has any remorse over leaving Susan behind on Earth the plight of Venus is a handy way to avoid it, although at times when talking to Barbara there are glimpses of a lonely hurt man under there. The fact that several of the Venusians keep asking him about where Susan has gone only makes the issue harder for him it seems. On an interesting note, the Doctor alludes to his identity being in flux while speaking to the Venusians, harkening back to the plot points of Frayed although this was written first.

One big sticking point though is how the Doctor managed to get the TARDIS to Venus at all. This sudden show of control over the ship is at odds with the Doctor's skills at the time of the show, and will be not be maintained once back to regular televised material.  But not yet. Not yet.

NEXT EPISODE: HERE THERE BE MONSTERS