Black Dog

Short Trips #5.4

Released: 6 April 2015

Listened: 2/20/22

This story doesn’t have to do with depression, at least, not directly. The TARDIS lands on an Earth mining colony that’s now been mined out, so the few remaining humans are about to leave. There are natives on the planet, but for once, they’re not in conflict with the humans; in fact, they don’t seem to care whether the humans stay or go. Both groups are troubled by a black dog that appears in dreams, and marks the dreamer for death. The natives believe it’s a god, who has supplanted their other gods, and honestly the humans pretty much believe that too. When Leela has the dream, and has her energy sapped, the Doctor goes into full atheist mode to get to the bottom of the problem. In fairness, the Doctor has been vanquishing gods quite a bit lately (Sutekh, Xoanon), so he’s got form. He ends up praising Leela’s skills rather a lot, to inspire her, which gives Leela a glimpse into how he sees her.