The Shadows of Serenity

Short Trips #5.6

Released: 10 June 2015

Listened: 5/15/20

Placed here because Peri expresses a desire for a hamburger, so it must be before “The Two Doctors.” The Doctor and Peri land on Malgar, a planet known for being home to a species so belligerent that the Daleks and Sontarans won’t go there...except they find a race of pacifists instead. The Doctor doesn’t take this at face value and assumes that some outside force has interfered with the Malgarians, and of course he’s right, because this is a Short Trip. Despite Peri’s protests, he insists that all species need some level of aggression to survive, and puts things right. There’s also a few moments of the Doctor trying to fight back some of the anger and violence he feels in this incarnation, which is an unusual bit of introspection for the Sixth Doctor, especially in the early days. It’s not a particularly memorable story, but it is a little bit different.