Retribution (short story)

Retribution
Doctor:	Sixth Doctor
Companion(s):	Peri
Release details
Part of:	Doctor Who Annual 1986
Release date:	August 1985
Doctor Who annual
← Previous	Beauty and the Beast
Next →	Davarrk's Experiment

Retribution was a Sixth Doctor and Peri short story in the 1986 Doctor Who Annual. It was unusual for its unambiguous depiction of the Doctor directly killing an enemy with a double-barreled shotgun.

Summary

to be added

Characters

• Sixth Doctor
• Peri
• Robert Lawton
• Professor Watkins
• Emily Watkins
• Chintor

Worldbuilding

• The Doctor considers "revenge is a worthless pursuit in life."
• Peri fashions a ladder out of bedsheets sturdy enough to hold for two people.
• Chintor's taskforce is dispatched to Earth to exact revenge for the crash of a spacecraft that resulted in millions dying from its cargo of toxic waste. His belief is "death is justification for more death," and shows no discernment between the innocent and the guilty.

Notes

• This short story paints the Doctor as less averse towards guns; Not only does he deem it "good" that his friends arm themselves with revolvers, he ends the threat himself by killing Chintor with a double-barreled shotgun. However, the story does make a token gesture towards the Doctor's usual anti-gun stance by noting; "The gun was necessary, but he hated to use firearms." The final firefight results when the Doctor fails to dissuade Chintor from his revenge and the Time Lord is forced to defend himself or be shot dead by the alien's own weapon.

Continuity

• The Doctor is described as tapping his lapel cat in this story.
• The final gunfight between the Doctor and Chintor echoes the end of TV: Attack of the Cybermen.
• Chintor's murderous philosophy and its ultimately gruesome results leaves the Doctor embittered. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks)