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A Big Hand for the Doctor may amuse younger readers or fans of Colfer’s signature humour, but it struggles to capture the essence of the First Doctor and his era. The whimsical tone and mischaracterisation overshadow its potential, leaving this story feeling more like a misstep than a celebration of Doctor Who’s rich legacy.
Not a great start to the collection, which is a shame because I generally enjoy Eoin Colfer’s writing. Here it just doesn’t land.
Here’s my spoilery review for those who fancy a read. Thanks!
A little surprised to hear it described as a slog, only for it being as short as it is. It did seem to me the author may have never seen a Hartnell story, though. On my last read I commented:
There’s very little in this story that’s recognizable as the First Doctor era. Apparently he has a whole network of contacts, can pilot the TARDIS where he wants, etc. I wonder if maybe the story could be reminiscent of something from the Annuals or comic strips or something, but it in no way resembled the TV series.
I seem to enjoy this story more than other people. I agree that the First Doctor is somewhat mischaracterized, but I’ll forgive it because apparently this version of the Doctor alligns with author’s childhood perception of him rather than with the actual TV Hartnell. I found this Eoin Colfer’s quote which I thought perfectly defends his vision:
I would argue that my Doctor is the Doctor of novels and sunset-tinted nostalgia spectacles
Yeahhhh, this one definitely feels like a Tennant or Smith story, but with the first doctor. Regardless of the characterisation of the doctor himself, this doesn’t particularly feel like a plot that particularly works with One.
It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination (imo at least), but it feels like it’s not at the right point in this collection (both being the first story, and being a One story).
I remember this being okay, the doctor didn’t feel like 1 as others said and what I recall Susan also felt a bit off as well - I only finished this about a month ago and I really can’t recall many details apart from robot hand and Susan being kidnapped(?)
I read this on 18 July 2025, and this is what I had to say about it at the time:
“I’ve just finished the Puffin eshort ‘A Big Hand for the Doctor’ from the however-many-Doctors, however-many-stories anthologies, and I thought it was just okay, maybe a 6.25/10 for me. I’ve never really had any desire to read Artemis Fowl, and I honestly doubt I ever will. I did submit a quote from it, though, that makes fun of Blake’s 7 (among other things). Felt rather apropos for this site.”
I don’t recall many of the details, which makes sense considering what I rated it; however, it does have the distinction of being the story that will earn me my first Book Club badge, so huzzah for that, I suppose.
This is probably the worst One characterization I have ever seen. I know that this is based on Colfer’s memories of the character based on the novelisations rather than directly on the show but genuinely how did he get here.
When I got around to watching the TV show years later, I was surprised to find that of all the images my imagination had cultivated, it was the First Doctor who came closest to my picture of him, so if there was ever going to be a Doctor Who in my writing career, he was the version for me.[1]
i was going to write how this didn’t feel like early One before meeting Ian and Barbara but a lot of others already commented on it. The story was okay but I couldn’t imagine the characters in the situation so it was rated on the lower end for me.
This one just doesn’t feel like a first Doctor story, but that connection to Peter Pan at the end was nice I guess
Maybe if it was idk, four or five I feel this might’ve worked better? And it felt both too restricted and too long. But I could see what it was going for. Just not the first Doctor.
I’m late to this Book Club Extra as I wanted to get through Casualties of War first. A Big Hand for the Doctor is a perfect example of why even the best authors can’t necessarily write good Doctor Who.
Eoin Colfer’s story is like a one tenth-remembered childhood memories version of Doctor Who mixed with Peter Pan and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and, as a Doctor Who story it just doesn’t work.
This is from an interview Colfer did with the Guardian at the time of the story’s publication:
In the full article he talks about having coming to Who via the novelisations rather than the TV show. But even then, his Doctor isn’t the Doctor of the novelisations - not even the world of Whitaker’s The Daleks with its alternative.
I actually think it’s rather disappointing that a story published for the show’s 50th anniversary gets the First Doctor so very very wrong in both characterisation and the story world he inhabits. This world of Soul Pirates kidnapping and dismembering children; of surgeons who can attach weird bio-mechanical hands to the Doctor; to flying pirate ships with gravity beams; none of it feels like Doctor Who, let alone the Hartnell era.
Bringing the worlds of Peter Pan and Doctor Who together is an inherently excellent idea - Doctor Who often plays with the world of fairy tale - but this story just doesn’t bring them together in any sort of convincing or meaningful way. The final part with JM Barrie having observed the events of the story feels forced and unearned.
