Couldn’t quite get that rough/textured look for the background, but have a mockup!
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Great job!!!
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Well, I’m curious to see what these are like so I’ve bought the Kindle version (and, yes, I did use the TARDIS Guide link to get to Amazon).
I’ve always been put off by the Doctor Who Files because I really don’t like the cover style. Plus, I’m clearly not the target audience for these books. Also, I didn’t actually realise they were stories. I had assumed they were more factual. So I’d never even wanted to buy them, even as curiosities.
But now knowing that they are a) short stories, b) all collected together in one cheap collection and c) said collection has additional stories, I’m more inclined to give this a go. It’s nice going into something that I really know very little about.
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The original files were factual for the majority of the book with a short story included at the end.
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I coincidentally ordered this anthology just a few days ago.
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That’s good to know and makes me quite glad that I didn’t buy them at the time. For the most part they would have done nothing for me.
I have just started on the first of the stories, though, and I have to say it’s quite fun. I have a feeling I know where it’s going so I’m curious to see if I’m right.
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I’ve finished the first story!
A pretty sad story about how the Time War affected the children of Gallifrey. But a good look at what the War Doctor was doing at that time. 3.5/5
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The Stranger - 8/10
I’m a sucker for a time war story, and this definitely is one, but without all the complex trappings that you often get. I like the idea of a late-war doctor coming back to the early-war and seeing what people’s thoughts about where it’ll go and how long it’ll last contrasted with the the doctor’s knowledge.
Daleks are fun here, definitely more threatening and that than I thought they would be. Being a collection of mostly shorts aimed at children I didn’t expect to be about attempted mass child murder. I think it’s probably helped by the fact they’re not given much ‘screen’ time.
The characterization of War here is also interesting, you can tell how late in his tenure this is and it’s great, especially in how he deals with children. He’s grizzled, but it’s gone on for too long, he’s lost too much, and he just wants to be a doctor again.
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The Hero Factor - 5/10
Nothing much to write home about here but as a short story for kids its got a certain level of charm. It absolutely feels like the sort of story Rose would make an offhanded comment about happening offscreen in Boom Town or School Reunion which is really enjoyable to read as one of these shorts.
The couple of times 10 says ‘best in the known universe, well, half the unknown universe too’ is also just a fun little phrase that I love from the doc.
Overall it’s lighthearted fluff and not much more, but that fluff is fun fluff.
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Mission to Galacton - 4/10
On the one hand, the daleks are super threatening here, ultimately it comes down to a single damaged dalek destroying an entire planet… on the other, a whole squad of them gets destroyed by some random mindless rock monsters and that’s most of the story.
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Stamp of Approval - 4/10
A bit of a history lesson disguised as a story, that’s exactly what I was expecting from these short stories for kids and I think it’s brilliant. Well, brilliant at that at least.
It makes sense they’d use this framing device for this story, and the ending which makes use of it is fun, but I don’t really think the actual story itself works great as a letter, and some of the writing feels just a bit out of character for Rose (mostly just a choice of phrase here and there, but enough to take me out of it a little).
Also the fact they pretty much gloss over the guy who drowned in ink at the start isn’t great. Even if they were possessed those workers are going to have some trauma that they did it, it’s just a bit of a strange thing to include.
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I’m not usually great at reading, but this format of shorts is really tickling my brain, and I know there’s a badge in it
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The Final Darkness - 3/10
I want to love the Sycorax, they deserve a great story at some point. This isn’t it. The repetition of of ‘Sycorax rock’ just feels silly, the whole tone feels off. Like I do get that this is for kids, but even then this feels strange. It doesn’t match the vibe we get shown of the sycorax in The Christmas Invasion, at least for me, like there’s some of it there but not at all to this extent.
And again, the framing device doesn’t work at all, it’s meant to be a ship’s log, and it works fine as that at the start, but eventually it’s recounting the events of The Christmas Invasion as they’re happening, so is he writing the log while the events happen?
It just doesn’t work for me.
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No Fun at the Fair - 5/10
Another story of fun lighthearted fluff. This story wouldn’t feel out of place in SJA I feel, if SJA did one parters.
I like Rose wrongly assuming a safety guy is a Slitheen, in previous Slitheen TV stories all the plus sized characters were Slitheen, so I’m glad to see they do something here to help show that assumption to be wrong. Mainly so very kids don’t just assume people are Slitheen and we get more fatphobia from there.
I like how they initially seem to characterize the Slitheen as good as well though, again, more just showing characters harmful prejudices can be wrong. I mean, it’s not in that case, but you think it might be for a little. Plus the hunt thing they do is just a fun visual, chasing a person through a fun fair, especially I like the detail that it’s slowing down and guiding Rose, wanting the hunt to go on longer (which is inevitably it’s downfall)
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Taking Mickey - 5/10
A fun look into the kinds of things Mickey’s getting up to post-Aliens of London, Pre-School Reunion. Keeping an eye on alien things, meeting up with people who might have news about The Doctor or UNIT, etc. There’s some fun characterization for him too with the offhand mention that he likes to play football with the kids on the estate.
The alien threat here also just works for this kind of story, someone looking for The Doctor, knows he goes to earth, and realises Mickey has a connection with him to tries to use that. The alien kids are also pretty charming and Mickey’s able to use that connection to trick them into letting him out which works for his character.
Nothing special or standout, but fun.
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Needle Point - 6/10
More light fluff but light fluff I really liked. The idea of aliens disguising themselves as little old ladies because all little old ladies look the same is great, some fun technobabble on how their knitting is making energy for their ship, and the plot being foiled because the needles touched is the right amount of silly.
The characterisation is also on point here, Martha gets to save the day on her own, and 10 mostly ignores her, so yep, got their season 3 dynamic down perfectly.
I also like the ending with 10 cooing at a baby, and that last line about all babies looking the same is a fun note to end on with just the right hint of creepy for the kids at home reading it.
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I’m only a third of the way through, but genuinely, if you read one story from this collection, so far, read this
A Dog's Life - 9/10
Well that was just beautiful, heartbreaking and beautiful.
Finally a framing device/format change that really works for me, seeing the world through the eyes of a deteriorating K9, seeing Sarah Jane growing older as K9 only sees snapshots of her, hearing K9’s assumption that he’s been put in a box and forgotten.
This unit is in a box.
This unit has been put in a box and abandoned.
This unit… has failed and been put in a box like old junk.
My heart.
But despite it all he still protects Sarah from being robbed, and he just about catches her calling him “A Girl’s Best Friend” (love the reference).
And then the ending where you see inside K9’s head at his thoughts on seeing The Doctor again.
Just so sweet, all of it.
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The Secret of the Stones - 7/10
Some very fun little character stuff here, references too with mention of pyramids and the Mary Celeste.
I love the way the TARDIS is used here too, appearing briefly every so often to take screenshots and collecting a timelapse an order of magnitude greater than anything we could ever do.
And then the twist at the end with stonehenge being created around the TARDIS because the TARDIS is showing up there every so often, it lining up with the solstice because that’s when The Doctor thought would be a nice time to take the picture, just a great little twist for a story like this.
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The Planet that Wept - 7/10
A great bit of worldbuilding, a terrifying concept for a ‘monster’, a quick environmental message, and a beautiful ending. This is just a really great short story, the kind you could read a kid just before bed for them to doze off to the end of.
The characterisation is solid here too, especially for 10 who tends to get the short end of the stick in Martha stories (presumably given how he treats her for a lot of that TV run which is understandable), but that last moment here with his is just lovely.
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Disappearing Act - 7/10
A fun and interesting use of the ood’s telepathic powers, showing how a single ood can be controlled by someone with some abilities, not just a hoard controlled by an extremely powerful entity.
Magic tricks are always fun, especially for me if you know how they’re done, and in this case it’s explained brilliantly without all that much technobabble at all. It’s the sort of thing you could easily see happening if those powers existed.
The ending is also fun with 10 using his own abilities to let the ood speak a little more freely and condemn his slaver.
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