Seventeen tales set on Earth featuring new adventures throughout history for the Doctor and his companions.
1 Comment
Styre
on May 8, 2016 at 1:32 AM
SHORT TRIPS: PAST TENSE
Considering the generally high caliber of Doctor Who historicals, the concept of this Short Trips anthology laid the paving for what could have been a brilliant collection: nothing but historicals, written by some celebrated Who authors and some relative newcomers. Unfortunately, the collection dwelled upon different things entirely…
The Immortals — Simon Guerrier — Nothing particularly interesting on display here, save the opportunity to see the Davison crew in a Hartnell-style historical. There’s the expected amount of bickering and an odd ending, but really this is unmemorable. Somewhat disappointing coming from Guerrier.
Far from Home — Alison Lawson — Doesn’t have a thing to do with history, but Lawson writes very well and this is her third strong effort for Big Finish. It reads like a children’s story, but a good one, much like Louise Cooper’s Rip Tide novella. The Doctor’s fun here too. Solid, enjoyable reading.
All Done with Mirrors — Christopher Bav — The historical material is interesting and provides a unique twist on the common Marlowe-as-Shakespeare theory, but unfortunately Bav fails miserably when it comes to the regulars. The fourth Doctor is almost unrecognizable and Sarah might as well be a new companion. One of those stories that’d work better if you’d never seen Doctor Who.
CHAOS — Eric Saward — Bizarre. Saward appears to be trying his hand at a mood piece, showing the Doctor subjected to various dream sequences and tortures. Unfortunately his prose is Targetesque and doesn’t support what he’s trying. Still, he clearly knows the regulars and writes some solid dialogue. Not sure what this has to do with the theme, though…
Ante Bellum — Stephen Hatcher — Cliched WWI spy thriller with an obvious inversion. The regulars are incredibly generic — the only reason this appears to be Ace is her hatred of Germans, and the seventh Doctor could be any of his fellows. The plot is unimpressive as well; thus far the collection has been decidedly average.
The Thief of Sherwood — Jonathan Morris — Excellent stuff, dealing with both Doctor Who historicals and Doctor Who’s own history. Not only does Morris outline a believable Hartnell historical involving Robin Hood, he perfectly captures the tone of each of the various types of review article that would follow. The Television Companion analysis referencing a fake Gary Russell Shada article from 1981 had me laughing out loud. Brilliant, though it’s really little more than a fan gratification piece.
Come Friendly Bombs… — Dave Owen — It’s really little more than a lecture on the firearms debate, but Owen introduces a sufficient degree of moral ambiguity to make it work. It’d have to be Pertwee telling this to Jo, wouldn’t it? And the end is as good as it is necessary. Strong stuff.
Graham Dilley Saves the World — Iain McLaughlin & Claire Bartlett — As I don’t know anything about cricket, I agreed wholeheartedly with Peri.. not sure if cricket fans find the other side as funny, though. Of course the regulars are their wonderful BF selves, though the ending is painfully overdone as silly drunk people annoy the hell out of me. Worth reading, though insignificant as with a lot of the material in this volume.
Bide-a-Wee — Anthony Keetch — A great followup to Keetch’s hilarious “Twin Piques” in the Zodiac anthology. This is a great discussion on the difficulties found when one (literally) lives in the past, and Keetch’s Hartnell is absolutely perfect. Perfect leisurely reading material and so much fun to read. Great work.
Mortlake — Mark Wright — A nice little piece about the forgotten figures of history, and the unique position the Doctor and his companions are in to do something about the situation. Padiel is hilarious, too. Wright clearly knows and loves these BF regulars.
White Man’s Burden — John Binns — Binns takes a step back from the esoteric style he’d adopted in previous anthologies and scores a hit. The fifth Doctor and Turlough section is effective enough on its own, but counterpointing that philosophy against that of the Hartnell historicals with a beautifully-portrayed Ian and Barbara makes the story something better.
Of the Mermaid and Jupiter — Ian Mond & Danny Heap — For once two authors take a stab at the NA characters and atmosphere and actually get it right, but unfortunately the plot is unreasonably silly. True events these may have been, but just because you’re aware of the giant logical flaw in your story doesn’t make it acceptable. Still, this is a great Benny/Doctor pairing.
The Man Who Wouldn’t Give Up — Nev Fountain — Ha! The sixth Doctor travels through time pretending to right wrongs just so he can get away from Mel’s diet plan! Honestly, I must be the only person that doesn’t think Colin Baker looked that fat on television, but this is hilarious.
One Small Step… — Nicholas Briggs — Briggs expertly captures the Troughton regulars here, but as with Mond & Heap’s story mentioned before, the plot doesn’t hold up. For some reason the Doctor is allowed to change history here without any consequences and without explanation. Speaking mysteriously of great lengths and broken rules doesn’t justify a gigantic plot hole, especially not when the entire story revolves around it.
To Kill a Nandi Bear — Paul Williams — Inappropriate for a short story, as Williams attempts to portray the first-ever TARDIS trip (that we’ve seen) to sub-Saharan native Africa and cram character and setting into nine pages. Fleshed out, and with a decent ending, this would make a good novella, but as a short story it’s just rushed and sloppy.
Fixing a Hole — Samantha Baker — Why? The title points the way to a needless character piece that attempts to explain “A Fix with Sontarans,” as though it needed doing. Reconciling Tegan and the Doctor is a terrible idea, no matter how good the writing (and this is average) — someone should explain to Baker that her departure on a down note was actually a good idea. This also has nothing whatsoever to do with the theme of the collection.
That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress — Joseph Lidster — After the pointless hole-fixing that went on in the previous story, here Lidster goes over the top and explains a continuity hole in Jonathan Morris’s fictional Thief of Sherwood story! Lidster is clearly sending up the whole threats-to-the-web-of-time concept by interfering in the stories of his fellow authors, and the results are hilarious — though unfortunately the first-person narrative starts to grate after a while. Please tell me editor Ian Farrington knew what he was doing when he put this story immediately after Fixing a Hole…
For all of this anthology’s claims to depict the Doctor’s “enjoyment of seeing history happen,” this rarely happens in Short Trips: Past Tense. It’s mostly a grouping of prevent-history-from-being-changed stories or stories which have nothing whatsoever to do with Doctor Who’s historical concepts. This is not to say there isn’t any strong material on display here, but on the whole this collection is little better than average and it definitely wastes the potential of its framing device. Again, I’m not sure if it’s worth the price, but if you can get it cheaper it’s worth checking out.
SHORT TRIPS: PAST TENSE
Considering the generally high caliber of Doctor Who historicals, the concept of this Short Trips anthology laid the paving for what could have been a brilliant collection: nothing but historicals, written by some celebrated Who authors and some relative newcomers. Unfortunately, the collection dwelled upon different things entirely…
The Immortals — Simon Guerrier — Nothing particularly interesting on display here, save the opportunity to see the Davison crew in a Hartnell-style historical. There’s the expected amount of bickering and an odd ending, but really this is unmemorable. Somewhat disappointing coming from Guerrier.
Far from Home — Alison Lawson — Doesn’t have a thing to do with history, but Lawson writes very well and this is her third strong effort for Big Finish. It reads like a children’s story, but a good one, much like Louise Cooper’s Rip Tide novella. The Doctor’s fun here too. Solid, enjoyable reading.
All Done with Mirrors — Christopher Bav — The historical material is interesting and provides a unique twist on the common Marlowe-as-Shakespeare theory, but unfortunately Bav fails miserably when it comes to the regulars. The fourth Doctor is almost unrecognizable and Sarah might as well be a new companion. One of those stories that’d work better if you’d never seen Doctor Who.
CHAOS — Eric Saward — Bizarre. Saward appears to be trying his hand at a mood piece, showing the Doctor subjected to various dream sequences and tortures. Unfortunately his prose is Targetesque and doesn’t support what he’s trying. Still, he clearly knows the regulars and writes some solid dialogue. Not sure what this has to do with the theme, though…
Ante Bellum — Stephen Hatcher — Cliched WWI spy thriller with an obvious inversion. The regulars are incredibly generic — the only reason this appears to be Ace is her hatred of Germans, and the seventh Doctor could be any of his fellows. The plot is unimpressive as well; thus far the collection has been decidedly average.
The Thief of Sherwood — Jonathan Morris — Excellent stuff, dealing with both Doctor Who historicals and Doctor Who’s own history. Not only does Morris outline a believable Hartnell historical involving Robin Hood, he perfectly captures the tone of each of the various types of review article that would follow. The Television Companion analysis referencing a fake Gary Russell Shada article from 1981 had me laughing out loud. Brilliant, though it’s really little more than a fan gratification piece.
Come Friendly Bombs… — Dave Owen — It’s really little more than a lecture on the firearms debate, but Owen introduces a sufficient degree of moral ambiguity to make it work. It’d have to be Pertwee telling this to Jo, wouldn’t it? And the end is as good as it is necessary. Strong stuff.
Graham Dilley Saves the World — Iain McLaughlin & Claire Bartlett — As I don’t know anything about cricket, I agreed wholeheartedly with Peri.. not sure if cricket fans find the other side as funny, though. Of course the regulars are their wonderful BF selves, though the ending is painfully overdone as silly drunk people annoy the hell out of me. Worth reading, though insignificant as with a lot of the material in this volume.
Bide-a-Wee — Anthony Keetch — A great followup to Keetch’s hilarious “Twin Piques” in the Zodiac anthology. This is a great discussion on the difficulties found when one (literally) lives in the past, and Keetch’s Hartnell is absolutely perfect. Perfect leisurely reading material and so much fun to read. Great work.
Mortlake — Mark Wright — A nice little piece about the forgotten figures of history, and the unique position the Doctor and his companions are in to do something about the situation. Padiel is hilarious, too. Wright clearly knows and loves these BF regulars.
White Man’s Burden — John Binns — Binns takes a step back from the esoteric style he’d adopted in previous anthologies and scores a hit. The fifth Doctor and Turlough section is effective enough on its own, but counterpointing that philosophy against that of the Hartnell historicals with a beautifully-portrayed Ian and Barbara makes the story something better.
Of the Mermaid and Jupiter — Ian Mond & Danny Heap — For once two authors take a stab at the NA characters and atmosphere and actually get it right, but unfortunately the plot is unreasonably silly. True events these may have been, but just because you’re aware of the giant logical flaw in your story doesn’t make it acceptable. Still, this is a great Benny/Doctor pairing.
The Man Who Wouldn’t Give Up — Nev Fountain — Ha! The sixth Doctor travels through time pretending to right wrongs just so he can get away from Mel’s diet plan! Honestly, I must be the only person that doesn’t think Colin Baker looked that fat on television, but this is hilarious.
One Small Step… — Nicholas Briggs — Briggs expertly captures the Troughton regulars here, but as with Mond & Heap’s story mentioned before, the plot doesn’t hold up. For some reason the Doctor is allowed to change history here without any consequences and without explanation. Speaking mysteriously of great lengths and broken rules doesn’t justify a gigantic plot hole, especially not when the entire story revolves around it.
To Kill a Nandi Bear — Paul Williams — Inappropriate for a short story, as Williams attempts to portray the first-ever TARDIS trip (that we’ve seen) to sub-Saharan native Africa and cram character and setting into nine pages. Fleshed out, and with a decent ending, this would make a good novella, but as a short story it’s just rushed and sloppy.
Fixing a Hole — Samantha Baker — Why? The title points the way to a needless character piece that attempts to explain “A Fix with Sontarans,” as though it needed doing. Reconciling Tegan and the Doctor is a terrible idea, no matter how good the writing (and this is average) — someone should explain to Baker that her departure on a down note was actually a good idea. This also has nothing whatsoever to do with the theme of the collection.
That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress — Joseph Lidster — After the pointless hole-fixing that went on in the previous story, here Lidster goes over the top and explains a continuity hole in Jonathan Morris’s fictional Thief of Sherwood story! Lidster is clearly sending up the whole threats-to-the-web-of-time concept by interfering in the stories of his fellow authors, and the results are hilarious — though unfortunately the first-person narrative starts to grate after a while. Please tell me editor Ian Farrington knew what he was doing when he put this story immediately after Fixing a Hole…
For all of this anthology’s claims to depict the Doctor’s “enjoyment of seeing history happen,” this rarely happens in Short Trips: Past Tense. It’s mostly a grouping of prevent-history-from-being-changed stories or stories which have nothing whatsoever to do with Doctor Who’s historical concepts. This is not to say there isn’t any strong material on display here, but on the whole this collection is little better than average and it definitely wastes the potential of its framing device. Again, I’m not sure if it’s worth the price, but if you can get it cheaper it’s worth checking out.