Review: Short Trips #2--Companions (Public)
This is actually from the summer (most of these are), and as such rather outdated, but I'm very behind on posts here.
Doctor Who Short Trips #2: Companions, edited by Jacqueline Rayner. HC, 213 pages, Big Finish Productions Ltd., 2003.
To leave a short story short, a while ago I did a small favor for someone. Usually karmic justice does not prevail in my favor (or if it does, it’s taking a jolly long time about it), but in this case it was swift, or as swift as mail delivery from Britain can be. The other day a big lovely box of books finally came in the mail. Well, six books to be exact, and I did pay for one myself, but the other five were a gift, and I couldn’t be happier with them.
This was my first experience with the Big Finish Short Trips line of anthologies, and one of my favorite Doctor Who books. I liked most of the seventeen stories in this book, and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to start reading the Short Trips series. Just remember that these only cover Doctors One through Eight, and also cover the Big Finish audios, which can get confusing for those of us who unfamiliar with the post-1989 storylines and companions. Wikipedia has been my friend lately.
Each of the Short Trips anthologies is based around a different idea, some good, others apparently not-so-great. This book is about the Doctor’s companions, in some cases before, others during, and many after their travels with him. The word for the book is, unsurprisingly, ‘companions.’
POTENTIAL SPOILERS FROM HERE ON
The book begins with “Tip of the Mind” by Peter Anghelides, featuring the Third Doctor and Zoe. The Doctor’s been allowed out of his exile on Earth to attempt to extract some information from Zoe’s subconscious, but Dr. Sandra Urtiman isn’t having any of it. This story ends on a very sad note, but is unfortunately utterly believable. The characterization is good, drawing on basic patterns in the corporate and academic world to project a future enclave that’s realistic. I especially liked the bit with Urtiman’s assistant at the end.
Justin Richards follows with “The Splintered Gate,” featuring Barbara and Ian before they go on their adventures with the Doctor. I’ll admit that this story confused me on my first read-through. I’d missed the bits about Ian being the narrator, and thought that Barbara was narrating, creating a time paradox when she sees herself laughing through the window with the fortuneteller. Even when I wasn’t sure if it made sense though, I still enjoyed this story. A clever idea well executed.
After Ian, Harry takes the stage in “The Man from DOCTO(R)” by Andrew Collins. He proves to be a much less reliable narrator in his yarn about Lettice Butts. Just like he does when retelling his adventures with the Doctor, Harry makes himself out to be a James Bond hero (saving the world with only a chicken egg) in this alien spy adventure. I’m not as familiar with Harry, but I’d believe that he’d sit around in a bar talking like this.
In “Apocrypha Bipedium,” Ian Potter brings together new companions and old, when Charlie, the Seventh Doctor, and William Shakespeare pop in for an unexpected visit with Vicki and her husband. Everyone gets drunk, and paradoxes are narrowly avoided. The lovely bit about this story is not so much the actual story as the way it is told, through diary entries by Vicki and Charley, an early Shakespeare play written on lined notebook paper, something that is apparently the Doctor’s future memoir (this one isn’t as successful), and a cautionary children’s book by Counselor Flavia. Yes, you read that last bit correctly. It’s framed as a future academic proposing a new theory for explaining some questionable artifacts, and worth reading if only for Flavia’s asides on questionable Earth customs and beliefs.
The next two stories involve K-9. Gary Russell’s “A Boy’s Tale” is written as a letter to K-9 and a number of flashbacks where Adric discovers the shocking and sad history of pets in his culture, and then is contacted by a secret group who smuggled pets to that world. I haven’t seen or read Adric’s original story, but I can say that I rather sympathized with him in this story, which is an accomplishment for Russell since Adric is one of the few companions I really dislike (I’m a Turlough fan and don’t mind Tegan. ‘Nuff said.)
[Comment from the future: actually after watching the Warrior's Gate Trilogy, I can say that I don't so much dislike Adric as just have no interest in him at all. At least Tegan can provoke me to annoyance at times. And I persist in liking Turlough!]
The focus is solely on K-9 in “Kept Safe and Sound” by Paul Magrs, in which young Jack (no, not that Jack) finds the robot dog in a vendor stall, where K-9 is being stripped down for parts and sold, little by little. At first I wondered which version of K-9 this was. Then I realized that it doesn’t matter, as I can’t accept this story as part of my personal Doctor Who cannon. Nonetheless, it was still a good story and well written.
Mark Michalowski’s “The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe” takes place during an actual episode. This is a story for TARDIS shippers to read, as well as Romana I fans. It covers Romana’s regeneration, attempting to explain why it occurred as it did. Once again I don’t really have the necessary episode background, but at least this entertained.
“Hearts of Stone” by Steve Lyons is one of the few short stories to use three companions and the Doctor. Generally there isn’t enough room for that many, so somebody gets captured or is just inexplicably absent. Lyons gets around this by having Tegan present but mostly leaving her out of the action, and by keeping major scenes one-on-one between Adric and Nyssa, the Doctor, or the stones. Adric has to make a big choice, but gets treated like a kid once again. Tegan makes things worse, Nyssa smoothes them over, and the Doctor mounts an inopportune rescue. Whether or not you enjoy this story, it’d be hard not to admire Lyons’s smooth work in putting it together.
Probably my favorite in this entire collection (although that’s a tough choice to make) is “Distance” by Tara Samms. This story deals with the Chestertons in their old age, and mixes a bit of typical fantasy (unicorns) with some typical sci-fi (Ian’s work) and horror (possession). It’s masterfully done and feels completely real within the Doctor Who universe. I’m willing to accept that this is Barbara and Ian’s future despite the sadness in part of it.
Stephen Fewell’s “Qualia” is not the strongest follow-up to “Distance,” although that is a difficult story to follow. “Qualia” has a little bit of every Doctor up to Five, and includes Tegan and Turlough. This story tells us a little bit more about Karmelion, but it is a bit distracted and hard to follow, making it one of the weaker stories in this collection.
The next story gets us back on track, with Polly Wright going in for a job interview in “Curriculum Vitae” by Simon Guerrier (who later went on to edit some of the Short Trips books). She’s not even a serious candidate because of her age, until she tells the interviewer a few things about herself. Turns out he’s met a different version of the Doctor, and there’s someone suspiciously like Tegan waiting to interview for the same job. A nice positive story compared to many of the others, since traveling with the Doctor obviously made Polly a stronger person.
“Notre Dame Du Temps” by Nick Clark. This was another confusing one for me personally, since I’ve never seen the Fourth Doctor episode referred to, since for a portion of it I thought it was about something else entirely and since I’d never heard of Anji, the featured companion. As such, I really can’t review it either way.
Eddie Robson gives us “The Little Drummer Boy,” featuring Steven, Sara Kingdom, and the First Doctor following the randomizer from Christmas to Christmas until they realize something’s not very random and track down a distress call. I enjoyed this story, and I was happy to see Sara Kingdom featured, but in the end this would probably have fit better in one of the Christmas anthologies.
Jo gets into a talent contest at the urging of the Third Doctor in “Hidden Talent” by Andrew Spokes, and they both find themselves needing to use their all their talents to defeat their hidden enemy’s not-so sinister plan. All the Third Doctor and Jo stories I’ve been reading turn out rather silly. Are their episodes generally like that, or is this just a fluke? At one point Jo is tied to a chair, unable to free herself, but can apparently rub her eyes, which bothered my inner editor. The bits poking fun at reality television and crazy fangirls were funny, but within this particular anthology this is one of the weaker pieces.
I was again uncertain about “The Canvey Angels” by David Bailey. It starts with a first-person narrative by Hemmings, the priest of Canvey Island, who after a personal tragedy has felt the need to perform the rites of absolution on the bodies of aliens he finds on the beach following a flood. Unfortunately those aliens needed the salt water to prevent them from releasing radiation onto the island. Most of this story is about the Doctor and Peri separately trying to solve the mysteries of this particular small community, but it has a good ending.
Every companion gets his or her say in Simon A. Forward’s “Balloon Debate,” but Sarah Jane Smith gets the last laugh, as it turns out this is a story she’s written. I rather suspect this was included as a way of having every companion (with the exception of Katrina and Sara Kingdom, but including the oft-overlooked Karmelion in the twist ending), but it read rather like the fanfiction it was revealed to be. There’s also the issue of how Sarah Jane knows so much about the other companions. K-9 certainly couldn’t have told her about Ace or Mel. Taken merely in the spirit of fun, however, this is a nice entertainment, and all the companions are appropriately and recognizably represented with the alliances and enmity one might expect. Read it just for the laughs when Leela calls Harry “the feeble one” and Mel is unanimously stuffed in a closet.
The anthology closes with another Barbara piece, this one focusing on her mother, who’s been left behind not knowing if her daughter’s even alive. Everyone believes Barbara’s run off with Ian, and most get bored of the mystery after a time, but Joan can’t until the TARDIS gives her and Barbara a telepathic dream, ending things on an upbeat note. “A Long Night” by Alison Lawson gives us the same satisfying conclusion to this anthology that we as fans expect (but don’t always get) when a companion departs from the TARDIS.
Since I loved most of this anthology, it’s probably easier to point out the few areas where there were problems than to go on about the many aspects I enjoyed. “Qualia” tacked a difficult companion in an admirable attempt, but didn’t quite pull it off. Understanding “Notre Dame Du Temps” required background knowledge that I didn’t have, so while it was well written, it didn’t make sense to me. “Hidden Talent” had some good moments and an interesting enough premise but the action and resolution weren’t thought out enough, and “The Canvey Angels” was a darker and more serious story placed between two lighthearted ones, which probably hurt my reading of the story.
The only other noticeable flaw was the typesetting, as in many cases there were no spaces after a comma,or a period. This was annoying at first, but it seems to have been fixed in the later books. I would still highly recommend this book for Doctor Who fans, particularly any fans of Barbara Wright as there are three strong pieces referring to her in it. As for myself, this is one I know I’ll be reading again.
Doctor Who Short Trips #2: Companions, edited by Jacqueline Rayner. HC, 213 pages, Big Finish Productions Ltd., 2003.
To leave a short story short, a while ago I did a small favor for someone. Usually karmic justice does not prevail in my favor (or if it does, it’s taking a jolly long time about it), but in this case it was swift, or as swift as mail delivery from Britain can be. The other day a big lovely box of books finally came in the mail. Well, six books to be exact, and I did pay for one myself, but the other five were a gift, and I couldn’t be happier with them.
This was my first experience with the Big Finish Short Trips line of anthologies, and one of my favorite Doctor Who books. I liked most of the seventeen stories in this book, and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to start reading the Short Trips series. Just remember that these only cover Doctors One through Eight, and also cover the Big Finish audios, which can get confusing for those of us who unfamiliar with the post-1989 storylines and companions. Wikipedia has been my friend lately.
Each of the Short Trips anthologies is based around a different idea, some good, others apparently not-so-great. This book is about the Doctor’s companions, in some cases before, others during, and many after their travels with him. The word for the book is, unsurprisingly, ‘companions.’
POTENTIAL SPOILERS FROM HERE ON
The book begins with “Tip of the Mind” by Peter Anghelides, featuring the Third Doctor and Zoe. The Doctor’s been allowed out of his exile on Earth to attempt to extract some information from Zoe’s subconscious, but Dr. Sandra Urtiman isn’t having any of it. This story ends on a very sad note, but is unfortunately utterly believable. The characterization is good, drawing on basic patterns in the corporate and academic world to project a future enclave that’s realistic. I especially liked the bit with Urtiman’s assistant at the end.
Justin Richards follows with “The Splintered Gate,” featuring Barbara and Ian before they go on their adventures with the Doctor. I’ll admit that this story confused me on my first read-through. I’d missed the bits about Ian being the narrator, and thought that Barbara was narrating, creating a time paradox when she sees herself laughing through the window with the fortuneteller. Even when I wasn’t sure if it made sense though, I still enjoyed this story. A clever idea well executed.
After Ian, Harry takes the stage in “The Man from DOCTO(R)” by Andrew Collins. He proves to be a much less reliable narrator in his yarn about Lettice Butts. Just like he does when retelling his adventures with the Doctor, Harry makes himself out to be a James Bond hero (saving the world with only a chicken egg) in this alien spy adventure. I’m not as familiar with Harry, but I’d believe that he’d sit around in a bar talking like this.
In “Apocrypha Bipedium,” Ian Potter brings together new companions and old, when Charlie, the Seventh Doctor, and William Shakespeare pop in for an unexpected visit with Vicki and her husband. Everyone gets drunk, and paradoxes are narrowly avoided. The lovely bit about this story is not so much the actual story as the way it is told, through diary entries by Vicki and Charley, an early Shakespeare play written on lined notebook paper, something that is apparently the Doctor’s future memoir (this one isn’t as successful), and a cautionary children’s book by Counselor Flavia. Yes, you read that last bit correctly. It’s framed as a future academic proposing a new theory for explaining some questionable artifacts, and worth reading if only for Flavia’s asides on questionable Earth customs and beliefs.
The next two stories involve K-9. Gary Russell’s “A Boy’s Tale” is written as a letter to K-9 and a number of flashbacks where Adric discovers the shocking and sad history of pets in his culture, and then is contacted by a secret group who smuggled pets to that world. I haven’t seen or read Adric’s original story, but I can say that I rather sympathized with him in this story, which is an accomplishment for Russell since Adric is one of the few companions I really dislike (I’m a Turlough fan and don’t mind Tegan. ‘Nuff said.)
[Comment from the future: actually after watching the Warrior's Gate Trilogy, I can say that I don't so much dislike Adric as just have no interest in him at all. At least Tegan can provoke me to annoyance at times. And I persist in liking Turlough!]
The focus is solely on K-9 in “Kept Safe and Sound” by Paul Magrs, in which young Jack (no, not that Jack) finds the robot dog in a vendor stall, where K-9 is being stripped down for parts and sold, little by little. At first I wondered which version of K-9 this was. Then I realized that it doesn’t matter, as I can’t accept this story as part of my personal Doctor Who cannon. Nonetheless, it was still a good story and well written.
Mark Michalowski’s “The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe” takes place during an actual episode. This is a story for TARDIS shippers to read, as well as Romana I fans. It covers Romana’s regeneration, attempting to explain why it occurred as it did. Once again I don’t really have the necessary episode background, but at least this entertained.
“Hearts of Stone” by Steve Lyons is one of the few short stories to use three companions and the Doctor. Generally there isn’t enough room for that many, so somebody gets captured or is just inexplicably absent. Lyons gets around this by having Tegan present but mostly leaving her out of the action, and by keeping major scenes one-on-one between Adric and Nyssa, the Doctor, or the stones. Adric has to make a big choice, but gets treated like a kid once again. Tegan makes things worse, Nyssa smoothes them over, and the Doctor mounts an inopportune rescue. Whether or not you enjoy this story, it’d be hard not to admire Lyons’s smooth work in putting it together.
Probably my favorite in this entire collection (although that’s a tough choice to make) is “Distance” by Tara Samms. This story deals with the Chestertons in their old age, and mixes a bit of typical fantasy (unicorns) with some typical sci-fi (Ian’s work) and horror (possession). It’s masterfully done and feels completely real within the Doctor Who universe. I’m willing to accept that this is Barbara and Ian’s future despite the sadness in part of it.
Stephen Fewell’s “Qualia” is not the strongest follow-up to “Distance,” although that is a difficult story to follow. “Qualia” has a little bit of every Doctor up to Five, and includes Tegan and Turlough. This story tells us a little bit more about Karmelion, but it is a bit distracted and hard to follow, making it one of the weaker stories in this collection.
The next story gets us back on track, with Polly Wright going in for a job interview in “Curriculum Vitae” by Simon Guerrier (who later went on to edit some of the Short Trips books). She’s not even a serious candidate because of her age, until she tells the interviewer a few things about herself. Turns out he’s met a different version of the Doctor, and there’s someone suspiciously like Tegan waiting to interview for the same job. A nice positive story compared to many of the others, since traveling with the Doctor obviously made Polly a stronger person.
“Notre Dame Du Temps” by Nick Clark. This was another confusing one for me personally, since I’ve never seen the Fourth Doctor episode referred to, since for a portion of it I thought it was about something else entirely and since I’d never heard of Anji, the featured companion. As such, I really can’t review it either way.
Eddie Robson gives us “The Little Drummer Boy,” featuring Steven, Sara Kingdom, and the First Doctor following the randomizer from Christmas to Christmas until they realize something’s not very random and track down a distress call. I enjoyed this story, and I was happy to see Sara Kingdom featured, but in the end this would probably have fit better in one of the Christmas anthologies.
Jo gets into a talent contest at the urging of the Third Doctor in “Hidden Talent” by Andrew Spokes, and they both find themselves needing to use their all their talents to defeat their hidden enemy’s not-so sinister plan. All the Third Doctor and Jo stories I’ve been reading turn out rather silly. Are their episodes generally like that, or is this just a fluke? At one point Jo is tied to a chair, unable to free herself, but can apparently rub her eyes, which bothered my inner editor. The bits poking fun at reality television and crazy fangirls were funny, but within this particular anthology this is one of the weaker pieces.
I was again uncertain about “The Canvey Angels” by David Bailey. It starts with a first-person narrative by Hemmings, the priest of Canvey Island, who after a personal tragedy has felt the need to perform the rites of absolution on the bodies of aliens he finds on the beach following a flood. Unfortunately those aliens needed the salt water to prevent them from releasing radiation onto the island. Most of this story is about the Doctor and Peri separately trying to solve the mysteries of this particular small community, but it has a good ending.
Every companion gets his or her say in Simon A. Forward’s “Balloon Debate,” but Sarah Jane Smith gets the last laugh, as it turns out this is a story she’s written. I rather suspect this was included as a way of having every companion (with the exception of Katrina and Sara Kingdom, but including the oft-overlooked Karmelion in the twist ending), but it read rather like the fanfiction it was revealed to be. There’s also the issue of how Sarah Jane knows so much about the other companions. K-9 certainly couldn’t have told her about Ace or Mel. Taken merely in the spirit of fun, however, this is a nice entertainment, and all the companions are appropriately and recognizably represented with the alliances and enmity one might expect. Read it just for the laughs when Leela calls Harry “the feeble one” and Mel is unanimously stuffed in a closet.
The anthology closes with another Barbara piece, this one focusing on her mother, who’s been left behind not knowing if her daughter’s even alive. Everyone believes Barbara’s run off with Ian, and most get bored of the mystery after a time, but Joan can’t until the TARDIS gives her and Barbara a telepathic dream, ending things on an upbeat note. “A Long Night” by Alison Lawson gives us the same satisfying conclusion to this anthology that we as fans expect (but don’t always get) when a companion departs from the TARDIS.
Since I loved most of this anthology, it’s probably easier to point out the few areas where there were problems than to go on about the many aspects I enjoyed. “Qualia” tacked a difficult companion in an admirable attempt, but didn’t quite pull it off. Understanding “Notre Dame Du Temps” required background knowledge that I didn’t have, so while it was well written, it didn’t make sense to me. “Hidden Talent” had some good moments and an interesting enough premise but the action and resolution weren’t thought out enough, and “The Canvey Angels” was a darker and more serious story placed between two lighthearted ones, which probably hurt my reading of the story.
The only other noticeable flaw was the typesetting, as in many cases there were no spaces after a comma,or a period. This was annoying at first, but it seems to have been fixed in the later books. I would still highly recommend this book for Doctor Who fans, particularly any fans of Barbara Wright as there are three strong pieces referring to her in it. As for myself, this is one I know I’ll be reading again.