Customer Reviews

More Short Trips: A Collection of Short Stories (Doctor Who Series)

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There have been several short-fiction "Doctor Who" anthologies over the years. This certainly is one of them! The stories found here suffer from sameness... most are about 25 pages in length and lack the punchy, final impact that would highlight a superior short story collection. Most Doctors get featured twice; many of the writers have never been heard from, before or since this collection came out. While original concepts are to be treasured in full-length DW novels, ironically More Short Trips work best when gazing inward, at past DW adventures: "Return of the Spiders" is best in the collection, followed by "Romans Cutaway". The Doctor-less stories, which could have been special, are alas of dubious note: "The Sow in Rut" is a K-9 & Company adventure, bizarrely played for laughs. Two short-shorts ("Missing") examine Mel's departure. The Nth Doctor story, "Good Companions", is striking for its portrayal of an older Tegan, while the funny "uPVC" manages to nail both the 2nd and 7th Doctors, each in full caricature. Maybe that's when Short Trips work best -- light, funny, and continuity-heavy. Special mention to "64 Carlysle Street", the beleaguered Gary Russell's best-ever DW work, hilarious and lightning-sharp. There's not a whole lot here to carry with you into everyday life, but the stories are mildly diverting, and perhaps best read one at a time, in between other BBC novels featuring particular Doctor/companions pairings.

The Short Trips series of Dr Who stories is perfect for people just starting an interest in Dr Who. A reader can find out about all the different doctors at once. But the stories are enjoyable for the long-time Dr Who fans as well.

You places your bets, you takes your chances. No one can get it right every time, and not everyone can get it right just one time. The stories in this book are of mixed nature and quality, throwing together every incarnation of the Doctor to date with most of his companions -- and, in the case of one story in particular, a version of the Doctor I don't think we've encountered yet (did any TV Doctor have a companion named Anna, or did I just miss that one?). It's a grab bag of authors and stories, worth reading in most cases (the two stories titled "Missing" are to be missed, though). Not every story is for everyone but then, not everyone is for every story.

Mostly great stories and writing styles, the Doctors and his companions captured true to their on screen characters and in some cases developed even further - most notably the relationship between Ian and Barbara in "Romans Cutaway." "uPVC" is a wonderful mix of comic Troughton and soulful McCoy. "Good Companions" meets up with an old friend, whos previous strong character seems to have finally broken, and a new one who I suspect we may be reading more of some time. Lots of temporal paradoxes exist throughout this book and seem an easy excuse to get away with stories that otherwise you'd think were a little untrue to the series. It would be good to know exactly where each story fits in with each Doctor's time stream and I still don't know how the 2nd Doctor manages to be travelling alone in "Scientific Adviser." If you can follow what is happening in "Femme Fatale" the first time round you must be a Time Lord - still it is good to have some stories to think about unlike the dire drivel that is the only real poor piece in the entire book - "The Sow in Rut," a ghost story akin to K9 & Co and totally unscientific in a way the Doctor would not approve of at all. Overall the book is an entertaining read with varied styles and a good few surprises. I just wish there was some kind of continuity between stories as with the Decalog series.

With most short story anthologies with Doctor Who you tend to get a book full of par-average stories with 1 or 2 stories that really shine. With this second short story outing from BBC books you'll find that the majority of the 18 stories are actually quite well done. But there are still those that leave you thinking "What the hell was that about?". All 8 Doctors are included plus one more we've yet to meet plus a Sarah-Jane/K-9 adventure. You'll find the return of the Metebelis Spiders, return of an older Tegan, what happened to Mel, adventures in Rome that take place before the tv serial 'The Romans' and lots more. Finally a short story book that can be RECOMMENDED to all.