Short Trips (audio) Earth and Beyond Out of Darkness

BBC Books Short Trips A Collection of Short Stories

Editor	Steve Cole
ISBN	0 563 40560 0
Published	1998

Synopsis: A collection of stories from the BBC books range featuring the Doctor in all eight of his incarnations....

• A Review by Robert Smith?
• A Review by Sean Gaffney
• A Review by Alan Thomas
• A Review by Richard Radcliffe

A Review by Robert Smith? 30/1/99

The Doctor Who short story has never had a particularly successful career. Every single Decalog has contained some of the worst fiction ever published under the Doctor Who name. This had usually been tempered only slightly by having one or two utterly brilliant or standout stories in each collection. With the BBC's first short story collection, there are the inevitable comparisons to Virgin's output. So just how did the BBC do when compared to Virgin's failures?

Sadly, the answer is that the BBC can't master the art of the short story any more than Virgin could.

Short Trips starts off unintentionally amusing. The BBC Books' typos have now made their way to the back cover, which perhaps should have been some hint as to the volume's (lack of) quality. Steven Cole's introduction seems quite earnest and agreeable, until you realise that his aim of making the reader unaware of the lengths of each of the stories is rather undercut by the fact that he included a table of contents, complete with page numbers, only one page previously. Once again, this should have been a hint that the collection might appeal to people who haven't yet mastered the art of subtraction, but would be somewhat lacking for the rest of us.

"Model Train Set" - A good choice to begin the collection (fooling the reader into thinking the rest of the stories will be this good). It's very clever and very interesting... right up until the point where the story decides to point out to the reader just how clever it's being (probably for those readers having problems with their subtraction again). In the best Tegan tradition, the story feels the need to point out that the metaphor is actually a metaphor. I wouldn't mind having my intelligence insulted -- if this were a story by Terrance Dicks. But it isn't. What had the potential to be a truly great story is let down by a lack of subtlety and reduced to merely being good. I actually came away with a bad taste after reading it, but this was only alleviated by reading the other stories and realising that at least this one had the potential to be great.

"Old Flames " - It's passable (barely) but one is left with the feeling of "What's the point?" This story seems all over the place, trying to be many things and succeeding at none of them. I'm left with the feeling of not looking forward to Magrs forthcoming novel at all if it's anything like this.

"War Crimes" - The pain. The sheer, unbridled pain of it all. It's been pointed out that the only good thing about this story is that it's short, but as I had whole years of my life taken off from this travesty, I can only shudder in fear to think what would happen if it were longer. When I finally finished this story, I never wanted to read anything ever again. The only possible explanation for this story I can think of is that Bucher-Jones has some sort of death-wish and is perversely hoping to be tried for the war crimes of writing this story. If so, I'll happily serve on the jury. My friends sometimes laugh at me for enjoying Doctor Who and I can go to great lengths to point out that it's not what they think at all, that's it's clever and well done and far better than anyone thinks. After this story, I think I'm going to keep very, very quiet in the future...

"The Last Days" - An intriguing idea, let down by the fact that we've seen it all before, only better. This felt like a cross between Jim Mortimore's mini-epic, "The Book of Shadows", in the first Decalog and Matthew Jones' "The Nine-Day Queen" in the second, yet lacked the sparkle of either. Having Barbara been unconscious for the last few weeks seems an awfully contrived way to cut the story down to the required length. Still, I'm not complaining: if this were written by Paul Leonard, we'd have had it all in excruciating detail.

"Stop the Pigeon" - A story that is neither as clever nor as amusing as it wants (and needs) to be. I read this story before I read Illegal Alien, "Pigeon" just ended up pushing that novel further down on my reading schedule. There's also lots and lots of continuity thrown in for no real reason. The back cover blurb also gives away the identity of the villain in the next story once you've read this one. Oh, and there was absolutely no point to the epilogue.

"Freedom" - This really should be a lot better than it is. When the main comment that comes to mind about a story is that it's sub-Falls the Shadow, you know you're in trouble. On the plus side, Lyons gets the third Doctor and Jo down very well, but the Master is more Ainley than Delgado.

"Glass" - At last! This was a great story, I really enjoyed this one. Written very well, it had a flow to it that, unlike every other story in this collection, made the reader actually want to keep turning the pages. It also knows just how long to be (ie not very) and stops at a natural point. Not quite brilliant, but easily the best story in the collection (and it's actually good, as well!).

"Mondas Passing" - Like so many stories in this collection, this had a good idea let down by the lack of talent of the author. Ben's characterisation is quite good, although Polly's feels a little off to me. However, there's a pivotal moment towards the end of the story that is written with such a lack of emphasis that I literally blinked and missed it. This really need to be emphasised, not played down, making it look like the author didn't really understand his own story.

"There are Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden" - and that's where this story should be, not being published. I shudder to think of the quality of the rejected stories if things like this and "War Crimes" make it through. At least this one's short. Come back Decalogs, all is forgiven!

"Mother's Little Helper" - I quite liked this one. Matthew Jones has far too much talent to be writing for this collection. His description of the second Doctor is original and utterly brilliant. This is the first time I've actually seen the second Doctor I adored on TV captured even slightly well in print and Matt even makes it seem effortless.

"The Parliament of Rats" - Ho hum. Something is seriously wrong with the universe when a Daniel O'Mahoney story inspires not gasps of awe or great controversy, but merely boredom. Plus, it never seems to end, even though it's not as long as some of the other stories.

"Rights" - In my review of Dogleg 5, I pointed out that there should be absolutely no way anyone (I'll make an exception if it's Steve Moffatt) should be allowed to write more than one short story in the same collection. It's never truer than it is here. I can only suppose that there were some last minute cancellations and this was written in a hurry. It looks as though somebody made a bet with Paul Grice to see if he could write a short story where the Doctor utters the words "sperm count" and "aborting the foetus and snaffling it up for later use". It's a pity no one tried to make a bet with him to see if he could actually write a decent short story (and no, I wouldn't make that bet either).

"Wish You Were Here" - It's not offensively bad, so that automatically makes this one of the better stories in Short Trips . Colin's Doctor is captured very well and the idea is reasonable, but it never really shines. The ending is also rather distasteful and for no real reason.

"Ace of Hearts" - It's less than five pages long, but I'm still going to invoke my rule about multiple stories from the same people. There's no point to this story that hasn't been made a thousand times in the NAs and it looks as though the story was actually written around the desire to give Audrey a surname that makes this the most downright offensive in-joke since David McIntee's "Housewarming".

"The People's Temple" - Somebody should really explain to Paul Leonard that there's a actually difference between a short story and a novel. The story itself isn't actually awful (although the prologue - at no less than four pages - is), but it just goes on and on and on and on and on... There's nothing said here that couldn't be said in half the space. On the bright side, I didn't actually mind Sam so much (despite acts of gross stupidity throughout that never seem to bother the Doctor). But for crying out loud, this thing has a four page prologue, no less than eight chapters and an epilogue! Give it a rest, already...

So there you have it. Another dismal failure in the Doctor Who short story collections series. Collect the whole set. There's one great story ("Glass"), two decent ones ("Model Train Set" and "Mother's Little Helper"), a bunch of barely readable crap and then there's "War Crimes". Not only are some of the worse stories on par with the worst of the Decalogs, there's no correspondingly brilliant story to alleviate the experience. If it weren't for Decalog 5, this would be the worst short story collection I've ever read.

I recommend this book to the only people it seems to be aimed at: those with trouble grasping the concepts of spelling and subtraction (since those with trouble grasping the concept of the short story all appear to have written for it). And god help us, I just know there are going to be sequels...

A Review by Sean Gaffney 25/11/99

I dunno, maybe I was in the wrong mood when I read this. It just didn't seem to be as good as the other anthologies. That being said, there's were some standouts...

Model Train Set: Nice start to the volume, with a lovely story illustrating both his desire to be different from his predecessors and the danger that can lead to. Very 8th Doctor. 9/10.

Old Flames: On the one hand, the Doctor and Sarah were well done, and the young couple was interesting. On the other hand, the story dragged a lot, and Iris was so obnoxious I wanted the creature to kill her. 5/10.

War Crimes: Boy, this was dull. 4/10.

The Last Days: This, on the other hand, rocked. Yes, it's been done before, but who cares? Everyone was beautifully characterized, the angst was incredible, the plot rolled along to its remorseless conclusion... Wow. 10/10.

Stop the Pigeon: This one was too complex for its own good, had one too many villains, a rather faceless Doctor and Ace, and didn't even MENTION Dastardly and Muttly, despite the title. 5/10.

Freedom: Well, it's a generic Third Doctor story, but at least it's a GOOD generic Third Doctor story. Everyone done well, plot interesting, and a nice Klein bottle of a prison. 7/10.

Glass: Ouch. If I say the Fourth Doctor and Romana were characterised superbly here, I risk getting flamed, but they WERE. Easily the most disturbing story in the collection. 8/10.

Mondas Passing: Short, tries to be sweet, but doesn't quite make it. 5/10.

There Are Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden: An odd duck, the first of two in this one, this was very well told, but seemed a bit...distant. Unemotional. Oh well. 6/10.

Mother's Little Helper: Meh. 5/10.

The Parliament of Rats: Leave it to Dan O'Mahony to write something this bizarre. The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa are characterised differently (VERY differently), but I didn't find it annoying or wrong. And the plot was intriguing. 8/10.

Rights: Meh 2: Electric Boogaloo. 5/10.

Wish You Were Here: The plot leaves something to be desired, but the Sixth Doctor is written so well that it elevates it. 7/10.

Ace of Hearts: Short, tries to be sweet, works a it better than Mondas Passing. 6/10.

The People's Temple: Incredibly dull, Sam tries to be worthy, I ended up skipping over huge gouts of text... What a way to end a collection. 2/10.

Overall: This collection just didn't work overall for me. There were a few excellent stories, a couple of dogs, but the big problem is the DULLNESS of so many. It took be a long time to struggle thruogh this, and it's an ANTHOLOGY, with easy breaks. Not a good sign.

So, Great job to Evan Pritchard and Jon Blum, good job to a couple of others, but still...

5/10.

A Review by Alan Thomas 27/4/01

• Model Train Set. An interesting story that analyses the Doctor's new regeneration - doing things differently, and doing his best.
• Old Flames. Not bad. It would be better if I had actually read the Iris novels.
• War Crimes. Awful, for want of a better word. The writing is absolutely terrible, and this is easily the worst story in the collection.
• The Last Days. Quite good. A very entertaining look at the Hartnell historicals.
• Stop The Pigeon. A story that ties up loose ends. But it is nowhere near as good as Survival and a very poor sequel to The Seeds Of Doom. We get the Master in this again, and he is really pissing me off.
• Freedom. Pretty dull except for the conclusion. The Doctor giving up his freedom for his friend is a noble sacrifice. Good ending.
• Glass. Wonderful. The writing is so human and touching. You can really sympathise with the woman's point of view. The 4th Doctor and Romana II are excellent as well.
• Mondas Passing. A nice little insight into Ben and Polly's relationship, but it never really achieves full potential, and Polly acts strangely out-of-character.
• There Are Fairies At The Bottom Of The Garden. Hmm... Not bad. The Doctor seems mysterious, and the theme of the story seems to entail that beauty lies beneath ugly thingsâ^ĀĻor vice versa.
• Mother's Little Helper. Excellent story, if a little confusing. Good to see the season 6b stories have made it into short story collections.
• The Parliament Of Rats. A very good story, that is a little bit spooky for the 5th Doctor's era. Great twist conclusion, as well.
• Rights. A story that examines controversial issues such as abortion and animal experimentation. Heavy stuff, and very well executed.
• Wish You Were Here. Fab little story with a great twist ending.
• Ace Of Hearts. Probably the shortest story in this collection, it adds nothing new but repeats the feelings the Doctor has about Ace. Not bad.
• The People's Temple. An 8th Doctor story that isn't particularly engaging. A bit wet.
• Degrees Of Truth. Only on audio. Anyway, judging by the synopsis, it sounds fairly creepy and dark as a sequel to The Daemons.

So, there you have it. A rather bland collection onthe whole, but it does contain a few good stories.

A Review by Richard Radcliffe 18/2/04

A different publisher promised a renewed hope in the short story medium. Decalogs from Virgin had been a mixed bag. There were moments of excellence, but the majority of stories were forgettable and unlikely to live in the memory that long. Edited by Stephen Cole, the first BBC Books short story anthology looked terrific. With all the Doctors on, it really had be bought for the cover alone. It remains one of the best covers for any DW book.

The authors were a mixture again of established, old and new. I still hadn't read any fan fiction anthologies, but it was time to read some short stories again. I was confident of the standard, because the BBC Books novels had been better than the Virgin novels generally.

Model Train Set by Jonathan Blum
We begin with a delightful tale of the 8th Dr and his train set. I never owned one of these, but plenty of my friends did. I admired their enthusiasm, even though I never shared it. Having a train set seemed totally in keeping with this Doctor's personality. There's some lovely writing too, and my initial hope for this anthology looks to be being paid off. 9/10

Old Flames by Paul Magrs
Forever installed this will be as Iris Wildthymes first excursion into DW. The character leaps off the page with her vitality, it was no surprise that she has returned again and again. The 4th Dr and Sarah-Jane are the fellow attendees of the ball, and Magrs flowery descriptions make the setting superb. Another hit. 8/10

War Crimes by Simon Bucher-Jones
The end of The War Games, with its wiping of the companion's memories, is the inspiration here. Unfortunately though the focus is away from the 2nd Dr, Jamie and Zoe, and towards Ossu-Male - a soldier suffering deprogramming problems. I couldn't relate to him at all, and only the 2nd Dr's involvement makes this worthwhile. 6/10

The Last Days by Even Pritchard
A historical 1st Dr story may not be the most original entry into this book, but it feels right, and it is nicely written. There's a real tragedy at the heart of this 1st Dr, Susan, Ian and Barbara tale - and I found it intriguing. 8/10

Stop the Pigeon by Mike Tucker
Tucker and Perry continue their personal mission to dominate the 7th Dr and Ace's missing adventures with this lighthearted tale. There's a lot in there too, resulting in a higher page count. Shapeshifters, Krynoids, Talking Pigeons, and a return for the Master. Entertaining stuff. 8/10

Freedom by Steve Lyons
A story fully in keeping with the 3rd Dr, Jo, UNIT, Master season. There's plenty of double-crossing, and following of dubious causes - this is classic 70s TV - it translates pretty well to the printed page too. 7/10

Glass by Tara Samms
Rather a solemn tale of alien possession this featuring the 4th Dr and 2nd Romana. It's rather creepy too, which isn't a bad thing. The collection continues to diversify well. 7/10

Mondas Passing by Paul Grice
Exactly the sort of side-step that I want to see. A wonderful very short insight into a future Ben and Polly. Sensitively written. Terrific all round. 10/10

There Are Fairies at the Bottom of My Garden by Sam Lester
This is very weird. The 1st Dr and Dodo materialize in a disease ridden world. Turns out to be something very different. Quite trippy and more Summer of Love than anything DW has thus produced. Didn't like it at all. 4/10

Mother's Little Helper by Matthew Jones
The real world reasserts itself, with a cameo from the 2nd Dr. Rolling Stones song rolling about in my head the whole time, this is an adult tale, with a downbeat ending. Didn't leave me feeling that wonderful, but it's a good story. 6/10

The Parliament of Rats by Daniel O'Mahony
A disjointed planet sees the 5th Dr and Nyssa play in Constantine's fantasy. The title refers to a spaceship. Rather a strange story this one, and I can't see I enjoyed it very much. 5/10

Rights by Paul Grice
The 4th Dr and Sarah-Jane as animal rights activists motivates this tale. Rather political message rammed home here - Grice should stick to short side-steps like Mondas Passing. 4/10

Wish You Were Here by Guy Clapperton
This leisure complex story with the 6th Dr feels like Terror of the Vervoids. I heard this one (by Nicola Bryant), rather than read it - and I can't say it justified that treatment. Very ordinary story. 5/10

Ace of Hearts by Mike Tucker
A nice little side step with the 7th Dr and Ace's mother. It serves as a nice addition to Curse of Fenric. 8/10

The People's Temple by Paul Leonard
This is another one I heard rather than read. It was so wonderful to hear Paul McGann be involved in Who I just loved it! The story itself is rather good, focusing around Stonehenge as it does. Definitely one of the best of the collection. 9/10

A couple of the above stories I heard on audio readings (Out of Darkness and Earth and Beyond), but I never have heard the actual Short Trips audio collection. This was read by Nick Courtney and Sophie Aldred enthusiastically apparently.

The first BBC Books short story collection is rather good. There's still the odd dud, but most hit their mark quite well and effectively. Hopefully the next will be as good, or better. 7/10