Doctor Who Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas

Big Finish Short Trips #22

by Cavan Scott (Editor), Iain McLaughlin, Ann Kelly

Christmas is often associated with special memories, but for some it brings shadows of things that should not have been. Things like unearthly visitors who open their eyes to new worlds and new experiences. Pantomime coats, robot dogs, and a big blue box parked beneath the Christmas tree. Some think these fleeting guests are apparitions, angels, or demons. But all know that Christmas will never be the same again. The Doctor and his companions travel to Christmas past, Christmas present, and those Christmases yet to come. They bring festive laughter and Yuletide joy, creeping dread and screaming horror, slipping in and out of time like the ghosts of Christmas.

Genres: Doctor Who, Short Stories, Christmas, Fiction, Science Fiction

284 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2007

About the author

is a freelance comic writer and author. He is best known for his work on a variety of spin-offs from both Doctor Who and Star Wars, as well as comics and novels for Vikings, Pacific Rim, Sherlock Holmes, and Penguins of Madagascar.

Cavan Scott, along with Justina Ireland, Claudia Gray, Daniel Jose Older, and Charles Soule are crafting a new era in the Star Wars publishing world called Star Wars: The High Republic. Cavan's contribution to the era is a comic book series released through Marvel Comics titled Star Wars: The High Republic.

Reviews

[Alex Sarll]

Like the other three festive Big Finish anthologies, a mixed bag, with a story each day for the 1st to the 25th, some of which inevitably work better than others. Notwithstanding the title, some are comic (especially the one written as an ungracious thank you letter), and some more magical than haunting (I enjoyed the riff on Aladdin); others touch on aspects of the season which you can't emphasise quite so much at the TV specials' prime family viewing time, like terrible office parties or lairy drunk twats on the trains. The darkest of the lot, ominously, are the last two stories before the closing coda; in particular, the one where a deregulated, post-collapse Britain has become one enormous faux-festive mall staffed by indentured labour almost feels like a worryingly plausible vision of the 2020s, except for the unduly optimistic notes whereby the retail slaves at least get accomodation and prescriptions guaranteed in their four hours of daily downtime. But my favourite was definitely one of the ones which pays most respect to the title, the tripartite story checking in on the Brigadier across three very different Christmases, all of them touched one way or another by the presence or absence of his old friend. Still, there are moving moments everywhere, even in that thank-you letter: "He was a bit magic, I think. He was a bit strange, too, like the world got tingly around him. It felt like he could be your best friend and you knew you would be best friends for ever, even though he didn't even stay for dinner." Though possibly the best line of all comes from the Second Doctor, with the corollary to one of his finest screen utterances: "They aren't all like him, you know. There are many corners of the universe that have bred the most wonderful things. They must be cherished."

[Billy Martel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review by story…

Snowman in Manhattan: Very goofy, but no goofier than “Feast of Steven” very fun. 4/5 stars

Do You Dream in Color?: Interesting, but far too saccharine to my taste. 2/5 stars

Tell Me You Love Me: Some good moments here and there. But the ending is awful. I ship Ian and Barbara too but not like this…1/5 stars

The Cutty Wren: An alright story but surrounding one of the worst cultural Christmas traditions. 2/5 stars

Jigsaw: Awesome concept for a story. I just wish we got one more version from the perspective of the baddie. 4/5 stars

The Sommerton Fetch: Fun idea for a story. But I’m in the middle of performing Blithe Spirit right now and being reminded of it by the seance scene put me in a real bad mood. 3/5