Doctor Who: The Day She Saved the Doctor: Four Stories from the TARDIS

Doctor Who New Series anthologies

by Jacqueline Rayner, Jenny T. Colgan, Susan Calman

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Doctor Who: The Day She Save the Doctor, written by Jenny Colgan, Jacqueline Rayner, Dorothy Koomson and Susan Calman, read by Yasmin Paige, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Catrin Stewart and Rachael Stirling.

A companion: explores time and space with the Doctor, gets into trouble with the Doctor, fights enemies with the Doctor...and - more often than not - has to save his life. Here are four fantastic new adventures with the Doctor, starring Rose, Sarah-Jane, Clara, and Bill.

Publishing on International Women's Day in March 2018, it will also be the perfect way to prepare for Jodie Whittaker's first ever female Doctor. These stories are a celebration of the Doctor's fantastic female friends, for fans of all ages.

Contents:
1. Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes by Jacqueline Rayner, narrated by Yasmin Paige
2. Rose and the Snow Window by Jenny T. Colgan, narrated by Rachael Stirling
3. Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta by Susan Calman, narrated by Catrin Stewart
4. Bill and the Three Jackets by Dorothy Koomson, narrated Pippa Bennett-Warner

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Time Travel, Science Fiction Fantasy

4 pages, Audiobook

First published March 1, 2018

About the author

Jacqueline Rayner is a best selling British author, best known for her work with the licensed fiction based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.

Her first professional writing credit came when she adapted Paul Cornell's Virgin New Adventure novel Oh No It Isn't! for the audio format, the first release by Big Finish. (The novel featured the character of Bernice Summerfield and was part of a spin-off series from Doctor Who.) She went on to do five of the six Bernice Summerfield audio adaptations and further work for Big Finish before going to work for BBC Books on their Doctor Who lines.

Her first novels came in 2001, with the Eighth Doctor Adventures novel EarthWorld for BBC Books and the Bernice Summerfield novel The Squire's Crystal for Big Finish. Rayner has written several other Doctor Who spin-offs and was also for a period the executive producer for the BBC on the Big Finish range of Doctor Who audio dramas. She has also contributed to the audio range as a writer. In all, her Doctor Who and related work (Bernice Summerfield stories), consists of five novels, a number of short stories and four original audio plays.

Rayner has edited several anthologies of Doctor Who short stories, mainly for Big Finish, and done work for Doctor Who Magazine. Beyond Doctor Who, her work includes the children's television tie-in book Horses Like Blaze.

With the start of the new television series of Doctor Who in 2005 and a shift in the BBC's Doctor Who related book output, Rayner has become, along with Justin Richards and Stephen Cole, one of the regular authors of the BBC's New Series Adventures. She has also abridged several of the books to be made into audiobooks.

She was also a member of Doctor Who Magazine's original Time Team.

Reviews

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This came out to celebrate 100 anniversary of Female vote but at £12.99 for 177p & only 24 lines to a page I very glade I got out the Libuary. In my opinion it is not complement but ripe off. Why could we not had a better thicker book with Stories about Susan , Vicki, Victoria, Zoe, Jo Grant, Leela, Romana, Nyissa, Peri,Mel ,Ace & Martha not Bloody Rose I hate Rose. Even River or Missy but not Rose.
1)Set after Brain of Morbius Sarah Jane & The Doctor are in Roman times in small seaport were women are going blind .Sarah 's biggest Nightmare after snakes specialy as she went blind in Brain.*
2) Toronto in high rise building a touch of Hitchcock's Rear window & sniffing jokes & blueberry muffins. The 9th Doctor & Rose set after the Dickens story in season 1. Looking for hole in time. Leads St Petersburg this much better than Tom's story .****
3)Clara & The 11th when Artie & Angie met The Cybermen .They left now for trip to Cui Palta Voted Most Beautiful City in the Galaxy. Trapped in mad maze straight out of Alice in Wonderland with the Doctor is driving Clara bananas with him calking things like Cybermen just want to have fun or Tardis 4Eva is mad & going round & around the mulberry Bush.***
4) Bill & 12th Bill wants to go shopping but last person you want is old grumpy. A perfect outfit for date he wants her to use the Tardis jacket room spoil sport. Fashion phobic no way. Set in final season as Nardole is also in the Tardis too. Three snaps & disgusting meal of fish finger sandwich with chips.(I have never eat fish fingers never will horrible) this is as wierd as the maze one.
Read this in 3hours the best story is No.2 The Rose story funny when Rose is not my favourite .
Funny light but as said earlier experience for short book.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

As you probably already know, I'm a Doctor Who fan so it's no surprise I picked up this book published on International Women's Day 2018. It features stories written by women about some female companions and I was also curious to see if they passed the Bechdel Test (a conversation between two or more women without talking about men). I'm not sure it does pass the Bechdel Test actually as the Doctor often gets a mention (and pre-Jodie Whittaker Doctors only appeared here). That aside, I thought it was a good collection if you're a fan of the sci-fi series.
Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes by Jacqueline Rayner: 3.5 stars. Disclaimer 1: I haven't watched much Classic Who but I do know Sarah Jane's story. This reminded me quite a bit of the Fires of Pompeii episode from 2008 and Stone Rose by the same author. Here, Sarah Jane and the Fourth Doctor's characters seemed to be captured perfectly and the story was good. But, I thought it was a little obvious when fears were mentioned and lo and behold, they rocked up in the story.
Rose and the Snow Window by Jenny T Colgan: 4 stars. Disclaimer 2: Controversial opinion it may be but I'm not that big of a Rose fan. However, I really enjoyed this story as it had all the vividness of a TV episode. It just wasn't immediately obvious which Doctor Rose was with.
Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta by Susan Calman: 4.5 stars. An excellent story full of twists (in many different senses). Personally, I thought the characterisation was spot on especially as I knew straightaway it was the Eleventh Doctor. My favourite in this little collection.
Bill and the Three Jackets by Dorothy Koomson: 4 stars. Another good story with an added message about body positivity. I would argue, though, that Bill didn't save the Doctor, it was the other way round.
Overall rating = 4 stars.

[ArwendeLuhtiene · Rating 5 out of 5]

The feminist premise of this book - four stories revolving around four female companions of the Doctor, focusing on proactive Doctor-saving, plan-making and clue-solving action, as well as their feminist side, is bound to mean I'm gonna like it, and I was right, I really enjoyed it and hope this isn't just an International Women's Day thing when it comes to Doctor Who publications, because this is the kind of content we need to see :D I especially loved the first and last stories, focusing on Sarah-Jane Smith and Bill Potts, two of my fave companions :)

I also really enjoyed listening to the audio book after reading the stories - All the actresses did a really great job with the narration and the character voices and, in the case of J.T. Colgan's story, which was the one I liked the least (while liking Rose Tyler quite a lot), I actually liked it a lot better after listening to the audio version, so yay about that.

1) Sarah-Jane and the Temple of Eyes (Jacqueline Rayner) 5/5

+1 A historical story set in Ancient Rome with Sarah-Jane Smith and the Fourth Doctor, revolving around a women-only religious cult worshiping the goddess Bona Dea and a mystery involving alien tech found within.

+1 I LIVE for Sarah-Jane Smith's vocal feminism, both in the TV serials and in this particular story, where she reflects on the limited roles and freedom of Ancient Roman women and has a few goes at sexist Roman men while she's at it :D

+1 Bechdel test passes with flying colours, as Sarah talks with several merchant wives and priestesses about anything but men, the mystery being actually focused on women all the time.

+1 There's also quite a lot of female bonding going on in this story, and even the antagonist, Marcia, is a grey-moral female character who did questionable stuff to other women, but who also shows a feminist mindset and challenges her patriarchal society - Which, as Sarah-Jane thinks, doesn't justify her actions, but she could totally understand where she was coming from when it came to her feminist critique. Grey-moral antagonists with feminist and social criticism thrown in? That's *so my jam* :D

+1 Also, this story is perfect for those who think that oppressed groups in the past never questioned the inequalities of their societal status quo - Here we have some Roman ladies complaining about their patriarchal sexist society, and it's beautiful :D

+1 For his part, the Doctor is a pretty good feminist ally in this story as well, and gives a lot of well-deserved praise to Sarah's proactivity and awesomeness (like the title of the book suggests, she did save the Doctor from execution at some point in the story and showed her bravery, selflessness and wits), as well as commenting on Roman women's limitations as well.

+1 Criticism of slavery, featuring the Doctor commenting on it and freeing a slave boy, as well as doing a Leonardo Da Vinci and setting a lot of caged birds free, stating that 'He doesn't like things in cages' :D

2) Rose and the Snow-Window (Jenny T. Colgan) 3-3.5/5

+1 Rose Tyler was very proactive, as is her wont in most episodes and books/comics I've watched and read about her, so I enjoyed that. She was keen to solve the mystery at hand, and had a pretty active part in it, at some point arriving just in time to save the Doctor from an attack.

+-1 The dynamic between Rose and the Ninth Doctor was well characterized, in my opinion, and I enjoyed it for the most part, although I found a couple of moments a bit cringy (Nine pouting in a bit of an entitled way because Rose didn't bring him a particular muffin when she went to get her own breakfast, for example, or commenting on how she looks 'breathtaking, in human terms' in her 19th Century outfit - The kind of Nine/Rose canon dynamic that is a little bit grating to me so shortly after he's just stated that 'he sees all humans as children' :S). Nine does leave a big part of the plan and action to Rose, though, and has every faith in her capability.

-1 Now, this is a very big pet peeve of mine. Historical fashion accuracy is oh so wrong. The story is set in 1812 Pre-Revolution Russia (think Regency fashion and War and Peace), but the author describes Rose and the rest of women dressed in what sounds suspiciously like later Victorian fashion, probably 1870s (think evening gowns with voluminous skirts, tight corsets and off the shoulder necklines. Rose's dress actually sounds exactly like Anna Karenina's burgundy gown from the 2012 film). I mean, if the author is so keen to have Rose in a 1870s gown, why on earth didn't she set the story in 1870s Russia?? Historical accuracy is sometimes something pretty easy to do the research about, and it's something I think an author should definitely do every time they write anything, anyway :S
+1 The good part of this is that we get some great criticism of encumbering female fashion, with Rose commenting on how women moved about with so much clothing and such voluminous gowns, and later having to run in a corset while her male companion saunters along in more comfortable clothes.

+-1 The story focuses a lot on a male character, in my opinion far more than a book about Whovian female companions and their awesomeness should :S He is a Russian nobleman who basically serves as Rose's companion for a chunk of the story, and is amusingly shooketh by 21st showers and lighting systems xD, but he also has a big (entitled) crush on Rose, and the story focuses a little bit too much on that for my liking.

+1 Criticism of war and violence, with the setting of the Russian Revolution and the nobleman saying he doesn't want to go to war because 'he doesn't have a stomach for killing' - Something that is usually interpreted from a toxic masculinity mindset as 'cowardice', but that the Doctor and Whovian morals in general approve a lot of, of course.

-1 Hardly any Bechdel or secondary female characters, which is a shame in this kind of book :S

3) Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta (Susan Calman) 3.5-4/5

+-1 A tale about a maze mystery in an alien planet featuring Clara Oswald and the Eleventh Doctor. I enjoyed the plot and story in general, although there wasn't really much, if at all, regarding feminist themes and secondary female characters, and imo Clara could have stood out more in the plot.

+1 Clara, one of my fave companions, was her usual proactive self, and ended up solving the mystery of the maze before the Doctor,
-1 even though the Doctor, showing a bit of his more grating arrogant/immature/entitled side, kept bragging on how he was the solver extraordinary of all mazes and he had to be convinced by Clara into going into the maze in the first place 'in case he didn't dare to go in and someone else would beat him into solving it'.

-1 No Bechdel and no secondary female characters (or secondary male characters, in this case, though).

4) Bill and the Three Jackets (Dorothy Koomson) 5/5

I absolutely LOVED this story!

+1 Ethnicity, female and lgbt+ representation are on point: Written by a black female author, featuring lesbian biracial companion Bill Potts, various mentions of Bill's date with another girl in the plot, Lou the 'extra chips girl' from S10's 'The Pilot', and another black female character :DDD

+1 Bill is super proactive in this story, and solves the mystery on her own alongside her friend/crush Lou. Even though the plot focuses on body snatching, which is a trope that often involves the body-snatched person (especially if she's a woman) being pretty passive, here Bill is anything but passive, and she and Lou save the day (and herself) on their own.

+1 Bechdel test-fest and female bonding is everywhere - There's a beautiful dynamic between Bill and Lou, and once again the antagonist, Ziggy, is a female character who ends up not being 'evil' in the good/evil binary traditional sense, but rather follows the grey-moral Whovian archetype - She turns out to be someone who did somewhat questionable things with no evil intent because she needed help, and at the end of the story Bill is all too happy to have lots of female bonding, friendship and compassion going on with her as well :D

+1 The story is full of great messages about self-love, self-esteem and body positivity:

-The Twelfth Doctor has a great dynamic with Bill and acts as an awesome ally, giving her advice about her date and talking about healthy relationships and self-confidence - Bill is feeling insecure about her physical appearance and what she should wear for her date to be 'perfect', so Twelve tells her that 'the strength of her character' and 'who she is as a person' is the main thing about her, and that she shouldn't have to feel like she has to change anything about her physically or be 'perfect' in order to be able to enjoy a good date or have a good relationship with someone. Hell yeah.

-And let's talk about Lou, the girl who Bill liked in 'The Pilot' and to whom she used to give extra chips. I now need more material with these two, because their dynamic was freaking amazing. I also absolutely loved how this story fixed the fatphobic problematic comment from the episode about how Bill had 'fatted Lou' for giving her extra chips, so she 'wasn't movie star beautiful anymore' :S In this story, Lou is portrayed as someone who is super confident in her own skin, with lots of self love that she actually teaches Bill about, and Bill thankfully expresses that she's embarrassed about the 'I fatted her' comment and that she totally misjudged just how awesome Lou was. I think it's amazing representation that we get a female character who is super confident and happy with herself "in spite of" - as society would probably say :S - her body size. Also, Lou is, like Bill, a big sci-fi fan, which she uses to help solve the mystery and save the day, tackles the antagonist to the ground, and was literally 100% chill about the whole aliens and time travel situation during the plot xD 10/10

[Adia · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 stories featuring 4 of the Doctor's female companions.

Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes.
Sarah and the Doctor travel back to Ancient Rome, where they discover that the wives of prominent merchants are turning up blind with no memory as to how they became so. Sarah Jane investigates a women-only temple and finds a strikingly anachronistic machine: tech from now-dead aliens capable of wiping minds and collecting memories. An okay story. 3 stars.
Rose and the Snow Window.
Rose and the Ninth Doctor visit a icy Toronto on the track of a hole in the fabric of time. They discover a window that gives them a view of 19th century Russia and a young man who appears distraught. Rose and the Doctor attend a Russian ball and are accosted by parasitic aliens in human form. As the Doctor struggles to mend the rift in time, Rose struggles with the thought of leaving her new friend behind to death in the Napoleonic wars. Fun. 3.5 stars.
Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta.
Clara and Eleven take a break from the mundanities of everyday life to visit the vacation world of Cui Palta. The place seems deserted upon arrival, but Clara convinces the Doctor to solve an ancient-looking maze. As time goes on, it becomes clear that it is no ordinary puzzle...not much of a plot, and i felt it really went on far too long, but i like Clara and Eleven's dynamic. 3.5 stars.
Bill and the Three Jackets.
Bill leaves the TARDIS for a day of shopping and comes across a strange little boutique. A shop assistant named Ziggy helps her try on jackets and snaps a few photos, and Bill begins to feel unwell...she inadvertently falls asleep and wakes to find that her body is no longer her own. Desperate to get her body back and convince Twelve of her true identity, Bill sets out to prove that character is more important than looks. Body positivity. 3 stars.

Not the best collection imo...entertaining, but forgettable. 3 stars.

[Sandra (LadyGrey Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

review coming soon

[Shelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here come the Women, a brilliant way to celebrate International Women's Day. Reading some of my fave companions and the day's they saved the doctor. Which happens more times rhan you think.

Four, individual stories following 4 companions and their Doctors.
Jacqueline Rayner, provides Sarah-Jane's story.
While visiting Rome, Sarah-Jane and the Forth Doctor (Tom Baker) come across the mysterious dissapierence of local merchants wives, who are then going blind.

Jenny T. Colgan takes on fan favourite Rose and an early adventure with the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Ecclestone). It took me a good minute to work out which Doctor, as it's not made clear to start with. Set in 1812 Russia and 2005 Toronto. Rose has a moment with the dashing Count Nicolai who is the centre of a time puncture.

Susan Calman who one of my female role models. Tells the tale of Clara and the, (ever obsessed with snacks) Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith). Travelling to another planet for a day out, they end up trapped inside a deceptive maze. Quite Creepy....

Dorothy Koomson, Tells Bill and the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) story. When Bill goes in search of a new jacket, all goes a bit body snatcher. Full of fast humour and an undertone of self acceptance. This Body Positive story had to be my fave of the lot.

All in all, quite enjoyable. At times I was a little lost with the first 2 stories. But the show of strength from these women is strong. I especially like that the audiobook, is voiced by Dr Who Actresses of past.

[Emilija · Rating 3 out of 5]

2023 52 Book Challenge - 22) A Body Positive Message

This is a collection of 4 short stories focusing on the female companions (Sarah Jane, Rose, Clara, and Bill) of the Doctor to celebrate International Women's Day.

By far, my favourite was Bill's, which delves into Bill's upcoming date with Lou, a girl that Bill had mentioned in passing in the show as somebody she fancied so she gave her extra chips.

I liked Sarah Jane's which dealt with her fear of being blind and her having to face that fear to save the day.

I found Clara and the 11th Doctor getting stuck in a maze a little boring, and Rose and the 9th Doctor (it was actually difficult to tell if this story was with the 9th or the 10th Doctor, and I got that it was the 11th Doctor when he was described as "grumpy" so that will tell you the quality of characterisation) dealt with a man who was a time puncture. Rose attends a ball in 1812 Russia but it reads like she wears Victorian Britain ball gowns. It felt like it could either have been set in the correct era, or she could have worn Russian gowns. It wouldn't have annoyed me so much, but most of Rose's story literally talked about outfits.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four stories centered around a companion and a different incarnation of the Doctor:
- Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes (Sarah Jane and Four): The plot is just fine, but the author did nail the dynamic between these two.
- Rose and the Snow Window (Rose and Nine): Probably the best of the four, with a strong emotional center. (Also, author, thank you for not making this a Ten story; Nine needs more attention.)
- Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta (Clara and Eleven): Compelling mystery with a growing sense of dread, but the buildup also makes the resolution (while functional) a little disappointing.
- Bill and the Three Jackets (Bill and Twelve): Points for addressing a less-than-admirable moment in Bill's introduction, while also reminding us how great she was as a companion.

This is a good collection overall, one that should satisfy the fans of each represented era of the show. (B+)

[Yuè · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes 3/5
Rose and the Snow Window 4.5/5
Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta 3/5
Bill and the Three Jackets 3.5/5

So a total of 3.5/5.

I can't believe the Doctor likes hockeys and supports the Maple Leafs.

[Tom Prater · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sarah Jane: Not bad. Good characterisation
Rose: Enjoyable
Clara: Best of the picks.
Bill: Eh it was fine

[Lilly Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

i fucking lobe doctor who

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Day She Saved the Doctor is a collection of four short stories, well, novelettes. Each story features a female companion and a popular Doctor, and the theme for the four stories is that the companion must "save" or rescue the Doctor. Mind you, in the show the female companions, and even some of the male companions rescued the Doctor all the time. All four stories are also written by female writers and the book designer is also a woman (and from Milwaukee!).

Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes
jacqueline Rayner

The first story, "Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes" has the Fourth Doctor (as played on the television series by Tom Baker) and Sarah Jane landing in Ancient Rome. They no sooner start exploring an ancient marketplace than a woman runs out into the street - her eyes are white and she's been blinded. But the woman wasn't always blind and she had been missing a few days. Sarah asks her what happened but she has no idea. Sarah and the Doctor escort her home and discover that four other merchants wives had recently been blinded, under similar circumstances. Sarah smells a story, but she also is convinced that whatever is going on it's not normal for Imperial Rome.
Sarah and the Doctor split up to interview the other victims, and even the wives of other merchants who are in the same social circle and might know anything. But Sarah meets a woman who is the person behind it all and the Doctor gets a warning about the woman but is too late to rescue Sarah. Sarah is taken by Marcia to the temple home of a female-only cult that worships a goddess. There she meets a priestess who is using an alien machine to harvest information from other women. Unfortunately, the machine has the side effect of leaving people blind and Marcia is actually harvesting information to help her husband, also a merchant, in his business dealings.
The Doctor goes to the temple but the guards won't let him in because he's a man. He sneaks in but the priestesses get very upset that a man has invaded his temple. They threaten to kill the Doctor by poison snakebite and use the alien machine on Sarah. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to fix the machine and then has Sarah try it. The machine doesn't blind her and after the priestess experiences Sarah's memories of the Doctor, the priestess agrees she can't kill the Doctor because he is a good man. She also sees that Marcia was taking advantage of her. The Doctor and Sarah leave, as they depart in the TARDIS, Sarah wonders if they might have changed history, but the Doctor reminds her that no one really knows anything about that particular female-led Roman religion.

Rose and the Snow Window
by Jenny T. Colgan

The second short story in The Day She Saved the Doctor is Jenny T. Colgan's "Rose and the Snow Window". The story starts with the Ninth Doctor and Rose arriving in Toronto in 2005, the Doctor is looking for a time puncture. He sets up a telescope in an apartment in a high rise apartment building. Rose looks through the telescope and sees a candle-lit room opposite. The Doctor and Rose investigate and soon find a connection between Toronto and Russia in 1812.

They travel back to Russia in 1812 where Rose meets the Russian count she had seen in the window in 2005 Toronto. The young man is bereft because he is being forced into a marriage of convenience to save his family. He soon falls for Rose because she is unlike anyone he has ever met. She also falls for the handsome Count. Do to an attack of some sort of robot or alien that recognizes Rose as an "anomoly" Count Nikolai pulls on the red ribbon she wears and the two snap back to 2005 Toronto. Rose introduces the Count to modern conveniences like hot showers, electric lights, and fluffy towels warmed on a radiator. The Count is delighted by each new discovery he makes, and Rose enjoys this immensely.

They return to Russia again with the Doctor, and gradually the Doctor and Rose figure out that the woman Nikolai is supposed to marry is actually an alien who feeds on psychic energy. She essentially bribes Nikolai - offering him money, security for his family, and no children so the timeline will be preserved. Nikolai decides to reluctantly go through with it. Rose interrupts the wedding. The anomalies get worse with a troop of confused Mounties appearing in 19th century Russia. (Mind you, this isn't wholly accurate. The Mounties have ceremonial duties, which is the only time they wear red serge. Otherwise, in the Western provinces and territories, the Mounties have duties similar to the FBI or State Police in the US.) The Doctor ends up binding with the alien so it can go home. Later, Rose and the Doctor check on Nikolai's history - knowing that without a rich purse, the only thing for him to do was join the Russian military in 1812.

"Rose and the Snow Window" had a great sense of atmosphere, and the story centers more on Rose than the Doctor but the Doctor is still a strong presence and it's a good partnership story about the two of them. I quite enjoyed it. It's also the longest story in the book.

Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta
by Susan Culman

Clara is basically having a bad day at the start of her story in this collection. It's not terrible, but she's bored, frustrated, and really needs a vacation. She convinces the Doctor to take her on a "relaxing spa vacation". I did have some trouble figuring out if Clara was with the Eleventh Doctor or the Twelfth Doctor in this story, but by the end, I'm pretty sure it was the Eleventh Doctor (as played by Matt Smith on the BBC television series). The two arrive on Cui Palta, one of the great resort planets. They explore, as the Doctor raves about all the relaxing things they can do, but gradually Clara becomes uneasy. Clara's unease and discomfort grow, and she points out the problem - there are no people. The Doctor pooh-poohs this observation. There are also yellow flowers everywhere and the Doctor encourages Clara "to stop and smell the flowers."
The two continue walking, then see an entrance to a garden maze. Clara again has misgivings, but the Doctor says it will be fun to solve the maze. They enter but get hopelessly lost, going around and around in circles. Clara confronts the Doctor with this but again he pooh-poohs and ignores her. This continues and the traps in the maze get more and more dangerous. When they find dead skeletons, the Doctor acknowledges that something is wrong. They continue trying to solve the maze - which now includes moving walls and mirrored corridors. Finally, they reach a courtyard with three doors - only to find that when they open and walk through a door - they return to the courtyard.
It's in this three-choices section that Clara and the Doctor are separated but they can still communicate by yelling at each other. Clara trips and being close to the ground and sneezing (as she's been doing throughout the story) she used a hankie the Doctor gave her to cover her nose and mouth. Then she sees things clearly - it's all an illusion and the Doctor is literally running in circles. She calls out to the Doctor to get low and cover his nose and mouth. He does and the illusion breaks. The two leave the maze and city for the TARDIS and leave the planet. But it begs the question as to how the psychoactive flowers got there in the first place and did they really poison all the people on the planet.

Like the Sarah Jane story, Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta plays up Clara's personal fears - this time her fear of getting lost. But this is also probably the strongest story in terms of the theme of the Companion saving the Doctor - because in this story it seems like the Doctor never would have figured it out. But he also discounts Clara's concerns frequently - and she comes off a bit spoiled and a bit of a know-it-all. So although it handles the theme in a direct way, I liked other stories in the collection better.

Bill and the Three Jackets
by Dorothy Koomson

Bill and the Doctor are in the TARDIS, and Bill is trying to convince the Doctor to let her go shopping. The Twelfth Doctor (as played by Peter Capaldi on the British series Doctor Who) tries to convince Bill she can certainly find something to wear for her date in the TARDIS's wardrobe rooms, he even tells her he probably has an entire room of jackets, but Bill is unconvinced and succeeds in getting him to let her go shopping.
Bill goes into town and finds a shop she never really noticed before. Inside are racks and racks of jackets. The shop clerk, who has a name tag that reads, Ziggy, seems friendly enough and before long Bill's picked out three jackets to try on. She slips on the first one, an amethyst jacket, and is about to take a selfie when the Ziggy objects, the jackets are exclusive designs and the shop doesn't allow selfies. Bill thinks this is weird but she puts her phone away. The Ziggy then offers to take pictures with her Polaroid camera. The picture seems to be taking an extraordinary amount of time to develop so the clerk puts it on the counter. Bill tries on a green jacket and a gold leather one with buckles. But she also starts to feel ill and weak. Ziggy had taken pictures of her in each jacket. Ziggy urges Bill to get something to eat and then come back and make her decision.
Bill leaves and walks to a nearby coffee shop. But her coffee and sandwich don't taste good to her and her stomach ache gets worse. Later the owner of the coffee shop comes out and asks Bill where the girl went, the one who ordered a coffee, chips, and sandwich and didn't pay. Bill's confused - that's her order, but she definitely paid. Yet the coffee shop owner insists she's someone else and the other girl didn't pay.
Bill goes to the TARDIS and the Doctor doesn't recognize her either. Moreover, there's another Bill in the TARDIS. Bill now knows something is very wrong. She tries to figure out how she can get some help and realizes that there's a girl she knew at university, someone to whom she always gave extra chips. Bill approaches the girl who's reading a science fiction novel in the cafeteria. Bill explains her story and then tells her about the extra chips. The girl, being an SF fan, actually believes Bill. The two set off for the shop. They get the photographs and then confront the Doctor and the fake Bill again.
Bill tears up the photos and she starts to appear to be herself, while the fake Bill is obviously an alien shapeshifter. The camera was loaded with psychic paper, and the shapeshifter used it to stabilize her form. But when the Doctor and Bill ask why she did it, they find out the shapeshifter was fleeing a repressive regime on her home planet. Now she just wants to go home. The Doctor explains he must take the shapeshifter to a different time as well as place - if he took her to the planet now it would just be empty space. But he agrees. Bill's compassion for the shapeshifter is instrumental in the Doctor's decision to help. Bill also gains respect for the girl she'd flirted with but never really spoken to before.
There are no bad guys in this story. The alien is simply homesick and using its natural abilities and a little psychic paper to get what it wants. Bill's own insecurities made her a mark in the first place, not that that's completely fair (everyone is insecure sometimes). Bill learns a lot about herself about a friend and about the alien and the Doctor. And the Doctor is passive in this story - he's as vulnerable to the alien's illusion as anyone else who doesn't know Bill. It's a good story, with an important point about being comfortable in your own skin rather than trying to be someone else's idea of perfect.
This was a fun collection and I enjoyed it. Highly recommended.

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. A very fun, and quick read. I was able to read this in just a few hours and it was great. I thought all of the stories had something good about them. Here are my ratings of each story:

Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes by Jacqueline Rayner - 3 stars. Good message, a bit boring though and entirely too short. Follows Sarah Jane and the Fourth Doctor.

Rose and the Snow Window by Jenny T. Colgan - 4 stars. I’m biased because Rose is my favorite companion. This was a lot of fun and I really liked the writing. Follows Rose and the Ninth Doctor.

Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta by Susan Calman - 4 stars. Very well developed for such a short story. The writing was good and I liked the way it ended. Follows Clara and the Eleventh Doctor.

Bill and the Three Jackets by Dorothy Koomson - 5 stars. My favorite short story of the bunch. Absolutely loved it. It’s about self worth and body positivity and it was really well done. Great writing. Follows Bill and the Twelfth Doctor.

Overall, a really fun collection. I'd recommend it if you're a fan of Doctor Who.

[Katie Be · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah Jane, Rose, Clara and Bill my beloved

Loved this anthology and the stories of some of my favorite Who ladies! This was a fast read but the tales were so cute and really allowed the spotlight to be shown on some of my favorite companions and their sharp and wonderful minds. I think Rose and Sarah Jane’s stories were my favorites.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a pleasant read. The short stories were entertaining and gave us moments that showed the brilliance of the different companions of the Doctor.

[Jasmine Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed these adventures. I love Doctor Who and these companions are some of my favourites. The adventures were fun and crazy and I had a great time reading them.

[Helen (they or he) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This is such a wonderful book!

Spoiler-free but kinda long review.

I’ve said it several times but let me say it again: I’ve never watched Classic Who. I’m neither proud nor ashamed of that fact. But I adore Sarah Jane Smith. She’s brilliant and she absolutely deserved her own spinoff. I really wished they had Amy and Eleventh in it but she was great as well so I have nothing to complain about.

The second story was amazing. Grumpy Nineth and Rose bickering away as the save the day again? Sign me up! Also, the ending made me… feel things.
The third one probably was the most mind-twisting. I didn’t see that coming. I probably should’ve but I didn’t. Anyway, Clara truly, in all sense of the word, saved the Doctor.
But my most favourite is the last one. I just love Bill. And the story is so wholesome. Minor spoiler alert: the girl that Bill mentioned in her first episode, the one she “fatted,” made a major appearance. I really wanted to see more about her in the TV show but couldn’t. Well, now my wishes are fulfilled, I guess. It’s a well-rounded story with satisfying ending.

In conclusion, I’d read this book all over again.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant way to spend International Women's Day that reading this book! I was VERY excited when I heard about this book and who was involved. I am a relatively new Doctor Who geek, came onboard circa.2006, so I was giddily happy that some of my favourite writers were involved in these female companion centric stories.

Jacqueline Rayner, who provided Sarah-Jane's story, is the stalwart in this field. I've read a couple of her previous Doctor Who novels which are just as riveting as this little gem. In this story, Sarah-Jane and the Forth Doctor (Tom Baker) are in Ancient Rome, where wives of local merchants are mysteriously going blind. This is solid ground for Rayner, whose excellent story, The Stone Rose, should be checked out if you enjoy this one.

Jenny T. Colgan is the relatively new girl on the scene, although fast making her presence felt in the Whoniverse. I first came across her work on the audio adventures, The Diary of River Song, which I loved. Here she takes on fan favourite Rose and an early adventure with the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Ecclestone). This is a sumptuous tale set in 1812 Russia where Rose has her own "War and Peace" moment with the dashing Count Nicolai who is the centre of a time puncture leaking into 2005 Toronto. This story ticked all my buttons, Napoleonic Russia, modern day Canada, excellent witty dialogue and read by the exceptional Rachael Stirling.

Susan Calman is one of my favourite comedians of all time, I absolutely adore her and her work, and is one of my female role models. So I was bouncing off the walls when I found out she was writing one of these stories and is another Doctor Who fan. In her tale, Clara and the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) travel to another planet for a day out and end up trapped inside a deceptive maze. It is full of her trademark humour and I absolutely loved it, the genuine sense of peril from a universal fear we all have...that of getting lost and not finding your way back.

Finally, Dorothy Koomson, the legend (I can't go into detail here how much I love her books as it would be so long it would probably break the internet), rounds up this collection with her modern day story of Bill and the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) when Bill gets more than she bargained for about a clothes shopping trip in anticipation for a date.

In summary, this is a brilliant collection and I would love to see more stories from more writers about more of the female companions of the Doctor. My personal favourites are Martha and Charley Pollard.....just a hint BBC.

[TheGeekProblem · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was delightful to read, fun and short, really light. A collection of 4 short stories with four different companions and four different authors. We have everything for every taste out there!
Do you prefer Classic Who? No worries! We have an adventure in ancient Rome with the 4th Doctor and our magnificent Sarah Jane Smith. This one takes the cake with female empowerment, the villain is a woman with the intelligence to be more but she cannot have anything because she’s a woman, she’s bested by Sarah, who saves the Doctor from trouble (as it’s the duty of a companion) because let’s face it, the Doctor by himself is rubbish.

More of a 9th Doctor fan? No problema! Rose Tyler being clever and helping the Doctor to notice the obvious things that are staring right into his face. Dress up time! She goes to Russia during the 1900's before the Russian Revolution, can you imagine the beautiful Rose Tyler in that get up????? (also, I’m such a shipper, they have some really cute moments)

More of a Moffat era kind of pal? Well, let’s get into shenanigans with Clara Oswald and the Eleventh Doctor while they try to escape an impossible labyrinth.

You prefer underrated companions???? Bill Potts has you covered! Bill being clever and witty solving her own adventure out, helping the Doctor and even being compassionate to the antagonist who’s not really that bad. Just, Bill Potts being the best friend that the Doctor needs warmths my cold dead heart

All of these stories have their own charm, and are truly written for everyone in the fandom. Really light, really fun, ⅗ stars!

[Lucy-May · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I have mixed feelings about this book; the first two stories felt like developed tales, but the last two definitely just felt like short stories without much development. Hm.

Sarah Jane & The Temple of Eyes by Jacqueline Rayner: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rose & The Snow Window by Jenny T. Colgan: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Clara & The Maze of Cui Palta by Susan Calman: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Bill & The Three Jackets by Dorothy Koomson: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Extended Review: https://wp.me/p8MbIo-2vg

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 doctor who short stories. Each well written and fun. No spoilers for any of the shows. Just fun.

[Nikii · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful collection of 4 Doctor Who stories. The first was my favorite--who doesn't love Sarah Jane?

[Melenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stars to the first three stories. Less for the last story.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of many Doctor Who short story collections, this time focusing on four classic Doctor and female companion duos, this is one of the better anthologies.

The first story Sarah Jane and The Temple of Eyes, written by Who Stalwart Jacqueline Rayner, is the highlight of the collection. A nice historical adventure with the Fourth Doctor, this story most vividly brings out the character traits and behaviour of the pair and lands the concept of the female companion saving the Doctor most strongly. Sarah Jane's inner thought processes and actions are most developed here and lead to a believable conclusion. The important messages of female experiences being of equal importance to males ones and how people aren't disabled, it's in fact society that disables them is rather heavy-handedly put, but for a YA novel, it's fine.

Jenny T. Colgan's Rose and The Snow Window is an interesting enough wee story, blending contemporary 2000s Toronto with pre-revolution St. Petersburg in a way that's believable in the universe of DW. It's always nice to see Rose being a driving force of the story, coming up with ideas that the Doctor simply doesn't see. One negative of this story is that Colgan represents the Tenth Doctor as aloof and foolish, a trap that most writers seem to fall into when charactering that incarnation of The Doctor.

By far the weakest of the tetralogy is Susan Calman's Clara and The Maze of Cui Palta. Akin to many DW short stories, this story only ever superficially nods to the traits and behaviours of the characters it follows. There's no particularly deep introspection, action or threat. Swap out Clara and The Eleventh Doctor for generic characters and this would have read the same. An uninteresting premise with a simple solution makes this one highly mediocre.

The final story, Dorothy Koomson's Bill and The Three Jackets, picks the quality back up for the collection's conclusion. I like stories where the companion is separated from The Doctor and has to use their inherent ingenuity alongside the knowledge and skills acquired from their time in the TARDIS to solve a problem. This story does that, alongside also believably bringing in elements from the TV outings to move the plot along. While The Twelfth Doctor's message about a person's inner character being their defining trait rings somewhat hollow thanks to his following actions and there's a rather egregious exposition dump at the end, the characters are well-written and believable for the most part. As a result, it makes for a nice Bill story that does indeed showcase her inner character.

All in all, TDSSTD is an above-average collection. Nowhere near the quality of Thirteen Doctors, 13 Stories and Origins yet also far superior to Tales of Terror and Time Trips, TDSSTD just stands out above other middling DW collections.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this! I will say, the title perhaps led me to expect particularly epic instances of companions very blatantly saving the Doctor, and these are more typical instances of companions being clever and brave, saving the Doctor and/or themselves, and even saving the universe, but in rather low-key ways. And that's fantastic because the point is kind of like, "Yeah, the companions save the Doctor all the time, this isn't unique!" (Also, my darling Clara on the show already went waaaay above and beyond when it comes to Doctor-saving, so there would be no way to top that, would there?)

I enjoyed all four stories and thought all four authors did a great job with the voices of their respective companions and Doctors: Jacqueline Rayner, Sarah Jane/Four; Jenny T. Colgan, Rose/Nine; Susan Calman, Clara/Eleven; and Dorothy Koomson, Bill/Twelve. Funnily enough, though, I think my two favorites were the Clara story and the Bill story, and those were the two written by authors who are pretty much newbies to writing DW.

I loved how the Sarah Jane story referred to things that happened in The Brain of Morbius, but it almost seemed to have too many similar elements to that story.

The Rose story was good, but it's about 10-15 pages longer than the other stories, and I'm not sure it needed to be.

The Clara story just made me really happy, in the way that Clara/Eleven do :):):) I realized after reading that this story is the only one to feature no characters other than the Doctor and the companion, and I'm so glad this was the one. Also, I just really enjoyed Susan Calman's writing style.

The Bill story possibly featured the Doctor the least of all four stories, but it still felt the most like an actual episode of the show, and I zipped through reading it the fastest. Kudos to Dorothy Koomson for giving us Lou, aka the girl Bill gave extra chips.

Yes, it's very odd that Ten isn't in here. When I first heard who the companions were, and that there were four Doctors featured, I thought surely it would be the four (at the time) modern Doctors, and that Ten would be featured with Sarah Jane. I'm delighted that my all-time favorite Doc, Four, is in this book, but.... seriously, where is Ten?! So, it's one star per Doctor/companion, and I guess the thing that could have gotten this up to five stars was a Ten/Donna story.

[Craig Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a variable set of short stories. I got the audiobooks, read by narrators that were also variable.

Sarah and the Fourth Doctor: easily the best of the bunch, as you would expect from Jacqueline Rayner. Paced well, with fully fleshed characters, a mystery antagonist, and for that matter a decent mystery. Narrated so well I stopped listening to the narration and felt like I was watching the action happen.10/10

Clara and the 11th Doctor: this is more an anecdote than a short story. All you have are Clara, the Doctor, the problem and its cause. It could have been quite dull if it wasn’t for this story’s saving grace: the characterisation. Susan Calman’s writing captures the two leads so well that you just enjoy their company for the duration of the story. I have no date that the author was constrained by the space and tried her best, but I think I would much prefer to read something novel length by her. More things to describe and people to have dialogue with would have been nice. 6/10

Bill and the 12th Doctor: this one had the best narrator, she moved the story along without getting in its way and her accent work was convincing without obscuring the dialogue. The story wasn’t the best of the bunch but it stood up well on its own and I would happily read more by the author. Plot wise it was cool, with a suitably alien parasite villain. Once in a while it would be nice if aliens ate steak and salad instead of emotions, personalities or Time stuff.

Rose and 10, at least I think it was 10. This one is almost the exact opposite of Clara’s story. Plenty of descriptive locations, some good characters, and a viable plot (another parasite eating stuff what ain’t food, three out of four for this set). The two lead characters are completely unrecognisable. To the point where I suspect they were written for a different pairing and adapted at the last minute. Bits of Jo and 3, or Ace and 7, but Rose and 10? Nah. 4/10

All in all this was a nice set. Happy to have it on my collection. Glad it is in seperate CDs though because there are a couple I will be revisiting more often than others.

[Nicolas Lontel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un recueil de 4 nouvelles assez inégales (et qui varie vraiment selon le lectorat apparemment).

La première nouvelle de Jacqueline Rayner avec Sarah Jane Smith et le quatrième Docteur était bien intéressante à mon avis, avec une belle réflexion sur le handicap et une Sarah Jane définitivement très proche de l'originale et campée dans l'Antiquité avec quelques réflexions pertinentes sur la place des femmes et le rôle qu'elles jouaient dans la société, mais aussi la religion.

La nouvelle de Jenny T. Colgan avec Rose Tyler et le neuvième Docteur, qui alternait entre Toronto et une Russie à la veille d'une révolution m’interpellait un peu moins, j'avoue ne pas avoir trop compris en quoi Rose avait vraiment sauvé le Docteur plus que d'habitude, on dirait plutôt que ce dernier a sacrifié beaucoup de chose pour l'univers. Le Docteur était aussi dépeint de manière assez large (ou floue) pour que le neuvième ou le dixième Docteur puisse autant être un de deux protagonistes de l'histoire.

La nouvelle de Susan Calman avec Clara Oswald et le onzième Docteur est définitivement destiné à un plus jeune public, les ressorts narratifs étaient beaucoup trop visibles et on savait pas mal comment ça allait se terminer (voir le principe du fusil de Tchekhov).

La dernière nouvelle de Dorothy Koomson avec Bill Potts et le douzième Docteur était peut-être ma préférée puisqu'elle remettait en question la remarque grossophobe du premier épisode où Bill Potts figure dans la série et on découvre un peu plus du personnage de Lou! Doublé d'une aventure où Bill tient vraiment le lead du début à la fin et le Docteur tenant un rôle plutôt passif. La "méchante" de l'histoire a aussi le mérite de plus belles nuances (la nouvelle de Rayner aussi, ce qui me fait dire que les deux sont probablement les plus fortes du recueil).

Une bonne lecture assez plaisante qui se destine probablement à un jeune public toutefois.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great idea, and I'm so glad it was released for International Women's Day. It's not the strongest collection of stories, but there are a lot of highlights, especially as the book continues.

Jacqueline Rayner's Sarah Jane story was probably my least favourite, but it's a very interesting idea, and the characters are really well captured. I feel like my experience of both this and Jenny T Colgan's Rose story were hindered slightly in their reading on the audiobook. Generally it works best when the narrator puts on a voice for the dialogue. Whether they sound like them or not, it helps to capture their essence, and the way the dialogue is meant to be heard. The narrators of Rayner and Colgan's stories don't really do this, and the stories do suffer as a result.

I was also a little confused by Colgan's story, as I wasn't sure whether it was the 9th or 10th Doctor. I probably just missed something, and I've since learnt it's meant to be the 9th, but the characterisation seemed a little bit off. Again, even a bad Northern accent on the audiobook might've helped, but it's a lovely story.

Susan Colman and Dorothy Koomson's stories are my favourites. Colman captured the 11/Clara era really well - and even made me feel nostalgia for it. It, similarly to Rayner's story, doesn't have the strongest plot, but that doesn't matter all that much. It's about the characters and relationships, and Colman gets them spot on. Koomson's story has the best premise, and its characterisation of 12 and Bill is pretty perfect. It was so lovely to have a story focussing on Bill going on a date too, and I'm so glad that's been such a big part of Series 10 and its stories. (Koomson's story is also the best read on the audiobook. Bill's voice sounds really accurate, and it really helps the storytelling.)

[Jess Milner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aw this was so lovely and a great idea - In fact, it's really an idea they should expand on. Do a story for all the girls, I say.

But since there was only four it was a mixed bag for me. The Rose and Bill stories were the best and they also had the most characterisation right. It really felt like the writers knew the characters. They also had the best plots. (And it might have helped that they had the best audiobook narrators and the only narrators who even attempted to do the voices properly.)

This is partly why whilst I didn't mind the Sarah Jane story I didn't warm to the Clara story. She's really part of my least favourite era, however I love Susan Calman so I expected to really like it. I think she was stuck with the arguabley most boring dynamic of new who, aka the weird in between dynamic of Clara and Eleven, which is sort of a shame. This might be my personal opinion on them biasing me though, and also like I said, the narrator for this was a poor pick.

However I think what really saved this collection (and then some) was Bill's story. In just a short amount of time they got all the characters right, the dynamic was lovely, it had a wonderful message. It also gave us Lou, aka the chips girl, and gave her a story and a character - and included Bill adressing her fat shaming, and Lou's body positivity. I mean, this a short story! And yet it captured the whole feeling of series 10 beautifully (and reminded me how much I will miss Twelve and Bill).

All in all I think this is a great addition to the world of Doctor who, and I would read 10 more.

[Mirka · Rating 2 out of 5]

When reading a book called "The Day She Saved the Doctor", I would expect the women to actually save the Doctor rather than be kidnapped or drugged and then by chance come up with a solution for the crisis du jour.

Sarah jane and the Temple of Eyes
I can't really say how accurate the characterization was here, but of the four stories, this one had the least amount of saving the day by the companion. Sarah Jane gets drugged, kidnapped and almost blinded and memory-wiped, and is basically just a bait to lead the Doctor to the villain who turns out to be a woman who is tired of oppression.

Rose and the Snow Window
The best of of the bunch even though Rose's main function in the story is to fall for a Russian gentleman that she has known for about two hours. But at least both Rose and the Doctor sounded and acted like their TV counterparts.

Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta
A story that might have worked as a children's book, a Clara who had nothing in common with Jenna Coleman's Clara and was just a Generic Companion, and a flanderized version of the Eleventh Doctor. Easily my least favourite of the four stories.

Bill and the Three Jackets
An OK story, even if Bill seemed oddly casual about spending money and the girl who she 'fatted up' in the Pilot accepted the existence of aliens and shapeshifters conviniently easily.