Doctor Who: The Monster in the Cupboard

Doctor Who: The Decades Collection #5

by Kalynn Bayron

Lily thinks there's a monster in her house, hiding the cupboard.

The monster is made of immense light and power, she says, and it's taken her mum and brother. So when a chance refuel lands the Doctor and Rose right on Lily's doorstep, they both agree she needs their help.

It's a search that will take them from the Cardiff Rift right back to another disappearance, many years ago...

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Adult

85 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 2023

Reviews

[Bill]

The Doctor & Rose try & help a young girl who claims that a monster has taken her mum & younger brother.
The author has a good feel for Christopher Eccleston's Doctor & while there's nothing groundbreaking here it's still an enjoyable adventure.

[Sarah Bowyer]

My least favourite out of the ‘Decades’ collection- I feel that 9 was characterised to be a little too mean in this novel and Rose was a bit too virtuous in comparison. Also I don’t know if I missed something but why was the Cardiff man included who is he??!?

[Kelsey Hayes]

Oh boy, this was dull. Very predictable and easily solved mystery.

My favorite quote "We were able to get out, maybe he did too?"
YOU GOT OUT BECAUSE YOU HAVE A TARDIS.

[S.E. Martens]

It's been awhile since I've rewatched the Ninth Doctor's series, but I don't remember him being as cold as Bayron portrays him here.

To jump straight to killing the interdimensional beings and not try to communicate with them at all seems very un-Doctory to me. He likes to give everyone a chance.

Also, he doesn't even want to try to save Lily's mother and little brother from the lightning beings? That's odd. I know he suspects they might have been killed, but he acts as though trying to save them would be a major inconvenience. He only ends up saving them because Lily and Rose interfere and get sucked into the other dimension. This entire book reads like the only person in the universe he cares about is Rose and - as much as I like Rose - that doesn't sit right with me.

Case in point, he gets snappish that Rose saves another person from the beings. "You and your bleeding heart, Rose,"" (p.74) Um, what? Also, who was that random man? Where did he even come from?

This was an odd one and, unfortunately, didn't really work for me.

[ella :33]

that would actually make for an amazing dw episode I so wish 9 got more episodes. anyways rose mention guys my wife fr !!

[Anka]

This didn't feel like a Nine x Rose story at all. It resembled the episode with Charles Dickens but it all felt off somehow. Do not recommend

[Kay]

FRICKIN GREAT

[Tom Prater]

Just so uninspiringly meh

[Richard]

3.5 ⭐ out of 5.

A nice little tale with Rose and the Ninth Doctor that perfectly captures the voice and fairy tale-esque nature of the first season of Modern Who.

Decent read for a Doctor Who fan.

[Ryan]

Rating: 3.5 / 5

An enjoyable tale, involving the rift and disappearances of a small girls family. Told from the perspective of the young girl, we've the mystery of the Doctor and Rose appearing from nowhere to solve a mystery.

The story itself, as enjoyable as it was, felt like it could have been abit longer.

The Doctor in this, felt very early days with Rose, it's been a while since I watched the 9th Doctor Series, however there were scenes which left me rather shocked at how blunt he could be at times, not being as remorseful as he usually is, it's therefore down to Rose to remind him of who he is.

[Chelsea-anne Kennedy]

The 9th Doctor and Rose must help a little girl, as her mum and brother have been taken by the monster in the cupboard.

This is a great story, while listening to it, I could picture it all. It feels like an episode they forgot to film. It doesn't surprise me that Kalynn Bayron wrote this, as she is a very skilled writer, especially at creating atmosphere. This is a story that brings back that fear of the monster under the bed and its a great audiobook, the narrator Ayesha Antoine aids the story.

[Jon Arnold]

Fairly straightforward, somewhat reminiscent of Fear Her in places.

[Alice]

This does not compare to the older DW stories. An interesting idea and monster but too little of the Doctor's wit and charm.

[Hidekisohma]

Well, it's been a hot minute since I read a 9th doctor story. mainly cause....well they haven't really written them recently. and honestly, i had a pretty good time with this one.

For all intents and purposes, this is a glorified short story. it's ~85 pages long. that's not what even what i'd call a novella. but still, it was able to tell a concise story and get some good action in it. So i can't complain.

This story is essentially about a girl whose brother and mom disappear. Rose and 9 show up and you learn that essentially energy creatures are behind it.

The main girl in the story, for being a kid isn't too annoying and actually serves a purpose, Rose and 9 are pretty on point for their characterization, the author definitely leaning a bit more into the grumbly aspect of 9, but still in character. The villains of course only being in an 85 page book didn't really have time to develop, so it's definitely more of a 'monster of the week' style, that 9 was famous for.

But, here's the big thing. and this is the important part. this story ACTUALLY STARS 9 AND ROSE. i know this SHOULDN'T be a big deal, but considering the 1st doctor one was absolutely trash in which 1 didn't even show up in the entire story, this is a HUGE improvement. I can't believe the bar i'm at is "is the doctor in the book?" that REALLY shouldn't be the bar. but sadly it is.

Even though the bar was lowered for this one, i still had fun. It had a nice ending, the characters were fun, it had a good monster of the week, and despite being so short, the plot ran smoothly.

Definitely some fun to be had in this one. 3.5 out of 5 rounded up to a 4.

[Alyx Payge]

The second I'm reading from the Doctor Who Decades Collection and it uses its decade much less well than the previous (Wannabees by Dave Rudden). This is a very standard Doctor Who story that could have taken place in any year post 1930s with only slight details needing to be changed in order to make it fit. It feels like a missed opportunity, especially given the theming of this collection.

The prose was pretty straightforward, perhaps ostensibly because this was from the point of view of a child and Bayron wanted this to reflect that. It still felt a bit prosaic to me even bearing this possibility in mind.

I also feel like the book did not have a good handle on Nine and Rose. Nine was yes abrasive and more closed hearted than most other Doctors but here he comes across as unnecessarily cruel. He had rough edges but they are a little too rough here and it feels off-putting.

[Nicholas Whyte]

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-monster-in-the-cupboard-a-2000s-story-by-kalynn-bayron/

Young protagonist teams up with the Ninth Doctor and Rose to rescue mum and brother from the monster which, er, lives in the cupboard. A number of implausibilities in the story’s own terms, and I wasn’t very satisfied with the characterisation of the Doctor either. A bit more skippable than the rest.

[Neveah]

This is distinctly okay, with my main issue being that not much happens, really. There's a monster of the week, the Doctor does some stuff, and it gets sorted out. There's also an infuriating 'one village on the planet' moment when the TARDIS rescues everyone because it knew just where to go (because there's only one village/location/encounter/town/group of people on the planet - a lazy trope that cirtually every science fiction writer seems to fall into). Ah well.

[Tams]

I really enjoyed this quick read.
Kalynn Bayron managed to capture Eccleston’s Doctor and Rose so perfectly, I could picture Billy Piper interacting with Lily.

It was a simple plot, but then that fits perfectly with being a standalone Doctor Who story. I could easily imagine this being an episode in series 1 of NuWho. I love that the narrator is Lily instead of Rose or the Doctor.

As a Whovian and Kalynn Bayron fan, I loved it.

[Kieran McAndrew]

When the Ninth Doctor and Rose try to charge the TARDIS over the Cardiff rift they meet Lily, whose mother and brother have disappeared after seeing a monster in the cupboard.

Bayron's story is very much in the vein of the Ninth Doctor TV series, where the monsters are found in the everyday. The child narrator is a nice touch.

[K]

戸棚から出てきたモンスターに弟と母親を連れ去られたリリィ。しかし警官に言っても信じてもらえず同居している祖母も話は信じるというものの何かできるわけでもなく困惑するばかり。そこにローズとドクターが現れ、ローズに事情をきかれリリィは弟と母親がモンスターにさらわれた話をする。

リリィ目線で語られる。一緒に助けられたカーディフからさらわれ最終的にローズの懇願で助けてもらえたモンスター犠牲の見本にされつつ態度が横柄な男性がなんか嫌な空気を醸し出すだけでそれ以上でも以下でもないキャラで(エネルギー吸われまくって死にかけてたのだから責めるのも気の毒なのかもしれないけれども...)、他のキャラからもうざがられてたのでなんか嫌な性格付けとかいらんかったんちゃう？みたいな。

[Daniel Kukwa]

I'd bump this up to 3.5 stars -- the plot isn't anything to write home about, but the 9th Doctor & Rose are captured about as well as I've ever experienced in prose. I find that, like the 2nd Doctor, the 9th can seem very elusive on the page...but this book manages to hit the character dead on. To say nothing of making Rose not feel whiny and annoying...

[DayDreamer8912]

3.8/5
This story for me it is a little too short. Was hoping for more but it was fun to read Doctor and Rose helping Lily and her Nan to find back Lily's mother and brother. The monster had captured them both and was using them to suck out live in them so the monster can live which the Doctor is trying to capture and destroy them.

Can't wait to read the last book of this series.

[Clare]

A solid if simple tale with the Doctor handling problems caused by the Rift beyond Cardiff. There's one element of the story that didn't ring true for me; if something unexplained and terrible happened in a room in the past, would you put a loved one in there, when you clearly have rooms to spare?

[N D]

Definitely could have been a nice episode of the show, The 9th Doctor’s characterization doesn't feel correct, it’s pretty surface level “I’m grumpy” without the nuance. Otherwise solid quick read, great point of view.

[Allyn]

UM YES PLEASE

[Lindsey Cook]

Good short story.

[Helen Marsden]

Excellent and with the 9th doctor a fav of mine.

[Ari Lola]

Rose and nine back is all I want. Rose her interactions was so cute with the kid. Good villain too. Only one star less because the way the doctor was written was a bit all over the place at times.

[Crystal]

DNF. couldnt get into it. Was very boring and slow.

[Jennifer Baratta]

Thank you Narrators for telling this story.