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Doctor Who 50th Anniversary E-Shorts #6
Something Borrowed
A wedding on the planet Koturia turns out to be a far more dangerous proposition than the Sixth Doctor and Peri ever expected. It marks the return of a formidable old foe whose genius matches the Doctor’s. Can the Doctor outwit this villain, save Peri and stop the wedding in time?
Eleven Doctors, eleven months, eleven stories: a year-long celebration of Doctor Who! The most exciting names in children's fiction each create their own unique adventure about the time-travelling Time Lord.
Eleven Doctors, eleven months, eleven stories: a year-long celebration of Doctor Who! The most exciting names in children's fiction each create their own unique adventure about the time-travelling Time Lord.
40 pages, ebook
First published June 23, 2013
5 people are currently reading
932 people want to read
About the author
Richelle Mead
106 books69.4k followersScorpio Richelle Mead is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy books for both adults and teens. Originally from Michigan, Richelle now lives in Seattle, Washington where she works on her three series full-time: Georgina Kincaid, Dark Swan, and Vampire Academy.
A life-long reader, Richelle has always loved mythology and folklore. When she can actually tear herself away from books (either reading or writing them), she enjoys bad reality TV, traveling, trying interesting cocktails, and shopping for dresses. She's a self-professed coffee addict and has a passion for all things wacky and humorous.
A life-long reader, Richelle has always loved mythology and folklore. When she can actually tear herself away from books (either reading or writing them), she enjoys bad reality TV, traveling, trying interesting cocktails, and shopping for dresses. She's a self-professed coffee addict and has a passion for all things wacky and humorous.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
February 21, 2023
“Now prove you’re the alleged man of honour you play, and give me the crystal!”
Narrated by Sophie Aldred
The story is told from Peri's perspective which confused me was that Aldred was reading rather than Nicola Bryant. But dam does Aldred do an almost perfect impression.
'Something Borrowed' is about a planet that is a clone of L:as Vegas but instead of crude weddings they are grand. The Doctor and Peri attend the wedding of an old friend of the Doctor's where they end up meeting The Rani. I enjoyed the story and I was glad of the return of The Rani and I still hope one day it will happen on screen.
Narrated by Sophie Aldred
The story is told from Peri's perspective which confused me was that Aldred was reading rather than Nicola Bryant. But dam does Aldred do an almost perfect impression.
'Something Borrowed' is about a planet that is a clone of L:as Vegas but instead of crude weddings they are grand. The Doctor and Peri attend the wedding of an old friend of the Doctor's where they end up meeting The Rani. I enjoyed the story and I was glad of the return of The Rani and I still hope one day it will happen on screen.
January 6, 2016
This is the sixth book of the 50th Anniversary event of 11 short stories of Doctor Who featuring the 11 doctors with 11 different companions. Now it's the turn of the Sixth Doctor and his companion is Peri Brown.
The Good
First, I liked a lot the creative choice of Richelle Mead, the author, of having Peri Brown, the Doctor's companion, as the narrator of the short story. I think that it feels natural that the stories would be read from the point of view of the companions. I don't know if this has been used before but certainly I wouldn't mind to read another books in this style.
Also, Richelle Mead knew how to portrait the Sixth Doctor, which isn't an easy doctor to write about. If you do it well, it will be awesome, but if you didn't do it well, it can be disastrous. It's funny how the Sixth Doctor was seen as complicated and turbulent, having one of the shortest runs compared to other doctors, since honestly I think that the Sixth Doctor's characterization was quite visionary since now it's very common to have central characters in TV series with a dark personality and lack of subtlety combined with a high intelect (some examples can be: House, M.D., Breaking Bad, Hannibal, The Blacklist, etc...) Of course, the trick is knowing how to balance it to avoid to alienate the audience from the character.
The Villain: It's not new, and I can't tell who is to avoid spoiling but you'll love the choice of the author for the villain in this short story.
Since the Sixth Doctor always only has one companion at a time, and the particular companion for the short story is Peri Brown, with that and some facts while reading the short story, one can assume that the adventure is taking place at some moment after of the classic TV episode The Two Doctors but before of The Mysterious Planet.
The plot is really good, simple but at the same time quite interesting and proposing a very relevant concept in the lore of Doctor Who.
The Bad
Nothing!
The Odd
Also nothing!
The Good
First, I liked a lot the creative choice of Richelle Mead, the author, of having Peri Brown, the Doctor's companion, as the narrator of the short story. I think that it feels natural that the stories would be read from the point of view of the companions. I don't know if this has been used before but certainly I wouldn't mind to read another books in this style.
Also, Richelle Mead knew how to portrait the Sixth Doctor, which isn't an easy doctor to write about. If you do it well, it will be awesome, but if you didn't do it well, it can be disastrous. It's funny how the Sixth Doctor was seen as complicated and turbulent, having one of the shortest runs compared to other doctors, since honestly I think that the Sixth Doctor's characterization was quite visionary since now it's very common to have central characters in TV series with a dark personality and lack of subtlety combined with a high intelect (some examples can be: House, M.D., Breaking Bad, Hannibal, The Blacklist, etc...) Of course, the trick is knowing how to balance it to avoid to alienate the audience from the character.
The Villain: It's not new, and I can't tell who is to avoid spoiling but you'll love the choice of the author for the villain in this short story.
Since the Sixth Doctor always only has one companion at a time, and the particular companion for the short story is Peri Brown, with that and some facts while reading the short story, one can assume that the adventure is taking place at some moment after of the classic TV episode The Two Doctors but before of The Mysterious Planet.
The plot is really good, simple but at the same time quite interesting and proposing a very relevant concept in the lore of Doctor Who.
The Bad
Nothing!
The Odd
Also nothing!
March 30, 2016
A pretty disappointing romp with the sixth Doctor.
Uninteresting story, poor excuse for action, poor character interaction.
Almost had to force myself to continue with this one.
Uninteresting story, poor excuse for action, poor character interaction.
Almost had to force myself to continue with this one.
June 24, 2013
The sixth Doctor’s reign on TV was so obnoxious, violent and lacking in charm that it seemed beyond saving. Watching Colin baker and Nicola Bryant/Bonnie Langford (the former probably ill served by her material/the latter almost certainly wouldn’t make Shakespeare look good) go from nihilistic, bleak scenario to nihilistic, bleak scenario was truly soul destroying. It was almost as if the men behind it had no understanding of the show at all, or else were in the league with The Master (or more likely, ITV) to destroy it. However subsequent to Baker’s reign, it seems as if the various books and radio plays have gone some way to revitalise The Sixth Doctor’s incarnation, turning it into something less dark, less bleak and altogether more palatable to the soul.
This month’s anniversary tale is indeed quite sweet. The doctor’s blustering arrogance seems close to charming, while his bickering with Peri (the narrator here) is more gentle and with less edge. The best comparison I can think of is Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn in space, and there can be no higher compliment than that when it comes to bickering. Richelle Mead’s plot is suitably mad and brought a big smile to my geekish face – concerning as it does prehistoric creatures, weddings in an intergalactic version of Las Vegas and The Rani. Like a lot of Baker (2) tales, it does lean a bit heavily on regenerations, but this is a charming delight of an adventure which made me feel very fond of that garishly dressed man with the blonde curly hair and his faux American companion.
This month’s anniversary tale is indeed quite sweet. The doctor’s blustering arrogance seems close to charming, while his bickering with Peri (the narrator here) is more gentle and with less edge. The best comparison I can think of is Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn in space, and there can be no higher compliment than that when it comes to bickering. Richelle Mead’s plot is suitably mad and brought a big smile to my geekish face – concerning as it does prehistoric creatures, weddings in an intergalactic version of Las Vegas and The Rani. Like a lot of Baker (2) tales, it does lean a bit heavily on regenerations, but this is a charming delight of an adventure which made me feel very fond of that garishly dressed man with the blonde curly hair and his faux American companion.
June 24, 2013
As with all the previous Doctor Who 50th anniversary short stories, Something Borrowed was also a little too short for me to truly feel satisfied, but in spite of the short length, this was a nice, complete, self-sustained tale which managed to have a decent plot as well as good characterisation of both the Sixth Doctor as well as Peri.
The warm, often-frustrating but also endearing arrogance of Six was especially well realised in just a few paragraphs here and there, and Peri, as the narrator, came off as a more fully rounded character than in many of her televised stories.
The warm, often-frustrating but also endearing arrogance of Six was especially well realised in just a few paragraphs here and there, and Peri, as the narrator, came off as a more fully rounded character than in many of her televised stories.
June 15, 2016
That was fantastic, actually.
September 24, 2016
Celkom fajn :)
June 23, 2013
Probably the best one of the six released so far, manages to characterise Peri and the Sixth Doctor well and good story
October 22, 2013
Another well-written and fun e-Short featuring a classic Doctor Who foe, the Rani!
March 14, 2022
This book is the definition of meh
December 1, 2022
Meh. I have nothing to say about this one. Probably isn't the writer's fault; Six just does nothing for me.
August 6, 2014
I've been watching the Sixth Doctor stories lately so I thought it was about time to read this. Richelle Mead, one of the few authors of this series who I am not familiar with, did a fantastic job with a challenging Doctor to write for.
The plot is pretty good, very Sixth Doctor-ish. The Doctor and Peri arrive in an alien city which models itself on Las Vegas. A local man is about to marry the love of his life and undergo a form of change not altogether dissimilar to regeneration. But who is this woman and why are there pterodactyls causing havoc? The idea of an alien society fits in excellently with other Sixth Doctor stories and the villain is a classic who was introduced in the same era.
Mead really nailed the characterization here. Interestingly she chose to write the story in the first person, from Peri's point of view, and this unusual technique for a Doctor Who story worked well. Peri was well portrayed, as was the often frosty relationship between her and the Doctor. She even managed to avoid doing what many of the TV writers did, making the Doctor egotistical and ruthless without keeping his Doctor-ish qualities. Mead has a Sixth Doctor here who is very Doctor-ish but still egotistical and ruthless like the incarnation was.
This was a perfect short story for the series. It both celebrated the Sixth Doctor's era excellently whilst remaining an enjoyable story in it's own right. Well done Richelle Mead!
The plot is pretty good, very Sixth Doctor-ish. The Doctor and Peri arrive in an alien city which models itself on Las Vegas. A local man is about to marry the love of his life and undergo a form of change not altogether dissimilar to regeneration. But who is this woman and why are there pterodactyls causing havoc? The idea of an alien society fits in excellently with other Sixth Doctor stories and the villain is a classic who was introduced in the same era.
Mead really nailed the characterization here. Interestingly she chose to write the story in the first person, from Peri's point of view, and this unusual technique for a Doctor Who story worked well. Peri was well portrayed, as was the often frosty relationship between her and the Doctor. She even managed to avoid doing what many of the TV writers did, making the Doctor egotistical and ruthless without keeping his Doctor-ish qualities. Mead has a Sixth Doctor here who is very Doctor-ish but still egotistical and ruthless like the incarnation was.
This was a perfect short story for the series. It both celebrated the Sixth Doctor's era excellently whilst remaining an enjoyable story in it's own right. Well done Richelle Mead!
September 12, 2021
Something Borrowed is a short story written by Richard Mead and is a part of the year-long celebration for the fiftieth anniversary for Doctor Who (2013). This short story is the sixth installment of what would eventually be twelve parts – one for each Doctor. Something Borrowed focuses on the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker).
This short story was written really well and oddly written from the perspective of Peri Brown, one of the Doctor's companions, which isn't a bad thing, just not what I was expecting. Mead wrote the Sixth Doctor rather well. Baker's Doctor seemed darker and ruthless for that time period, but Mead successfully written him as the lovable Doctor with hints of egotism and ruthlessness. From what I know about Peri Brown, she seems to be written well too.
All in all, Something Borrowed was a well written short story. I got to know the Sixth Doctor a tad better, albeit from the point of view from Peri Brown. However, he seemed to be written in character, which I was glad about.
This short story was written really well and oddly written from the perspective of Peri Brown, one of the Doctor's companions, which isn't a bad thing, just not what I was expecting. Mead wrote the Sixth Doctor rather well. Baker's Doctor seemed darker and ruthless for that time period, but Mead successfully written him as the lovable Doctor with hints of egotism and ruthlessness. From what I know about Peri Brown, she seems to be written well too.
All in all, Something Borrowed was a well written short story. I got to know the Sixth Doctor a tad better, albeit from the point of view from Peri Brown. However, he seemed to be written in character, which I was glad about.
October 11, 2014
Something Borrowed was the sixth Doctor story for the series of e-books published for the 50th anniversary. What was most remarkable about this story was that it was written from the point of view of the Doctor’s companion Peri Brown and I have to say that this is possible the best that Peri has ever been written probably even better than she was in the show itself because for once she was a young American female character written by a young American female author which gave the character a life that she really hadn’t had before. The story itself was ok, and the unmasking of the true villain of the piece wasn’t really that much of a shock, but it was true to its era and was well written. I am not sure that the portrayal of the Doctor was that great, but the writer did a really good job with the character of Peri.
December 29, 2013
Awesome. Great setting, perfect characterization, best possible villain for Six to encounter again, and did I mention the characterization? Because this is written from Peri's POV and I loved it, and she and Six were on perfect snarky, funny form - which wasn't something I ever said when watching their TV stories. A delight to enjoy this so much!
August 22, 2017
I finally made it to the sixth story and by far this one was the best out of the six stories. I might've had a couple tincy problems but this story was true to their characters (or at least I hope, I've seen Six), it had a fully fleshed location and culture and even though it was a little short, it made for a nice short story Doctor Who adventure.
I can clearly see Colin Baker's doctor in this story and the first person perspective of Peri felt like Peri from what I've seen. The story had a clear beginning, middle and end, it had enough of the Sixth Doctor to satisfy Baker fans and the story was very much something that could've been a DW episode.
I don't know much about The Rani but I did like her through this story. The author allowed nice summaries to explain elements about certain aspects or characters, including the Rani herself. So for people like me, it was a lot easier to understand the basis of the story.
Of course, the ending was slightly uneventful with more of a one on one between the Doctor and Rani and the story could be a little too descriptive to the point of being confusing. However, I have given it five stars because it has indeed been the best out of all six stories so far. This one is quite worth the read.
I can clearly see Colin Baker's doctor in this story and the first person perspective of Peri felt like Peri from what I've seen. The story had a clear beginning, middle and end, it had enough of the Sixth Doctor to satisfy Baker fans and the story was very much something that could've been a DW episode.
I don't know much about The Rani but I did like her through this story. The author allowed nice summaries to explain elements about certain aspects or characters, including the Rani herself. So for people like me, it was a lot easier to understand the basis of the story.
Of course, the ending was slightly uneventful with more of a one on one between the Doctor and Rani and the story could be a little too descriptive to the point of being confusing. However, I have given it five stars because it has indeed been the best out of all six stories so far. This one is quite worth the read.
October 28, 2018
Aventura acertada e aprofundada na mitologia da série.
“Algo Emprestado” de Richelle Mead conseguiu criar em mim empatia pelo sexto Doutor, reconhecidamente a encarnação mais antipática. A autora usa sua companion como olhar narrador, permitindo uma análise mais reflexiva e simpática do Doutor. A inserção de um planeta, uma raça e uma personagem do mesmo período da série de TV mostra o cuidado que teve em ambientar sua história ao cânone, e de forma não gratuita.
“Algo Emprestado” de Richelle Mead conseguiu criar em mim empatia pelo sexto Doutor, reconhecidamente a encarnação mais antipática. A autora usa sua companion como olhar narrador, permitindo uma análise mais reflexiva e simpática do Doutor. A inserção de um planeta, uma raça e uma personagem do mesmo período da série de TV mostra o cuidado que teve em ambientar sua história ao cânone, e de forma não gratuita.
July 7, 2021
Fun and quirky sixth doctor story that takes place on the koturian homeworld and features peri and a villain that the doctor has bumped into before. I really enjoyed the concept of the koturians phasing ceremony and it made really interesting reading about how the villain wanted to manipulate this process to benefit them. This was really good considering I hadn't read a lot about the sixth doctor.
June 7, 2023
On the bright side, the Sixth Doctor and Perri feel fairly true to their TV counterparts. And the story is mostly fun in its own right. But it’s also kind of bland. Using the Rani makes for a nice change of pace, but the story doesn’t really do anything with her, her plan, or the rest of the supporting cast. And so, it ends up feeling rather generic. Not terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but nothing to write home about either.
March 15, 2018
Açıkçası 4. ve 5. kısa hikayelere göre çok daha iyi. Colin Baker ın o fazla renkli kıyafetini düşününce karakter baya gerçekçi geldi. Başka bir Gallifreyan olan Rani'den bahsedilmesi ise ayrı bir güzel. Kafamda bu hikayeleri okurken, başka kitapların arasında bir bölüm dw izlemiş etkisi yaratmalarını bekliyordum. Bu tam öyle bir etki yaratıp uzaklaştı/
January 6, 2024
Spritely and fun Sixth Doctor adventure, featuring pterodactyls, Space Vegas, and the Rani. This is the right kind of wackiness, with some good banter between the Doctor and Peri, who also narrates. Six may still be the Doctor I've seen the least of (for good reason) but I am glad he can be redeemed in EU-type media.
March 14, 2025
This was a fun and interesting story. I’m not super well versed in classic Who stories, and I had never read anything with a particular villain character (won’t spoil it) so I was a bit surprised. My book edition, the one with the outfits as cover, had a mistake: the Third Doctor’s silhouette on the third page instead of the Sixth’s! I guess the curly hair confused some designer.
September 6, 2022
A simple short but one that keeps you held throughout. Another Doctor and companion I know very little about, and was glad to get to know thanks to the charismatic writing of Mead. Also a great villain I’d never heard of before! One that deserves some new airtime…
May 9, 2018
3.75* rating.
January 19, 2020
I thought it was gonna be bad but it wasn't. I was pleasantly surprised. Still, not that good.
October 22, 2020
The story had potential, but I think this regeneration of The Doctor is just too annoying to enjoyed.
March 3, 2022
I wasn't a fan 😕
December 9, 2023
Meeting an old foe is always fun, just anticipating what mischief they would do this time…
April 24, 2024
It was good and creative.
November 2, 2024
It was an interesting new adventure
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews