The Ripple Effect

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary E-Shorts #7

by Malorie Blackman

When the TARDIS lands on Skaro, the Seventh Doctor and Ace are shocked to discover the planet has become the universal centre of learning, populated by a race of peace-loving Daleks. Ever suspicious of his archenemies' motives, the Doctor learns of a threat that could literally tear the universe apart...

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.

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

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 23, 2013

About the author

An award-winning children's author, Malorie Blackman was honoured with an OBE in 2008. Her work has been adapted for TV and stage.

More information available at:
Myspace
British Council: Contemporary Authors
British Council: Encompass Culture
Channel 4 Learning: Book Box

Reviews

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the seventh book of the 50th Anniversary event presenting 11 short stories featuring the 11 doctors with 11 different companions. The Seventh Doctor is presented with Dorothy Gale McShane a.k.a. "Ace".

The Good

An adventure with Daleks!!! What else can you ask?

I thought to keep hidden this, but since it is clear in the book synopsis that the Daleks appear in the plot, I didn't see any reason of not mentioning it.

The plot is simple but solid and full of strong drama where the Seventh Doctor and Ace argue a lot about the pros and contras of the situation where they are.

The only better than a time travel story, it's an alternate history tale! There is a priceless appeal to stories where the status quo is shaken and you face the implications of events happening in a different way that they supposed to occur.

The Bad

I didn't see as something bad per se, in my personal case, but I think that some readers can feel kinda uneasy since the narrative has a lot of technobabble.

The Odd

It's pretty hard to know when this short story may happen. My best guess is that it happens at some moment after of the classic TV episode Remembrance of the Daleks but before Ghost Light, but I can't be certain.

[Iain Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good effort that falls down on its depiction of the characters (this time of McCoy's doctor and Ace).

I'm really starting to wonder if, when the commissioning editor, or their lackey, 'phoned all these people up the following basic conversation ensued:

EDITOR: Hi, this is xxxx from Puffin. I know this isn't really your thing, but I'm pulling together a series of short novels for the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

AUTHOR: OK. (hesitantly) And you called me because?

EDITOR: Well, as you:

1) are a well known and be loved children's author
2) are a slightly known and/or respected author (not necessarily of children's fiction)
3) once read a book to your nephew/niece at bedtime
4) have a basic grasp of English*

* delete as appropriate

I wondered if you would like to write one?

AUTHOR: Sure. I would love to (to self)...It pays the bills!

AUTHOR's Mind starts whirring with details of their favourite Doctor and how they can make use of:

1) the scarf
2) the sonic screwdriver
3) Bessie
4) UNIT
5) psychic paper
6) the recorder
7) something obscure from the series from around about the time they were watching from behind a sofa*

* delete as appropriate

EDITOR: Great. Well, now you've got that kernel of an idea fixed firmly into your head, I better tell you the hitch. You've got to do (randomly insert name of actor who played the Doctor in a completely different period - when the chosen item either wasn't part of the equation or the AUTHOR wasn't watching). All the others have gone.

AUTHOR: (sadly) Oh... OK... (to self)... Oh well, I suppose I can just write the same thing and ostentatiously use a few trappings from that Doctor. No one will notice.

THE END

It's a real shame. There was so much promise and none of these authors is to blame!

+++++

My reviews of other works in the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary E-Shorts series:

1. A Big Hand for the Doctor
2. The Nameless City
3. The Spear of Destiny
4. The Roots of Evil
5. Tip of the Tongue
6. Something Borrowed
8. Spore
9. The Beast of Babylon

[F.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hooray!

The daleks’ first appearance in this series of tales! A bit surprising really, as we are seven stories in. I wonder what could have kept them. Here our favourite homicidal pepper-pots offer us a riff on the classic series ‘ “Genesis of the Daleks” and the modern series’ “Dalek”. – as well as taking in the supposedly friendly daleks of “The Evil of the Daleks” and “Victory of the Daleks”. Yet even though it's playing with the past it remains very much it's own thing.

(It is interesting to note how often when the good Doctor faces his ultimate enemy the word ‘dalek’ is in the series title, and yet the first episode of each will always end with the money shot of a dalek – like this will be an astounding shock to us in the audience. But I digress...)

Of course with the doctor’s experiences since his first visit to Skaro, it’s easy to see why he holds such a loathing of the daleks. For most part this loathing is justified. And yet when the Doctor happens to meet friendlier daleks – as he does here – the texture of that hatred changes, making it seemingly border on xenophobia. It’s an interesting aspect of his character to explore. After all with evolution and change of circumstances, who knows what the future could bring. But what would the Doctor do with a genuinely pacifist dalek?

“The Ripple Effect” cheered me up after a long day. Given the task of bringing to life one of the great Doctor Who partnerships – The Seventh Doctor and Ace – Blackman definitely rises to the challenge. And that pairing is one which makes any tale a distinct treat.

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really liked this one!


SPOILERS BELOW


Daleks, being NICE?? Yeah, mental that was! Sorry, Ace. Even I was on the Doctor's side when he said all needed to be righted. Who knows what else had been messed up in the universe??

[Kribu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another of the anniversary year short stories where I felt it the story could have used a whole lot more fleshing out.

The Ripple Effect was certainly a perfectly fine little story, but for something that I got the feeling that should have had some effect on the reader, an emotional impact of some sort, it left me to shrug and feel rather indifferent.

Also, and I can't really put my finger on the reasons, but somehow this story felt "younger" to me than the previous stories in this set - not in any particularly bad way, but just, well... part of not feeling quite as satisfying as it could have been.

Anyway, this was the first thing by Blackman that I've read, and while I could have hoped for a bit more, it does make me want to read her original fiction - I've heard nothing but good things about her YA novels.

[Richard Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short and pointless story, that attempts to hint at the darker, less trustworthy Seventh Doctor. The plot itself, in which an alternate timeline needs to be reset, is obvious from the start (including the resolution - of course it will be reset), and even the younger end of the reading spectrum will have no trouble anticipating it if they watch the show regularly. This would have been fine, if the author had held nerve with the central question of the story - should the Doctor reset a timeline where the Daleks are a force for good? What would motivate him to do that, and how much damage and destruction would he be ensuring just by returning things to 'normal'? It's the only interesting idea in the story, and the author shoots it in the head by ensuring the Doctor ultimately has no choice at all. A waste.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this one. I've never seen an episode from the Seventh Doctor's tenure, so I'm ill-equipped to judge Malorie Blackman's character portrayals, but the actual story itself was really interesting and even kind of moving. It was perhaps too big of a story to try to tell in a little e-short, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Definitely looking to check out some more of Blackman's other stuff now.

Only four Doctors left now. I'm still suuuuper curious who's going to get Ten and Eleven.

[Polly Batchelor · Rating 4 out of 5]

“'My dear Ace, not all TARDISes look like police boxes. Only this one does – ever since the old girl's chameleon circuit got a bit stuck.'”

[H.J. Swinford · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pocket universe in which Daleks are friendly!? No way! I liked this one because 1.) Ace and 2.) Ace challenged the Doctor and his seemingly inbred dislike of the Daleks. If the little story could have done more with this challenge, it might have earned 5 stars. As it is, though, it was a fun adventure.

[Emilija · Rating 5 out of 5]

2024 52 Book Challenge; February Mini Challenge 1) By A Black Author In Your Favourite Genre

I thought this was a really well written short story. The characters were all in character and really believable, and the plot was well fleshed out for only being 80ish pages long.

[Iris · Rating 2 out of 5]

ehhh no

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Who - The Ripple Effect is part the of Doctor Who 50th Anniversary 12 Doctors 12 Books series of mini-books. The Ripple Effect features the Seventh Doctor as played on the BBC television series by Sylvester McCoy and his companion Ace (Dorothy McShane). The mini-book opens with the Doctor and Ace in the TARDIS and they are stuck. They are in the space/time equivalent of the Sargasso Sea - becalmed and utterly unable to move. Other ships are also stranded. While the Doctor works on the TARDIS console trying to fix it so they can get out of the time/space trap, Ace watches out the viewing screen at the greyish exterior. Then she suddenly sees the TARDIS. But the Doctor dismisses this as an illusion.
The Doctor makes a desperate move, and the TARDIS is kicked free of the trap. They "auto-land" on a planet, which they soon discover to be Skaro. But rather the home of the militaristic, xenophobic, racist, bullies we know as Daleks - Skaro is home to a race of Daleks who are the center of teaching, medicine, and research for the entire galaxy. People of all races and of all ages come to the Academy on Skaro to learn, study, and do research. Even the Time Lords have come to Skaro to say thanks for the Dalek medical team that saved the life of the Lord President of Gallifrey.
The Doctor, of course, knows this to be wrong. Ace also remembers her own fights against vicious Daleks, but over time she comes to accept the new world she's on, and the new universe.
The Doctor, however, continues to investigate - and although the Daleks are as good as they seem, this alternate universe isn't stable - and in the end, he and Ace must do something about that.
The Ripple Effect is an excellent story, in that it's really about prejudice - the Doctor's previous experiences with evil Daleks make it difficult for him to accept that these Daleks are good. Ace at first agrees with him, but she gradually accepts what she sees with her own eyes, despite her memories, these Daleks are good. Ace even becomes friends with one of the other students - which makes the end even more tragic.
This is an excellent and very short story, as all the other stories in this series are short. Recommended.

[Leilani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ace and the Seventh Doctor are portrayed very generically here, and the plot is both lacking in surprise and overly ambitious for the word count. Ace's developing friendship with one of the locals magically develops in about a sentence, in one of the worst examples of tell-instead-of-show that I've come across in ages. Also, this author must generally write for a much younger audience than the other writers chosen for this series, because the overall tone is much simpler in a kind of condescending way that I hated when I was that age.

I've enjoyed this series overall, but this story was a definite let-down.

[**alex** · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely one of the better written 50th anniversary e-shorts. You can tell Malorie Blackman is either a Doctor Who fan or she actually invested some time in writing the story; most of the previous Doctor stories felt rushed and phoned-in, more like the author wanted an easy paycheck than anything else. Good job, Malorie Blackman! I've officially added a few of your books to my 'to read' list because of this story.

[Vivienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again I am not that familiar with the series featuring the Seventh Doctor and street-savvy companion Ace. However, I felt that Malorie Blackman did a great job with the characters and tackled an ambitious storyline that proved very compelling. It could easily have been the basis of a novel if expanded.

I felt it was one of the best in the series to date.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 rounded up to 4)

Imagine a universe filled with good Daleks. A fundamentally incorrect idea, right? And yet that’s exactly where the Seventh Doctor and Ace find themselves in Malorie Blackman’s “The Ripple Effect”. For what it is, it’s fun enough. But the pacing’s a bit wonky and I’m not sure the characters (Seven, in particular) feel entirely screen-accurate. But the central idea is so good that it does a lot of the heavy lifting all on its own.

The idea of good Daleks is one Doctor Who often flirts with, and Blackman takes it to its natural conclusion here. I only wish she could’ve delved even further into this world. It’s the perfect set up for a two-part Doctor Who extravaganza. So, being confined to a 10k-ish word short story almost feels like a disservice to such an idea. And that awkward pacing is definitely felt. It takes ages for the story to get going, and then it ends almost as quickly as it began. It’s a fun ride, to be sure. But an uneven one.

[Kylle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite refreshing, actually! I'd have thought the first appearance of the Daleks would need a grand entrance, and relatively, it did.

The show often explores very human qualities and personality traits guised in literally otherworldly settings and sci-fi adventures my sister would rather not dive into because she's too cool for that stuff. I liked this story because it makes you question the Doctor's decision to solve the problem, unlike in other episodes and stories where we are led to believe his ideas are clever like magic tricks. In stories like this one, we just wish there was a better way to end the episode, but we trust that the Doctor is right because ??? he is. I miss !!!! this show !!!!!!!!!

Daleks wreak havoc in the Doctor's usual tropes, regardless of what regeneration he's in. This story was no different, and it worked out fine.

[Felecia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of a series of 12 e-shorts, one for each Doctor that was released to celebrate the 50th Anniversary.

This features the Seventh Doctor. I have read the previous 6 and found them enjoyable. The audience was broad (both kids and adults)so some may find them a bit simplistic.

The Doctor and Ace are trapped in a Plexus. They escape to a very different universe.

I like how this one challenges The Doctor's thinking and explores what is right. Ace's humanity is the perfect foil for The Doctor.

[Eduardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Profundo e filosófico.

O conto de Malorie Blackman narra uma aventura da sétima encarnação do Doutor acompanhado de Ace, uma adolescente dos anos 80, em uma situação de paradoxo espaço-tempo. Sua solução leva nosso protagonista a enfrentar um dilema ético de grandes proporções. Com o tom sério como marca em toda a história, “O Efeito de Propagação” me lembrou diversos episódios profundos da nova série, que costumam destacar as duras decisões existentes em ser o Doutor.

[Mary Archer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good Daleks break the universe by the very fact of their existing due to a momentous breach in the time stream. The cause of the rewrite of history perhaps doesn’t hold up. But what breaks the story more than Daleks is an annoying Dr Who companion, Ace. Their whining and arguing with the Doctor causes frustration and impatience in an otherwise decent story of unexpected outcomes and foreign worlds.

[Joe Clegg Prada · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good Daleks is always an interesting story to tell, in whatever form. This one takes the purest route. It being Doctor Who however, this of course simply can’t last. But the reason why fell so goddamn flat, and also completely out of the blue. Shoehorned even. The moral nuances of a story like this have the potential to say a lot more than what Blackman opted for. Promising concept. Poor execution.

[Trin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Seventh Doctor and Ace accidentally fall into an alternate timeline where the Daleks aren't evil, but peaceful and chill. Moral quandaries ensue. And they're actually interesting! I wish we could have lingered in them a bit longer, in fact -- though it's clear Ace will be, and will make sure the Doctor does too.

[Rob Melvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK, but it was So similar to an eighth Doctor audio from just one year earlier it borders on wholesale plagiarism. I rated it as high as I did because it was decently written, the characters were good and it was different enough that I didn't know EVERYTHING that was going to happen. It still baffles me how it got published. Someone at some point in the process had to be aware of the Big Finish story, and nobody said anything?

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this is the thing that doctor who was made for! To ask scientist questions about what would happen if you mess with the flow with time, and if that mess actually made the universe better or not. The author did a fantastic job here! Bravo 👏 👏

[Maj · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional short Who story which would definitely make a great (modern day) episode of the TV show proper.

[Cori · Rating 4 out of 5]

2018 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge - A book set on a different planet

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is making me feel things. I don't like it. *frowns*

[rené lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was fantastic! I think it captured the struggle of a Time Lord perfectly.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story about the seventh doctor,Ace and nice daleks. Good characters and setting.

[Ronald Schoedel III · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe my favorite of the shorts so far. I wasn’t familiar with her work until this novella, but the engaging story and quality of writing has put me onto Ms Blackman’s work.