The Wintertime Paradox: Festive Stories from the World of Doctor Who

Doctor Who New Series anthologies

by Dave Rudden

Christmas can mean anything . . .

For Missy, it's solving murders in 1909.

For a little girl in Dublin, it's Plasmavores knocking at the door.

For Davros, it's a summons from the Doctor, who needs the mad inventor's help.

The perfect collection for the bleakest - and sometimes brightest - time of the year, these are the tales for when you're halfway out of the dark . . .

Written by popular children's author, and lifelong Doctor Who fan, Dave Rudden, author of Twelve Angels Weeping.

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

448 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2020

About the author

I began my arts career as a storyteller in Dublin at nights like The Monday Echo and Milk & Cookies, before realising that it might be a good idea to try writing some of this stuff down.

From then, it was submitting to journals and anthologies, getting rejections, and then occasionally getting accepted by nice places like Bare Hands, the Stinging Fly and The Quotable.

In 2013 I won the Fantasy Book Review Short Story Prize, which was lovely, and I’ve had short stories short-listed for the Hennessy New Writing Award and the Bath Short Story Prize. I graduated from the UCD Creative Writing Masters with the first chapter of what would become Knights of the Borrowed Dark and signed with rockstar agent Clare Wallace of the Darley Anderson Children’s Agency soon after.

Since then, I’ve released the second two books in the KOTBD trilogy, written Doctor Who books for the BBC, and written plays and TV and music videos and RPGs .

I teach creative writing at UCD, currently serve as DCU’s Artist in Residence, and have travelled to more than nine hundred schools and libraries all over the world to talk about writing, mental health, and monsters. I also have two new series coming in 2025.

Follow me on Twitter at @d_ruddenwrites or on TikTok at @daveruddenwrites

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's such a neat idea to have an anthology collection written by just one author.
I've heard Dave Rudden describing this as his chance to create a 12 story season but with the benefit of having all the different eras to pick from, that perfectly describes this collection.

Admittedly it's very modern series heavy with his choice of Doctors, though each story is littered with multiple references to the past which long term fans will enjoy.

The placing of the stories seem to fit perfect aswell.
The opener of a newly regenerated Ten with Rose visiting a panto about Time Lord history was fun.
Whilst a cluster of Classic Doctor's midway through was a nice addition, the Plasmavore entry was practically Doctor-lite though!!

Oddly it's the stories focusing on Osgood, Missy and The Paternoster Gang that are the most memorable.
The later always seem to fit the festive setting.

Coinciding with publication there has been another story released on-line that included Time Lord Victorious, many of the themes of this set resonates with those releases.
It will be interesting to see if they all eventually connect.

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Posted 16th October 2020)

So... I've had this little review typed up for like a week now. I was privileged to get an early look at the book and here within lie my - admittedly probably messily expressed - thoughts on the anthology.

I would just like to say that I am bad at wording things, and at discussing "quality" of things, so this is purely all about enjoyment levels.

So, here we are with another excellent anthology by Irish author Dave Rudden, a man who can only be described as a viking pulled out of his native time and plopped onto a chair somewhere to grace us with an imagination ahead of his time. And that's exactly what this book is to me.

It would not be remiss to say that Dave truly understands the DNA of a good Doctor Who story, and like some mad scientist working away in a lab, he has discovered new ways to take this DNA, to take a good Who story, and add some new traits to it, to evolve it.

You will find within a lovely spread of Who elements throughout, some of these stories with surprising character combinations and references to some of the furthest edges of the Who mythos. There really is something for everyone. But it's not all about the lore. There are also stories that really aim to touch the heart in unexpected ways. For me, while the former is always exciting, it's the latter that really draws in me.

Two of my favourite stories in this anthology are Father of the Daleks and The Paradox Moon, and both of those stories really do tug at the heartstrings.

In Father of the Daleks, we are treated to a touching tale of Davros discovering the true meaning of Christmas, and it's the Doctor (but probably not the one you were expecting) that guides this enemy old friend through the winter holiday and what it really means. If you don't have time to read the whole book right now, please find a slice of personal time to sit down and open up to this story. You really won't regret it.

And with The Paradox Moon, well... As any fan of Doctor Who will know, the Doctor doesn't always make the best decisions, but what we can probably all agree on is that the Doctor always tries their best to make up for them. Here we have the Doctor taking a deep look at the power of choices, and the consequences those choices can have.

So... how to conclude? Well, for one, we are blessed to have a show and a character that show us anything is possible. The real question is: Dave, when's the next book? I need more.

[Anne-Laure Tuduri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well. I’m not one to write reviews often, but this is a book I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, and I wanted to at least put a few of those thoughts into words.

I already loved Rudden’s first anthology, Twelve Angels Weeping, and this one just blew me away even more.

As with every anthology, there’s some stories I liked a bit less, and some a lot more. I really loved how it went through the various Doctors, and, a rare thing for me, I even enjoyed how the theme of Christmas was weaved throughout the stories!

My standouts this time are probably “Father of the Daleks”, because that is a definitive take on Davros if I’ve ever read one if I’m being honest, and “Paradox Moon” for not only having a wonderful 13 (whom I love a whole lot) but plenty to love for someone who loves Faction Paradox.

I also really enjoyed “A Day to Yourselves”, and how it reflected on 9 and his trauma from the Time War, as well as being honestly hilarious in places. And “A Girl Called Doubt” telling the story from the point of view of one the destroyed planets in those big galactic wars so often dropped? I loved that, but then I do love when story deal with the more mundane consequences of big, universe shattering events, and stuff like remembering how streets should be, craving for the trees that have been blown up, it’s a nice human touch. Plus facing 5 against the cybermen is always very interesting.

I enjoyed a bit less Missing Habitas Frond, while Missy was as delightful as ever, I felt it didn’t tie as much with the rest of the theme of book, and there was a few unresolved thread in there which had me a bit disappointed.

Overall, what an amazing read! I can’t wait to see what’s next in store from this author tbh

[Maja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the perfect book to finish the year on. It is a wonderful winter atmosphere which plays throughout and explores the deeper meaning of Christmas including how those themes relate to the Doctor. This can mean chapters that are full of fun as well as chapters which are full of heart aching moments. It’s one of those rare books which can make you feel homesick for somewhere that you have never been and Rudden does an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere of Doctor Who. The universe feels so expansive, detailed and immersive that you wish you could stay there for ever. That being said, I do feel that he loses his grasp on some of the characters at certain points- missing out where authors such as Jaqueline Rayner hit home. However, these moments are few and far between with most staying consistent. Perhaps cutting a story out would have given him enough time to fully expand on some ideas which get a little muddled but most of the stories are flushed out enough and feel satisfying.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An utterly superb collection: hilarious, emotional, surprising, and magnificently melancholy in a way that only works with the glow of Christmas. Stories 1, 2, 3 and 5 (particularly "Father of the Daleks" and "Visiting Hours") may very well be the best Whoniverse short stories ever written. I now firmly believe that Dave Rudden is the best writer for the series since Steven Moffat. Someone let this man take a crack at a TV script!

[Emily Wrayburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

And with that, I complete my 2021 Goodreads Challenge!

Some of the stories in here made me very nostalgic for past Doctors, but I loved the one from 13's perspective, too. Dave Rudden is clearly a passionate fan and knows his canon.

As with any short story collection, some stories were stronger than others but there were none that I truly disliked.

I'm looking forward to reading Rudden's other Christmas collection "Twelve Angels Weeping".

[Thomas Langley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truly a nice collection of stories that would've been massively benefitted by both not being themed around Christmas and being longer. Maybe I'm just not a short story kinda guy but some of these were really good ideas that were really let down by the format.

[Anja Peerdeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting and very well-written short stories, featuring several different reincarnations of our favorite time-lord/lady

My favorite was ‘A day to yourselves’.
Brilliant.

Will definitely keep an eye out for Dave Rudden material !

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

So excited to get stuck into this one, as winter looms and the festive period approaches, a winter doctor who book was just the ticket. It’s no secret that I loveee reading the doctor who books and they always manage to capture the nostalgia of the time with their respective doctors.

Here we follow a selection of stories from our selection of doctors. We spend some Christmases with Davros, run around with the 10th and 11th doctors, hang out with UNIT on Christmas Eve, have the perfect Christmas with the Paternoster Gang (love those guys) and visit river at Storm Cage, to name a few.

The audiobook copy was brilliant (and thoroughly recommend this format because it’s voiced by our very own Ace - Sophie Alfred - her missy voice was spot on) and I can never get enough of the who books. There was a great selection of stories, focusing on a few villains (plasmavore was a pleasant surprise!), doctors and side characters that all had their own special air. It was a great winter read.

EDIT 2024: listened to it a year later at Christmas too and I still love it just as much second time round.

[Ray Perdue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these are Doctor-lite or Doctor-naught stories, and while I normally don't care for those, the reading capabilities of Sophie Aldred are fantastic. In fact, I'm adding her to the list of "people I could listen to reading all day, including the dictionary and ketchup ingredients".

That said, there are some good Doctor stories here, and I really enjoyed this collection.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my head, there’s something special about Doctor Who and Christmas, but I’m never quite sure what.

Is it the fact that it brings back memories of Doctor Who Annuals, which I used to get every Christmas and would then spend part of the day reading cover to cover? Or is it the fact that there were often television repeats during the Christmas holidays, which in those days were the only way you could see old episodes again? When I think of old series Doctor Who, I often remember the TARDIS in the snow, for some reason.

I know that it is not the Christmas Special episodes, very few of which I have even liked and most I have hated – to the point where they became running jokes in my household, to see at what point the episodes would take a turn into awfulness. (It was usually early on, but then got progressively worse.) Even David Tennant couldn’t save those for me, although Peter Capaldi’s last turn in Twice Upon A Time was much better than I expected.

Nevertheless, whatever it is, there is something about Doctor Who and Christmas I like – which is why this book caught my eye. The subtitle on the front cover is “Twelve Festive Tales of Tinsel and Time Lords”, and they are written by Dave Rudden, whose last foray on such things, Twelve Angels Weeping, was very well-received.

Whilst the book is clearly meant for Young Adults 40+ years younger than me, there is enough of the sense of wonder here for me to appreciate. The variety of alien races, the return of old favourites (although focussed on the most recent TV resurrection from 2005 onwards, understandably), not to mention the variety of recent Doctors and companions is great fun, all given at a fast pace.

We all have our favourite characters, of course, and part of the fun here is in having the opportunity to meet them again. For me, David Tennant as the 10th Doctor with Rose is a favourite. The 9th Doctor makes a suitably sad appearance. Other Doctors I was less enamoured about – I could never see the attraction of Matthew Smith’s 11th Doctor, for some odd reason, and it is so here. Whilst I liked much of Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor, he had some god-awful scripts to work with, which I think ultimately led to his demise. Nevertheless, they all take their turn and Rudden does well to ensure that each version is different in manner and style.

Here we see that it’s not just about the Doctors – Petronella Osgood from UNIT has a story and whilst the character of Missy is not a favourite of mine, I liked her Christmas crime story, Missing Habitas Frond. Rose is here, as is Amy and Rory Pond, Bill Potts, River Song and the trio of Jenny, Vastra and Strax.

Of the baddies, it is pretty clear which of the favourite ones to expect here – there’s a Cyberman on the front cover, for example! – but also Daleks (and Davros!), Autons, Plasmavores, Judoon and others. There’s also some pleasing surprises here too – I liked We Will Feed You to the Trees, a story told by the villain to give a slightly different perspective.

Whilst Christmas is not obvious in every story, there’s enough snow, Christmas lights and decorations (yes, tinsel!) and even pantomime to make it feel Christmassy enough.

Overall, does it meet my (normally high) expectations? Well, actually yes, pretty much. It’s really all about the range rather than the depth, and whilst there are many stories that I liked there were none I really disliked – which makes it a winner for me. I can see this being a modern equivalent of the Doctor Who Annual, with a young me reading this cover to cover, and possibly year after year. It does evoke that great sense of wonder that the best Doctor stories create, and at the same time has enough fun and scares to keep me page turning.

Whilst I’m not sure anyone who doesn’t understand the attraction of the series will ‘get it’, it is clear that this is not for them but for the enthusiastic fan and a labour of love for the writer who has clearly had a lot of fun weaving different elements of the Doctor Who mythos into a surprisingly coherent collection. Good fun – and a great Christmas read for fans.

The Wintertime Paradox is available now, in the usual formats. There's also an audio book version, narrated by Sophie Aldred (who older fans may know as 'Ace' from the older series.)

[Mikey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took my time with this one, but that’s no fault of the book - in fact, it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year, so it was well worth savouring it! Like with Twelve Angels Weeping, I’m just going to give this short review here before delving into each of the individual stories. So, short review: it’s brilliant! Fun, frightening, festive, fecking good all round, with a great range of characters and Who twists on a variety of genres.

Now, for the long(er) review... (Full disclaimer: I basically just scribbled down some notes as I finished each story so these aren’t going to be super in-depth.)

He’s Behind You - a fun little story to start things off. Nice to have Rose take centre-stage (no pun intended) and get a little insight into her thoughts about recent events and her considering the differences - and similarities - between her two Doctors.

Father of the Daleks - great story showing a slightly different side to Davros, pairing him up against a Doctor we never got the chance to see him face on TV.

Inflicting Christmas - a fun story that really feels like it would have fit nicely into series 10. Bill and the Doctor are characterised really well and the focus on Bill and her feelings about her mother are revisited and explored from a new angle.

For the Girl Who Has Everything - a kind of ‘origin story’ for Osgood that also ties into a previous UNIT story in a really cool way. It’s a really fun Doctor Who take on Home Alone, and it’s really nice to have Osgood kind of taking centre stage again!

Visiting Hours - some well needed Rory and River content. It’s another kind of rompy story but with a proper emotional thread running through it as Rory and River consider what it’s like being related and how unique their circumstances are.

We Will Feed You To The Trees - an atmospheric and creepy story with the Seventh Doctor. It’s mostly told through the perspective of another character but the Doctor still gets a pretty big focus in this. There’s a nice worldbuilding and sense of mystery in this.

Christmas with the Plasmovores - pretty short but sweet story, with a fun protagonist and some nice new additions to Plasmo-lore, if you will. A fun cameo appearance too.

A Girl Called Doubt - i guess the closest i can compare this to is a twist on a post-apocalyptic kind of story with the setup of the characters attempting to survive in a world full of (sort of) zombies. It does another interesting look at the Cybermen - i think they might be Dave Rudden’s favourite - and has a couple of fun twists along the way.

A Perfect Christmas - another fun entry for the Paternoster Gang following up on their appearance in Twelve Angels Weeping. There’s some other nice links to other aspects of the Eleventh Doctor’s era, some nice character stuff, and an intriguing little mystery running through it.

Missing Habitas Frond - a really enjoyable murder mystery that throws Missy into a ‘buddy cop’ partnership. She’s hilarious and terrifying in equal measure, true to her television appearances, and we get some nice insight into just what she’s doing while she’s not got the Doctor to keep her busy.

A Day to Yourselves - a really lovely story focusing on the Ninth Doctor as his attempts to save the day seem to be continually thwarted. Also takes a good focus on his mindset about the Time War and his loneliness and guilt.

The Paradox Moon - as a fan of Doctor Who novels and as a Thirteenth Doctor fan, this is possibly my favourite story of the lot. To say too much would possibly spoil it, but I’m just gonna say I absolutely loved this - an absolutely perfect closer for this anthology!

So, aye, in conclusion, Dave Rudden knocks it out of the park again! Fingers crossed for a third anthology for next year!

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A follow-up to 'Twelve Angels Weeping' which features twelves stories themed around Christmas.
As well as various incarnations of the Doctor (including the Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth), the stories feature familiar characters such as the Paternoster Gang, Petronella Osgood and Missy, not to mention old enemies like Davros, the Sontarans and the Cybermen.

Rudden has an excellent grasp of what Who fans want to read and, like with his previous anthology, gives us a whole bunch of takes on exactly that.
Of the twelve stories on offer, four in particular stood out for me. The first, 'We Will Feed You to the Trees', was just a great sinister mystery in which the Seventh Doctor has to confront a colony which has made human sacrifice part of their seasonal traditions.
'A Girl Called Doubt' is the story of a world devastated by the Cybermen and put me in mind of Series 12's 'Ascension of the Cybermen'.
The return of the brilliant Paternoster Gang (Strax is just the best) in another story was another high point for me too, just as their appearance in the previous anthology had been (and this is something of a sequel to that story too).

The overall best story here, for me at least, was 'A Day to Yourselves'. It features the recently-regenerated Ninth Doctor struggling with his guilt over his part in the Time War and suffering from a deep loneliness. As he travels the universe trying to distract himself from his pain his adventures keep getting interrupted by the interference of his future selves.
I loved the idea that the Tenth-through-Thirteenth Doctors are all so aware of how raw and in pain the Ninth is that they can't help bending the Laws of Time in an attempt to bring him a little bit of peace.

All that said, however, I couldn't help but feel that this book was inferior to 'Twelve Angels Weeping'. It's hard to pin down exactly why, but there's a definite feeling that Rudden's best short story ideas went into the first anthology and these are, mostly, the second string ones.
I also wasn't a big fan of the attempt to create a linking narrative between the various stories, with reflective interludes after certain stories which then play into the final story of the anthology, 'The Paradox Moon'. I just don't think we needed an attempt to link all of these tales together like that. We already have the Doctor to do that and the festive theme. That was enough for me. It certainly didn't help that this final story was one of the weaker ones of the book.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *

[Owen Townend · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another author I feel deserves a shot at writing a TV script for Doctor Who.

Though I picked up The Wintertime Paradox for its festive focus for the Time Lord, it took no time at all for me to become enthralled by Rudden's storytelling style.

In this collection of short fiction, he takes up many aspects of the Whoniverse and infuses each with an intriguing plot arc. As well as covering incarnations ranging from the Fifth to Thirteenth Doctors and capturing their quirks and individual motivations, Rudden finds something new to say about the likes of Rory Williams, Petronella Osgood and the Paternoster Gang. While I can't say any of these characters has ever been a standout for me on TV or other media, they receive worthwhile character development in The Wintertime Paradox, not to mention a much grander purpose.

This brings me to the overarching plot featuring the mysterious Sibling Different and Sibling Same. While the interstitial narrative tags that set up their sinister intentions failed to grip me, the culmination of these in the story Paradox Moon was scintillating. I just wish it had gone on for longer.

In fact there are a few stories in The Wintertime Paradox that I felt lacked a stronger resolution. These seemed to be concentrated in the last third of the book and often featured Classic Doctors. Mind you, I doubt this is an intentional slight on earlier incarnations, more likely the limits of a finite page count. Considering the hardback I read features over four hundred pages, that suggests Rudden has an awful lot to say about Doctor Who.

When he finds the right balance of plot, character and word count, however, the passion is undeniable and infectious. It pleases me to know that he has written more since this book. I particularly look forward to picking up Twelve Angels Weeping. For now though, I recommend Doctor Who: The Wintertime Paradox to Whovians who are most drawn to unlikely character development and creative reprisals of monstrous threats.

Notable Stories

• Father of the Daleks - the pathos of Davros: my absolute favourite of the book.

• For The Girl Who Has Everything - Osgood under siege: a nerdy fight for survival.

• The Paradox Moon - Thirteen and the Franken-Time Machine: twisted vengeance.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Interacting with Doctor Who on any level feels like stepping into a house - a huge, sprawling, beautiful, contradictory mansion built and maintained and added to by thousands upon thousands of hands. You can't have time travel without paradoxes, and one of the biggest nestled at the heart of Who is this: the more you explore, the more you realise there are always more rooms you have yet to reach.”

Fan service can be a chore at times, but in this great collection Dave Rudden creates his own prose series of Doctor Who, and one that is eclectic and idiosyncratic. Lovingly written, without relying on references as a crutch, there is a good mixture of Doctors and moods, like a festive sci-fi buffet.

The Tenth Doctor and Rose go to a play about the Time Lords, the Eleventh Doctor spends Christmas with Davros, Osgood faces the Sontarans, a young girl and her father face a Plasmavore, and Missy plays detective, among other stories. Each chapter feels distinct, both of its era and, like a Missing Adventure, an attempt to add to it after the fact (as with the Davros story - a collision of Doctor and enemy that never happened on television, but which happens here with a nice story to tell). You can look at the series from a different angle after reading.

My highlights were ‘Father of the Daleks’, ‘Visiting Hours’, ‘We Will Feed You to the Trees’, ‘A Girl Called Doubt’, and ‘A Day to Yourselves’, but all are worth the price of admission. Most of all, I love coming away from a story thinking ‘wow’, and I had that reaction to pretty much every story here.

[Jason Arbuckle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 208 - Dave Rudden - The Wintertime Paradox

12 seasonal tales from the extended universe of Doctor Who.

Some brilliantly inventive tales - ‘Father of the Daleks’ - what it means to be a parent and what happens when your children are ready to move on…only in this case the ‘children’ are the most evil creatures in the universe - the Daleks.

‘We will feed you to the trees’ is an environmental chiller but in reverse about a colony on a far away planet are trying to keep the encroaching forest at bay.…unfortunately it means sacrificing the Doctor to them.

‘He’s behind you’ has the Doctor take Rose to a space pantomime about the ‘Last of the Timelords’ - filled with inaccuracies and misremembering….it is filled with loss and angst and proper silliness.

There is a continuing thread throughout with shady characters appearing almost in the end credits scenes of each of the 12 festive treats.

A time when short stories were simpler and Doctor Who wasn’t lost up its own time continuum…whether a SciFi fan or not…whether…a Doctor Who fan or not…this was a simple…surprisingly linear set of tales that takes place amongst all the Doctors’ lives. Great stuff.

[Stefan Grieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A entertaining collection of loosely connected Christmas themed doctor who stories that will most likely benefit the long term new-who fan who will enjoy and get the references the most.

Otherwise these are some fun and entertaining adventurous excursions through time and space. There are some good variety of type of tales here, with some good important messages in a few, messages that aren't hammered in. Although there are a few that do similar twists, but in unique enough ways.

The writer seems to be a learned enough fan of the origin materiel and does justice to it, and will impress new and old fans alike. It is a children's book, but like doctor who, is varied and mature enough to appeal to older audiences as well.

Enjoyment and this book are not paradoxical, you shall find when reading, if you do, this wintertime.

[Matthew Kresal · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to believe that until 2005, Doctor Who and Christmas time didn't go hand in hand. Now, thanks to over a decade's worth of holiday specials, even shifted to New Year's, the two seem inextricably linked. Dave Rudden's The Wintertime Paradox (which I encountered out of season for the Police Box in a Junkyard podcast) takes the Christmas and winter themes and makes the most of them across 13 different stories. From the Twelfth Doctor and Bill encountering a Christmas memory turned deadly at a techie convention to a hapless Edwardian detective finding himself trying to solve murders with Missy by his side, Rudden's anthology is a box of delights for Doctor Who fans, even featuring appearences by a couple of Classic-era Doctors and with a wealth of references along the way. Whether it's the "most wonderful time of the year," or you're looking for a bit of Christmas in July, Wintertime Paradox offers a bit of fun (if sometimes darkly) and twists on the Time Lord at Christmas.

[Chuck Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another fantastic short story collection by Dave Rudden! I loved his other collection Twelve Angels Weeping and this collection was just as good! Each of the stories included highlighted a different foe or group of companions/friends of The Doctor throughout the years and it was fun to see how each of the characters went about solving their own mystery. The added bonus of the 'after stories' that wove each main story together and concluded in the final novella was such a nice touch and that story was very well done.

[Julian White · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyably robust series of short stories, with a loose Christmas theme and most featuring the Doctor only in a peripheral way, itself a refreshing change. A number of the stories are linked by an 'after' section that becomes resolved in the final 'main' story - there's also a bonus story which is an extra (and a sample of the author's previous offering, too).

The illustrations add somewhat to the book's appeal.

[Phil Wujek · Rating 2 out of 5]

A dozen short stories based on the Whoniverse. Several different Doctors are represented here, as well as stories that don't include the Doctor at all! For the most part I liked the stories. The last story, which featured the 13th Doctor, left me cold and I stopped reading about four pages from the end.

[Neil Fulwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the twelve Doctor Who-inspired tales that make up this anthology are a tad hit and miss, there’s no denying that Rudden knows his Whovian lore back to front, and his decision to structure the stories as if they were the episodes of a self-contained series, with an overarching narrative running through them, is smartly executed and pays off well in the final story.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are all written by Dave Rudden and are all festive Doctor Who tales, the best of the bunch feature Missy & the Judoon of all things but they are all pretty enjoyable, some of them are slight but some of them really engaging, Missy as a Detective with her wit & repartee.

Festive & Fun & some delivering a bleak midwinter.

[Ethan Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

overall good, let itself down in the time lord victorious story, my favourites were the davros one and the missy one, cant go wrong with missy solving murders though. the descriptions of the doctor were the best bits for me. they were more of a side character, just popping in or leaving it to the companions to make the story great, which i appreciated.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this on audio book and loved it. Sophie aldred narrates this beautifully. My two favourite stories within the 12 contained in this book were a girl called doubt and a perfect christmas. This is well worth a listen or read.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook:Sophie Aldred deserves five stars for doing the narration. She does all these multiple voices perfectly , the stories are enjoyable . My favourites were the ones with Osgood, and the Paternoster gang. Overall a nice compilation of Doctor Who based stories.

[ava · Rating 4 out of 5]

fave stories: visiting hours (rory & river, father-daughter time <3), missing habitas frond (missy is so funny), a day to yourselves (breaks your heart and then puts it back together again, nine angst 🙁) and the paradox moon (great finale to the anthology!!)

[Sarah Davis-Goff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading for anyone with a love of Dr Who – great, satisfying stories, a real breadth of voice and tone. Masterful.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great short stories, with a few that are OK in terms of my taste.
The final story has some wonderful throwaway ideas that I would love to be developed more.

[Rachel Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this