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Big Finish Short Trips #18
Doctor Who Short Trips: Time Signature
A city destroyed by time itself. A country torn apart by revolution. The Doctor doesn't just change the lives of those around him—his actions echo through history, as shown in these tales exploring the outer reaches of cause and effect.
211 pages, Hardcover
First published September 28, 2007
4 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
Simon Guerrier
168 books61 followersSimon Guerrier is a British science fiction author and dramatist, closely associated with the fictional universe of Doctor Who and its spinoffs. Although he has written three Doctor Who novels, for the BBC Books range, his work has mostly been for Big Finish Productions' audio drama and book ranges.
Guerrier's earliest published fiction appeared in Zodiac, the first of Big Finish's Short Trips range of Doctor Who short story anthologies. To date, his work has appeared in the majority of the Short Trips collections. He has also edited three volumes in the series, The History of Christmas, Time Signature and How The Doctor Changed My Life. The second of these takes as its starting-point Guerrier's short story An Overture Too Early in The Muses. The third anthology featured stories entirely by previously unpublished writers.
After contributing two stories to the anthology Life During Wartime in Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield range of books and audio dramas, Guerrier was invited to edit the subsequent year's short story collection, A Life Worth Living, and the novella collection Parallel Lives. After contributing two audio dramas to the series, Guerrier became the producer of the Bernice Summerfield range of plays and books, a post he held between January 2006 and June 2007.
His other Doctor Who work includes the audio dramas, The Settling and The Judgement of Isskar, in Big Finish's Doctor Who audio range, three Companion Chronicles and a contribution to the UNIT spinoff series. He has also written a play in Big Finish's Sapphire and Steel range.
Guerrier's work is characterised by character-driven humour and by an interest in unifying the continuity of the various Big Finish ranges through multiple references and reappearances of characters. As editor he has been a strong promoter of the work of various script writers from the Seventh Doctor era of the Doctor Who television series
Guerrier's earliest published fiction appeared in Zodiac, the first of Big Finish's Short Trips range of Doctor Who short story anthologies. To date, his work has appeared in the majority of the Short Trips collections. He has also edited three volumes in the series, The History of Christmas, Time Signature and How The Doctor Changed My Life. The second of these takes as its starting-point Guerrier's short story An Overture Too Early in The Muses. The third anthology featured stories entirely by previously unpublished writers.
After contributing two stories to the anthology Life During Wartime in Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield range of books and audio dramas, Guerrier was invited to edit the subsequent year's short story collection, A Life Worth Living, and the novella collection Parallel Lives. After contributing two audio dramas to the series, Guerrier became the producer of the Bernice Summerfield range of plays and books, a post he held between January 2006 and June 2007.
His other Doctor Who work includes the audio dramas, The Settling and The Judgement of Isskar, in Big Finish's Doctor Who audio range, three Companion Chronicles and a contribution to the UNIT spinoff series. He has also written a play in Big Finish's Sapphire and Steel range.
Guerrier's work is characterised by character-driven humour and by an interest in unifying the continuity of the various Big Finish ranges through multiple references and reappearances of characters. As editor he has been a strong promoter of the work of various script writers from the Seventh Doctor era of the Doctor Who television series
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 26, 2023
I didn't read every story here. I had originally only intended to read the 2 that contain the character Flora Millrace: The Avant Guardian and DS Al Fine. But I did try to read the whole thing. In total I read half of the stories before getting a little fed up and impatient, and reading those 2. The Avant Guardian was incredible! And I'm sure DS Al Fine would have been just as great if I had read all the other stories, but my patience is a bit lacking and I would prefer to move onto other stuff that I am actually excited about reading/listening to. I think an issue I had with this was it being an ebook on my phone which is definitely my least preferred method of reading. Anyway, Avant Guardian and Flora Millrace rule!
September 29, 2011
This is the third Short Trips anthology I've read, and the best one.
I got about three stories in when I realised that the stories were interconnected - the villains from the first story showed up again - but it was a while before I realised to what extent.
Basically, a man named Isaac is repeatedly either featured or mentioned. In one story, the Doctor meets a man called William, who's slightly familiar to him, and starts traveling with him. After a while, William takes on the name of Isaac.
It's also incredibly bizarre. One story features a race of tiny alien earwigs who are filming humans to make a soap opera about them. In another one, all the events of all the other stories are undone, by the Eighth Doctor, who's adventures, as far as I can tell, are pretty much always at least a little paradoxical (I seem to recall that, in his first appearance, he uses the TARDIS to bring his two dead companions back to life).
I got about three stories in when I realised that the stories were interconnected - the villains from the first story showed up again - but it was a while before I realised to what extent.
Basically, a man named Isaac is repeatedly either featured or mentioned. In one story, the Doctor meets a man called William, who's slightly familiar to him, and starts traveling with him. After a while, William takes on the name of Isaac.
It's also incredibly bizarre. One story features a race of tiny alien earwigs who are filming humans to make a soap opera about them. In another one, all the events of all the other stories are undone, by the Eighth Doctor, who's adventures, as far as I can tell, are pretty much always at least a little paradoxical (I seem to recall that, in his first appearance, he uses the TARDIS to bring his two dead companions back to life).
January 31, 2014
This is a collection of short stories featuring Doctors 1 - 8. All the stories are linked via a main story that is very intriguing. A companion of the Doctors asks for help from a previous incarnation, something he knows threatens the universe. The individual stories are well done and there is not really a bad one in the book. Even better it doesn't use any characters that are only in the audios, and therefore, is more accessible. A very good read.
March 19, 2014
These short stories about the first eight Doctors were a little confusing. For one, I don’t know much about the earlier Doctors. In this collection some of the stories and characters recur, with the different Doctors, and I wonder if this is about characters who were in actual episodes of the show, or am I confused because the stories are more interlinked than that?
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September 13, 2011First time I've ever read any Doctor Who stories (other than fanfiction). Some good, some bad, some made me wonder if I really didn't get British Sci-Fi, even after 30+ years of enjoying British movie and TV humor.
June 4, 2024
Review by story…
The Ruins of Time: We stan pansexual Susan Foreman. 4/5.
The Avant Guardian: I don’t understand it but I love it. 5/5.
The Ruins of Time: We stan pansexual Susan Foreman. 4/5.
The Avant Guardian: I don’t understand it but I love it. 5/5.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews