Doctor Who: Short Trips: Past Tense

Big Finish Short Trips #6

by Ian Farrington (Editor), Samantha Baker, Jonathan Morris

Doctor Who Short Trips is a series of themed short story anthologies of new Doctor Who fiction, featuring the Doctor in all of his first eight incarnations. They feature stories written by some of the leading names in Doctor Who, past and present, including Paul Cornell, Gareth Roberts, Christopher H. Bidmead, and Paul Magrs. Past Tense features 17 tales set on Earth in days gone by. The Doctor finds himself and his fellow travellers in a variety of times and places: involved in international espionage with British and German spies, at the annexation of the Transvaal, watching an Ashes cricket match, and mixing with the late-16th Century theatrical set. Seeing history happen, learning about its nuances, trying to prevent its corruption, or simply enjoying its atmosphere, our heroes find themselves in exciting adventures wherever ­ or whenever ­ they go.

Genres: Doctor Who, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Doctors

241 pages, Hardcover

First published May 20, 2004

Reviews

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd actually push this up to 3.5 stars -- there are a number of jewels here (particularly all the 5th Doctor stories), but some are less than stellar, and other feel way off the mark (the 4th Doctor & Sarah story feels like it was written by someone who has never seen the 4th Doctor & Sarah). It's less a story about historical events and more about being caught up in the atmosphere of past eras. The success rate with this theme is variable. The final story is an attempt to tie up earlier stories, but I don't feel it was necessary...and it diminishes the gentle tone of an earlier 1st Doctor story it follows-up. A collection that hits some very impressive highs...mixed in with too many moments of "meh".

[James Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a rather mixed selection of stories. Overall, it's not a bad anthology by any means, but I do think that the premise for stories set in Earth's past did get rather repetitive, as you can only have so many stories where the Web of Time is threatened or someone inadvertently invents something like the longbow.

I'd say the standouts here were Jonathan Morris' The Thieves of Sherwood and Joseph Lidster's That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress.

In The Thieves of Sherwood, it wasn't exactly a Doctor Who story in the same sense as others in the anthology. It was one of the interesting stories I've seen when it comes to how it was told. The story begins with a fake Radio Times listing for a Doctor Who story from 1964 called The Thieves of Sherwood, giving a description and cast, everything you'd expect in a listing of the time. Then it would go to articles in Doctor Who Magazine about the story, giving the synopsis for each part and other general information. This sort of faux-real life reporting on the story, as if it were actually a real story, continues and never misses a beat. The amount of detail is astounding, and the dedication to making it all feel so real is a writing marvel as far as I'm concerned. There's even a news report on how three missing episodes of the story were found in Cyprus, which got a hearty laugh out of me.

Then there was Lidster's story, which was the final one of the anthology. It concerned Polly Wright, who was now approaching her 50s in the tail end of the millennium. She is whisked away through time on a mission to "look for the perfect dress". However, she finds herself back in the past, in the very same time and places as the stories we have been reading in this anthology. I thought this was incredibly clever for a bookend, and it was great fun to see time unravelling because Polly had kneed Robin Hood in the groin, saving his life or distracting a cricket player from a game-winning catch. The story also ended on such a happy note, with Polly breaking in the new year with the people that she truly loved.

This was one of the first Short Trip Anthologies I'd owned, and I'm glad I got around to it, even if not every story was something to write home about. I still think that these anthologies lead to some of the most creative Doctor Who stories out there, and this collection is no different.

[Mark Higginbottom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, another one done.As usual this has some great stories alongside some pretty poor ones.I do wonder sometimes if some of these authors have actually ever seen an episode of Doctor Who or are they just trying purposely to be different or make a statement.I think my favourite had to be without doubt the Doctor 6 and Evelyn Smythe story ' Mortlake ' by Mark Wright.It reminded me what a wonderful team these two were on the Big Finish cd's,they just work so well together and are so enjoyable.I know you can't really expect every story to be brilliant or similar,a contrast is nice but I just wish some of the stories were more like the series we all loved so much for 26 years and not some random sci-fi story with the Doctor slotted in ...onto the next!

[Toby Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short Trips: Past Tense is brimming with exceptional stories, and almost all of them are worth reading.
With only about one or two bad stories out of seventeen, this short story anthology is highly recommended.
For my full review of each story, I have a link to a dedicated Doctor Who review site, where my reviews are posted.
https://thetimescales.com/Range/?seri...

[John Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few clunkers in this, mostly in the first half.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/716988.html[return][return]Some real turkeys here - the nadir of the collection, interestingly, is an eight-page sketch which doesn't appear to have been properly finished, by none other than Eric Saward. But there are some very good ones too, mostly sticking to the remit of setting stories in the past of earth's history (though, of course, this is true of many Doctor Who stories anyway). I especially liked Jonathan Morris' reconstruction, via Doctor Who Monthly and other sources, of an otherwise forgotten First Doctor story where Robin Hood turns out to be a) Ian's double and b) a git. John Binns' story about the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877 puzzled me at first but had a great punchline. The rest are all (or almost all) OK.

[Billy Martel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review by story…

The Thief of Sherwood: a very entertaining breakdown of all the ins and outs of a hypothetical Doctor Who serial. I really want to see this episode now. 4/5 stars.

One Small Step: I appreciate an interesting concept. And it’s well written. But the idea is so world breaking that I couldn’t get into it. 2/5 stars.

Come Friendly Bombs: Great use of setting and character. I don’t necessarily agree with the Doctor’s weird pro gun stance. Nor do I fully understand the ending twist. But it all made sense from a character perspective to me. 3.5/5