Doctor Who Short Trips: Steel Skies

Big Finish Short Trips #5

by John Binns (Editor), Paul Leonard, Mark Wright

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. Steel Skies is a collection of stories based in enclosed and artificial environments—places constructed to keep the dangers of the universe outside, perhaps, or to keep their inhabitants locked in. It is divided into four sections, each exploring a different type or place of confinement: flight, futuristic frontiers, incarceration, and isolation.

Genres: Doctor Who, Short Stories, Science Fiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2003

Reviews

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's taken me ages to finally get to the Big Finish short story collections...and this first one didn't disappoint. As usual, a couple of the tales didn't leave much of an impression...but the rest were a surprisingly dark and intense set of tales, all having to do with some sort of artificial confinement. There's a very "Sapphire and Steel" feel to much of this collection, and the various writing styles all flow smoothly, in spite of the relentless claustrophobia.

[James Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book over the course of a few months, and by the end, I did enjoy my time reading this anthology. All four sections of the book (Flight, Frontiers, Incarceration, and Solitude) had one great story each, which was nice. Even the stories that weren't as good still had interesting ideas and character interactions that were true to the characters on TV and audio whilst giving newfound depth to those same characters due to the feeling of confinement many experiences throughout these short trips.

[Mark Higginbottom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm.....yeah it was okay.Some of the stories were enjoyable enough.It's just very frustrating when these authors are writing a short story based on Doctor Who and don't even ( or barely ) feature the actual character of the Doctor!If there's not going to be any actual Doctor in the story then they may as well put the story in a Red Dwarf short story collection or Space:1999 collection etc etc!So,alas,this collection was a bit hit and miss.I hope the next one is much better!

[Jason Bleckly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I somewhat depressing set of storiesdue to the theme.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2631534.html

The theme of this book is explorations of closed environments, and how the Doctor's arrival might change them (or not). I couldn't help but think that the steel sky as a concept is closely related to the TV studio where the programme is actually made. Anyway, the book is divided into four sections each exploring different aspects of this idea; each of the four had a standout story for me, to wit:

1) "A Good Life", by Simon Guerrier, where neither the villagers nor their apparent imprisonment turn out to be exactly what the Eightht Doctor and Charley expect;
2) "No Exit" by Kate Orman, where a group of colonists have had their reproductive freedom brutally restricted, but what can the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan do about it?
3) "Doing Time", by Lance Parkin, where convicted prisoners end up worse off than before despite/because of the Fourth Doctor and (first?) Romana;
4) "Cold War", by my old friend Rebecca Levene, where a participant the human/Silurian conflict undergoes agonising twists of perception witnessed by the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Bernice Summerfield.

No particular turkeys either, I'm glad to report.

[Billy Martel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review by story…

Corridors of Power: Pretty fun! 3/5

Deep Stretch: Cool atmosphere, but felt a tad sexist, and the Doctor felt less anarchist than I usually like. 2.5/5