Doctor Who Short Trips: Life Science

Big Finish Short Trips #7

by John Binns (Editor), Trevor Baxendale, 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. Once we believed our lives were sacred, that we had souls. Now we know we are mere machines; genetic data. We are science. But even as we learn, the properties of life remain uncertain. How does life acquire consciousness, or rights? Does a robot dream? If a person transforms into an oak tree, is it science or the work of gods? Did the Victorians find a way to resurrect the dead? To science, such questions are invitations to explore. Who better to explore with than the Doctor?

Genres: Doctor Who, Short Stories, Science Fiction

242 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2004

Reviews

[Harri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hit and miss, as usual.

[Mark Higginbottom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable read in the Doctor Who canon....some really good stories mixed with some so so ones.I was a little disappointed that these writers seem to use the same companions again and again rather than go for the more unusual ones ,the one featuring Katarina being the exception.I am also a tad disappointed that more of the Classic monsters or foes of the good Doctor aren't used ...I wonder....were they not allowed because of copyright?there is such a plethora of characters to delve into it's such a shame that they aren't featured.Still.....this book will always appeal I guess to fans of the Classic Years of Doctor Who but don't expect any magical moments.....

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2640741.html

Seventh in the series of short story collections from Big Finish featuring the first eight Doctors, this time with a theme around the science of life - which normally means biological, but can extend into other areas too. To be honest I felt his was a bit flat, with only two stories that grabbed me, both more about artificial intelligence: "Lant Land", by Jonathan Morris, bringing Five, Tegan and Turlough to a world where the local version of the Sims has become something much more horrible, and "The Reproductive Cycle" by Matthew Griffiths which takes the frankly unpromising concept of positing that Kamelion and the Tardis had a secret love-child, and does it rather well.

[Billy Martel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating by story…

“Scribbles in Chalk”: A valiant effort to redeem the most underrated companion. But they only manage to do it by denying continuity and assassinating Steven Taylor’s character. 2.5/5 stars

“The Age of Ambition”: The Doctor vs Reanimator. Incredibly gross and terrifying. I loved it to pieces, bloody, dismembered, slowly liquifying pieces. 5/5 stars

“Primitives”: Not a terribly well written story. But great for lore. 3/5