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BBC Books Short Trips #1
Doctor Who: Short Trips
A number of well-established authors of the "Doctor Who" series have been brought together to provide a collection of short stories that feature every televised Doctor who has appeared since the original show.
332 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1998
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215 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Cole
229 books146 followersSee also: Steve Cole.
Stephen Cole (born 1971) is an English author of children's books and science fiction. He was also in charge of BBC Worldwide's merchandising of the BBC Television series Doctor Who between 1997 and 1999: this was a role which found him deciding on which stories should be released on video, commissioning and editing a range of fiction and non-fiction titles, producing audiobooks and acting as executive producer on the Big Finish Productions range of Doctor Who audio dramas.
Stephen Cole (born 1971) is an English author of children's books and science fiction. He was also in charge of BBC Worldwide's merchandising of the BBC Television series Doctor Who between 1997 and 1999: this was a role which found him deciding on which stories should be released on video, commissioning and editing a range of fiction and non-fiction titles, producing audiobooks and acting as executive producer on the Big Finish Productions range of Doctor Who audio dramas.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 8, 2021
A short story collection featuring the first Eight Doctor's.
Theres a total of 15 tales in this volume, with the vast majority of them that I enjoyed.
The standout one of this collection was 'Model Train Set' which featured the Eighth Doctor.
Theres a total of 15 tales in this volume, with the vast majority of them that I enjoyed.
The standout one of this collection was 'Model Train Set' which featured the Eighth Doctor.
January 7, 2022
So this is the second doctor who anthology i've read (the 1st being 12 doctors 12 stories) and it's set up somewhat similarly. the only difference being it's only the 1st eight doctors and they don't go in order.
This collection is a real mixed bag with some great and some......well bad. The easiest way to go about this is just review all of them in a row. here we go.
1. Model train set: the 8th doctor makes a train set with little automaton people and when he walks away it goes to hell. it's fine, but forgettable. the biggest issue is that the doctor is by himself and it's very interchangeable. like, the doctor could have been anyone, they just gave it to 8 because they needed to. 2.5 out of 5
2. Old Flames: I'm not really a big fan of Tom Baker's doctor, but i REALLY enjoyed this one. him and Sarah travel back to the 1800's and meet an old flame of the doctor's who has a nefarious plan. it's fun and entertaining, while not overstaying its welcome. 4 out of 5.
3. War Crimes: Takes place right after war games with the 2nd doctor. it talks about dropping off a warrior that the time lords tested on. it's depressing and confusing. So much so i actually had to wiki the plot just to make sure i knew what the hell happened. and considering it was only 10 pages, that's unforgivable. 1.5 out of 5.
4. The Last Days: I love the 1st doctor but HOLY CRAP was this terrible. Doc, Susan, Ian, and Barbara are back when the romans killed a bunch of jewish people and can't stop it. it was so incredibly violent and depressing i felt gross and disgusted afterwards. it was mean spirited, depressing and awful. i HATED this one. 1 out of 5.
5. Stop the pigeon: This was a cute one with the 7th doctor. it was the longest of the group clocking in at 47 pages, but it didn't really FEEL long. the master tricks a bunch of old people into thinking he has the secret of eternal youth and the doctor follows a shapechanger who's a pigeon around trying to fix a time anomaly. i really did like this one and it was a breath of fresh air after the last 2. 4 out of 5.
6. Freedom: 3rd doctor feels bad that the master is going to jail for life. master tries to escape. It's a fine 3rd doctor story, one where the 3rd doctor KIND of has a plan for escape, but it almost doesn't seem like it? it's an odd mix, but it was fun enough. not the best, but good. 3.5 out of 5
7: Glass: 4th doctor story. ugh this one was unpleasant. woman keeps seeing a face in every bit of glass she looks at. I felt bad for the woman but also annoyed at her at the same time. it's one of those 1st person perspective stories where the rando character is the 1st person. it was....okay? but i really felt bad for the woman at the end. 2.25 out of 5.
8: Mondas Passing: Hey, do you want to read 6 pages of Ben and Polly feeling bad that their life kind of sucks now? You don't? Well neither did i. 2 out of 5.
9: There are fairies at the bottom of the garden: the other 1st doctor story. MUCH more enjoyable than the other one. of course the bar is stupid low. Dodo and the doctor find a crystal planet and investigate it where dodo learns that beauty isn't always good. I liked the moral and it was nice to see the doctor in a teaching capacity without there being a feeling of hopelessness like the other one 3.5 out of 5.
10: Mother's little helper: 2nd doctor story. side character lady comes across a boy who can take the pain of people he meets into himself but is controlled by a crazy space lady. I mean....it's fine. the 2nd doctor doesn't do a whole lot, because of course he doesn't and the side characters kind of win the day. it was fine. stock. not good or bad. 3 out of 5.
11: The parliament of rats: Sad as this is 5ths' only story in this collection and it's REALLY boring and confusing. another story i had to wiki to make sure i read it right. Doctor ends up on a ship with nyssa at sea and there's time anomalies so they come across time pirates. sounds WAY more interesting than it is. 2 out of 5.
12: Rights: another 4th doctor story. This one is weird as they kind of used it as an allegory for abortion and stem cells. aliens are aborting fetuses to power mech suits so that their race won't die out. yeah. it's weird. 2.25 out of 5
13: Wish you were here: 6th doctor's only story. he's on a vacation planet and crazy robot isn't helping people who need help because he's programmed to not give them anything he doesn't think they'd like so like, if they need medicine, he won't give it to them because he thinks they won't like it. The 6th doctor is TV level jerk in this one, but overall it's a fine story. not bad, not great. 3 out of 5.
14: Ace of hearts: 7th doctor travels back to when ace is a baby and apologizes to her for the way he treated her sometimes. it's only 6 pages but....you know...it's fine. 2.5 out of 5.
15: The people's temple: the 8th doctor's true story in this collection. he and sam travel back to the stone age times to see when stongehenge is built. Surprise surprise, the people are butts and there's slavery. yep. that's the mystery of stonehenge. slavery. very exciting. The story isn't very exciting with sam trying to save everyone as she tends to do and the doctor kind of sighing and acting very uninterested through the whole thing. no real witty banter between the two, just a bored "(Sigh) oh sam." attitude. Not great. 2.5 out of 5.
so if i average all these scores together i get.... 2.63. i feel like the bad ones really weigh it down more than it should in this case.
overall, the stories ranged all over the place from great, to meh, to terrible. there was really no consistency. the only consistency i saw was in that Stephen cole used 2 pseudonyms to write Glass, Mondas Passing, and Rights. So yeah. overall, his stories were all awful.
My top 3: 1. Old Flames 2. Stop the Pigeon 3. There's Fairies at the bottom of the garden
My worst 3: 1. The Last Days 2. War Crimes 3. The Parliament of Rats.
Honestly, you can read all of them except for the worst 3 i have mentioned here. Not a bad collection, but not a fantastic one.
2.63 out of 5 rounded up to a 3.
This collection is a real mixed bag with some great and some......well bad. The easiest way to go about this is just review all of them in a row. here we go.
1. Model train set: the 8th doctor makes a train set with little automaton people and when he walks away it goes to hell. it's fine, but forgettable. the biggest issue is that the doctor is by himself and it's very interchangeable. like, the doctor could have been anyone, they just gave it to 8 because they needed to. 2.5 out of 5
2. Old Flames: I'm not really a big fan of Tom Baker's doctor, but i REALLY enjoyed this one. him and Sarah travel back to the 1800's and meet an old flame of the doctor's who has a nefarious plan. it's fun and entertaining, while not overstaying its welcome. 4 out of 5.
3. War Crimes: Takes place right after war games with the 2nd doctor. it talks about dropping off a warrior that the time lords tested on. it's depressing and confusing. So much so i actually had to wiki the plot just to make sure i knew what the hell happened. and considering it was only 10 pages, that's unforgivable. 1.5 out of 5.
4. The Last Days: I love the 1st doctor but HOLY CRAP was this terrible. Doc, Susan, Ian, and Barbara are back when the romans killed a bunch of jewish people and can't stop it. it was so incredibly violent and depressing i felt gross and disgusted afterwards. it was mean spirited, depressing and awful. i HATED this one. 1 out of 5.
5. Stop the pigeon: This was a cute one with the 7th doctor. it was the longest of the group clocking in at 47 pages, but it didn't really FEEL long. the master tricks a bunch of old people into thinking he has the secret of eternal youth and the doctor follows a shapechanger who's a pigeon around trying to fix a time anomaly. i really did like this one and it was a breath of fresh air after the last 2. 4 out of 5.
6. Freedom: 3rd doctor feels bad that the master is going to jail for life. master tries to escape. It's a fine 3rd doctor story, one where the 3rd doctor KIND of has a plan for escape, but it almost doesn't seem like it? it's an odd mix, but it was fun enough. not the best, but good. 3.5 out of 5
7: Glass: 4th doctor story. ugh this one was unpleasant. woman keeps seeing a face in every bit of glass she looks at. I felt bad for the woman but also annoyed at her at the same time. it's one of those 1st person perspective stories where the rando character is the 1st person. it was....okay? but i really felt bad for the woman at the end. 2.25 out of 5.
8: Mondas Passing: Hey, do you want to read 6 pages of Ben and Polly feeling bad that their life kind of sucks now? You don't? Well neither did i. 2 out of 5.
9: There are fairies at the bottom of the garden: the other 1st doctor story. MUCH more enjoyable than the other one. of course the bar is stupid low. Dodo and the doctor find a crystal planet and investigate it where dodo learns that beauty isn't always good. I liked the moral and it was nice to see the doctor in a teaching capacity without there being a feeling of hopelessness like the other one 3.5 out of 5.
10: Mother's little helper: 2nd doctor story. side character lady comes across a boy who can take the pain of people he meets into himself but is controlled by a crazy space lady. I mean....it's fine. the 2nd doctor doesn't do a whole lot, because of course he doesn't and the side characters kind of win the day. it was fine. stock. not good or bad. 3 out of 5.
11: The parliament of rats: Sad as this is 5ths' only story in this collection and it's REALLY boring and confusing. another story i had to wiki to make sure i read it right. Doctor ends up on a ship with nyssa at sea and there's time anomalies so they come across time pirates. sounds WAY more interesting than it is. 2 out of 5.
12: Rights: another 4th doctor story. This one is weird as they kind of used it as an allegory for abortion and stem cells. aliens are aborting fetuses to power mech suits so that their race won't die out. yeah. it's weird. 2.25 out of 5
13: Wish you were here: 6th doctor's only story. he's on a vacation planet and crazy robot isn't helping people who need help because he's programmed to not give them anything he doesn't think they'd like so like, if they need medicine, he won't give it to them because he thinks they won't like it. The 6th doctor is TV level jerk in this one, but overall it's a fine story. not bad, not great. 3 out of 5.
14: Ace of hearts: 7th doctor travels back to when ace is a baby and apologizes to her for the way he treated her sometimes. it's only 6 pages but....you know...it's fine. 2.5 out of 5.
15: The people's temple: the 8th doctor's true story in this collection. he and sam travel back to the stone age times to see when stongehenge is built. Surprise surprise, the people are butts and there's slavery. yep. that's the mystery of stonehenge. slavery. very exciting. The story isn't very exciting with sam trying to save everyone as she tends to do and the doctor kind of sighing and acting very uninterested through the whole thing. no real witty banter between the two, just a bored "(Sigh) oh sam." attitude. Not great. 2.5 out of 5.
so if i average all these scores together i get.... 2.63. i feel like the bad ones really weigh it down more than it should in this case.
overall, the stories ranged all over the place from great, to meh, to terrible. there was really no consistency. the only consistency i saw was in that Stephen cole used 2 pseudonyms to write Glass, Mondas Passing, and Rights. So yeah. overall, his stories were all awful.
My top 3: 1. Old Flames 2. Stop the Pigeon 3. There's Fairies at the bottom of the garden
My worst 3: 1. The Last Days 2. War Crimes 3. The Parliament of Rats.
Honestly, you can read all of them except for the worst 3 i have mentioned here. Not a bad collection, but not a fantastic one.
2.63 out of 5 rounded up to a 3.
June 15, 2024
BBC Books added short stories to their range of Doctor Who novels in Short Trips, and there are numerous highlights in this first volume. Popular character Iris Wildthyme makes her first appearance in Paul Magrs’ first published Who story; there’s a great “don’t change history” story with the First Doctor; and the Sixth Doctor gets a natty adventure in a malfunctioning holiday resort. The standard is generally quite high, which bodes well for these collections going forward.
3.5
3.5
October 6, 2018
The model train story was absolutely my favourite one.
December 18, 2018
An uneven assortment of stories, but overall I enjoyed the book.
March 3, 2022
Nice and easy to read
August 9, 2025
Favorites in the collection are Stop the Pigeon and The People's Temple. Some stories were too short for me. I would have liked a bit more depth to them.
October 27, 2015
A rolling review, as I have yet to read all the stories in this anthology:
The Last Days (First Doctor Era, with Susan, Barbara and Ian)
The crew are caught up in the conflict between Roman soldiers and Jewish zealots in Judea, soon after the Judeo-Roman war that destroyed the Second Temple. This is mostly an Ian and Barbara story, where they are left to fend for themselves among the Hebrews, as the Doctor and Susan try to reason with the local Roman miltary leader. Barbara pulls a Yataxa as she exploits her foresight (hindsight?) of historical events to deliver seeming prophecies. Ian gets some excellent development, as he becomes intrinsicall involved in the fate of the zealots. So profound is Ian's emotional involvement, that seeing him act as usual in afterwards stories seems somewhat implausible. I guess that it's quite difficult to find the golden rule in keeping the importance of the standalone stories "just right".
The Last Days (First Doctor Era, with Susan, Barbara and Ian)
The crew are caught up in the conflict between Roman soldiers and Jewish zealots in Judea, soon after the Judeo-Roman war that destroyed the Second Temple. This is mostly an Ian and Barbara story, where they are left to fend for themselves among the Hebrews, as the Doctor and Susan try to reason with the local Roman miltary leader. Barbara pulls a Yataxa as she exploits her foresight (hindsight?) of historical events to deliver seeming prophecies. Ian gets some excellent development, as he becomes intrinsicall involved in the fate of the zealots. So profound is Ian's emotional involvement, that seeing him act as usual in afterwards stories seems somewhat implausible. I guess that it's quite difficult to find the golden rule in keeping the importance of the standalone stories "just right".
March 19, 2011
I think that this was the first anthology of short stories featuring the first eight Doctors produced by the BBC, back in 1998. I had heard a couple of them previously from the audio release narrated by the late Nicholas Courtney and Sophie Aldred, but it's nice to have the hard copy. The audio version memorably included the first Iris story, "Old Flames"; the book also has a very good First Doctor historical story, "The Last Days", set during the siege of Masada, by one Evan Pritchard who is apparently really Rebecca Levene. A couple of others worth mentioning: "Freedom" by Steve Lyons, a nice Brigadier/Three/Master story; "Mondas Passing" by Paul Grice, not actually as good a story but a reflection on what Ben and Polly did in 1986, twenty years on; and "The People's Temple" by Paul Leonard, a creepy take on Stonehenge. A collection that is worth looking out for.
October 20, 2024
Review by story…
The Last Days: Holy shit that was fucking dark. I loved it. 5/5 stars!
There are Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden: Also very dark and intense. Not sure I understood it, but I’m a sucker for stories where the Doctor interacts with stuff that’s truly alien and bizarre and just… accepts it. 4/5 stars.
Mondas Passing: I guess the Short Trips writers just really hate Ben? 2.5/5 stars
War Crimes: #ATLAB (All Time Lords Are Bastards) 4.5/5
Freedom: Pretty great continuation of the Master plot of season 8. 4/5
The Last Days: Holy shit that was fucking dark. I loved it. 5/5 stars!
There are Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden: Also very dark and intense. Not sure I understood it, but I’m a sucker for stories where the Doctor interacts with stuff that’s truly alien and bizarre and just… accepts it. 4/5 stars.
Mondas Passing: I guess the Short Trips writers just really hate Ben? 2.5/5 stars
War Crimes: #ATLAB (All Time Lords Are Bastards) 4.5/5
Freedom: Pretty great continuation of the Master plot of season 8. 4/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
dnf-unrated
November 15, 2021model train set by jonathan blum - ★★
i very much liked the message, and as such the final page, but getting there was just plain boring
(8)
old flames by paul magrs - ★★★★
a very enjoyable little romp! and an introduction to iris wildthyme, who i am very excited to discover more about
(4 and sarah)
war crimes by simon butcher-jones - ★★.5
the tie-in to the TARDIS team was the only part i really liked, the rest was sort of just.. there
(2, jamie, and zoe)
i very much liked the message, and as such the final page, but getting there was just plain boring
(8)
old flames by paul magrs - ★★★★
a very enjoyable little romp! and an introduction to iris wildthyme, who i am very excited to discover more about
(4 and sarah)
war crimes by simon butcher-jones - ★★.5
the tie-in to the TARDIS team was the only part i really liked, the rest was sort of just.. there
(2, jamie, and zoe)
January 29, 2011
It's not quite as entertaining a collection as the first "Decalog" volume...but there is still plenty here that will please all sorts of Doctor Who fans. Definitely one to dip in and out of, rather than read from cover to cover.
Read
June 22, 2021Freedom (Three and Jo): 4/5
Model Train Set (Eight): 3/5
Glass (Four and Romana II): 2/5
Stop the Pigeon (Seven and Ace): 4/5
Degrees of Truth (Three and the Brig): 3/5
Old Flames (Four and Sarah Jane with Iris): 5/5
Model Train Set (Eight): 3/5
Glass (Four and Romana II): 2/5
Stop the Pigeon (Seven and Ace): 4/5
Degrees of Truth (Three and the Brig): 3/5
Old Flames (Four and Sarah Jane with Iris): 5/5
August 6, 2016
A few really great stories and a few pretty boring ones.
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