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A review by booksandbark
Doctor Who: 12 Doctors 12 Stories by Eoin Colfer
3.0
Clearly, this isn't high literature or anything, but it sure was entertaining. Also just the thing I needed in a chaotic and stressful 2021.
A quick story about how I came to read this compilation of short stories: I was super into Doctor Who in middle and high school, right around the time that this volume was published. Someone bought it for me thinking I'd like it, but I was so put off by the Eleventh Doctor's last season and the Twelfth Doctor's first season that I stopped watching the show entirely and thus never got to actually reading this book. When I exhausted all of the television shows I had ever heard of during the COVID-19 pandemic, I finally got back around to Doctor Who—and ended up absolutely loving Peter Capaldi's latter two seasons as the Doctor (and even kind of liked some of the episodes in his first). So I decided to take a crack at this and see how I liked it.
The First Doctor & Susan: A Big Hand for the Doctor by Eoin Colfer
I really, really wanted to like this story. Eoin Colfer is the author of some of my favorite books from when I was a kid, but the pacing was so off, the characterization of Susan was shoddy, and the premise was absurd, even for Doctor Who. But—while I can't speak to the accuracy of this characterization as I've never watched Classic Who—I did really enjoy how grumpy One was and admired how two of my favorite Doctors, Nine and Twelve, channel that energy in the revival. 1/5 stars
The Second Doctor & Jamie McCrimmon: The Nameless City by Michael Scott
This was a lot of fun! I really liked the dynamic between Jamie and Two, and this totally seemed like one of those contrived-yet-enjoyable episodes that I'd love. I hadn't realized that the Doctor had had well-written male companions in the past, and after reading this I kind of felt bad for the men of New Who who've been so horribly characterized. 5/5 stars
The Third Doctor & Jo: The Spear of Destiny by Marcus Sedgwick
This is another one of those stories that I felt was a bit contrived, which is a shame because Marcus Sedgwick is another of my favorite writers from my childhood. I think I would've liked Jo as a companion had I ever watched Classic Who, but there were parts of this story that were utterly bizarre. The Doctor drying his clothes using his body heat?? What? 3/5 stars
The Fourth Doctor & Leela: The Roots of Evil by Philip Reeve
An interesting concept, but another one where the ending wrapped up far too quickly and neatly to be believable. I liked the glimpse we got of Eleven in this story, though, and Four's reaction to him! I do have to wonder how the Doctor doesn't cross paths with his past/future incarnations more often given all the time-traveling... 2/5 stars
The Fifth Doctor & Nyssa: Tip of the Tongue by Patrick Ness
This was an interesting story, but it really didn't feature too much of the Doctor or Nyssa. It was almost as if Ness had an idea for a brilliant short story, then got the chance to write a short story for a Doctor Who anthology, and then chose to insert the Doctor in the smallest way possible. It wasn't a bad story by any means, but just not very Doctor Who-like. 3/5 stars
The Sixth Doctor & Peri: Something Borrowed by Richelle Mead
To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of the first-person narration by the companion (in this story or any of the others). Something about it just doesn't work for me, and although I liked both Peri and Six well enough, the plot seemed very clichéd, like the plot of every movie containing an evil villain and a wedding ever. I did like the glimpse we got of the Rani, a Classic Who villain who I don't think the revival ever plans on bringing back, but ultimately this story wasn't really for me. 3/5 stars
The Seventh Doctor & Ace: The Ripple Effect by Malorie Blackman
I really liked this story as it gets at some of the most interesting questions that Doctor Who poses, questions that are so vital to the character's core: hope and belief and fear and hate and whether or not to follow the laws of time. The idea of a world of friendly Daleks is something we've never seen in the TV series (or at least in New Who), and I'd really love to see this as an episode. Even if the physics part was super... not accurate (if any of the physics in Doctor Who can be described as accurate...), this was still a fun read. 4.5/5 stars
The Eighth Doctor & Evelyn Chan: Spore by Alex Scarrow
A really timely short story about a killer virus that threatens to destroy all of humanity. How fun. I'd be lying if I said that I probably enjoyed this one more because of its relevance to the current time, but I also thought that it was a very neat, very Doctor-y story, even if Evelyn Chan, a new companion, wasn't that well written. 4/5 stars
The Ninth Doctor & Ali: The Beast of Babylon by Charlie Higson
This was... not my favorite. Everything was off, from the characterization of Nine to the introduction of the new companion, to the way his relationship with Rose was described... and I'm not even sure what happened with regards to the plot?? Definitely my least favorite story in the collection. 1/5 stars
The Tenth Doctor & Martha: The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage by Derek Landy
While I wouldn't have said no to a good Donna story (although I doubt they'd have been able to pull it off without Catherine Tate there to voice it over), I'm so glad that they decided to focus on Martha with this one. She was really underutilized in the TV series, and I've always wanted to see more of her. As a fiction lover, I liked the idea of this one, but it was also one of those... more bizarre episodes of Doctor Who. Still, the characterization of Ten, right down to his vocal tics, was on the nose, and I enjoyed reading this one. 3.5/5 stars
The Eleventh Doctor & Amy: Nothing O'Clock by Neil Gaiman
Out of those covered in this collection, Eleven and Amy are my least favorite Doctor and companion, respectively. But Neil Gaiman is just a fantastic writer, and even though his TV scripts fell flat, I'm glad they gave him the chance to do this story. This read just like an episode of Who, and he clearly studied the relationship between Eleven and Amy and wrote it perfectly. This easily the best short story of the lot, from a craft perspective, because Neil Gaiman is simply that good. 5/5 stars
The Twelfth Doctor & Fifty-One: Lights Out by Holly Black
I was hoping that this would have the same creepy, grumpy vibe as the rest of Twelve's run. Honestly. I was just hoping that this would be good. Twelve is probably my favorite of all the incarnations I've seen, and this story... did not nail his character. I like the premise of him getting distracted on a coffee run, but it's almost directly stolen from the transition between "Deep Breath" and "Into the Dalek"—and not done as well here. He talked so much and complained so little that he hardly felt like the same cantankerous character we've all grown to know and respect through his run on Who. Still, the premise was interesting and very... Doctor-y, but it needed to be pulled off in a better way, or with a better-written Doctor. 1.5/5 stars
Averaging everything, that's 3/5 stars overall. Great ideas, inconsistent quality. On the whole, not unlike the TV series of Doctor Who.
(Note: my edition was published in 2014, prior to Jodie Whitaker's casting as 13, so it doesn't contain the short story that was commissioned for her incarnation of the Doctor. For that, check out the latest edition, [b:Doctor Who: Thirteen Doctors 13 Stories|39349798|Doctor Who Thirteen Doctors 13 Stories|Naomi Alderman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1544294230l/39349798._SY75_.jpg|61003602]).
A quick story about how I came to read this compilation of short stories: I was super into Doctor Who in middle and high school, right around the time that this volume was published. Someone bought it for me thinking I'd like it, but I was so put off by the Eleventh Doctor's last season and the Twelfth Doctor's first season that I stopped watching the show entirely and thus never got to actually reading this book. When I exhausted all of the television shows I had ever heard of during the COVID-19 pandemic, I finally got back around to Doctor Who—and ended up absolutely loving Peter Capaldi's latter two seasons as the Doctor (and even kind of liked some of the episodes in his first). So I decided to take a crack at this and see how I liked it.
The First Doctor & Susan: A Big Hand for the Doctor by Eoin Colfer
I really, really wanted to like this story. Eoin Colfer is the author of some of my favorite books from when I was a kid, but the pacing was so off, the characterization of Susan was shoddy, and the premise was absurd, even for Doctor Who. But—while I can't speak to the accuracy of this characterization as I've never watched Classic Who—I did really enjoy how grumpy One was and admired how two of my favorite Doctors, Nine and Twelve, channel that energy in the revival. 1/5 stars
The Second Doctor & Jamie McCrimmon: The Nameless City by Michael Scott
This was a lot of fun! I really liked the dynamic between Jamie and Two, and this totally seemed like one of those contrived-yet-enjoyable episodes that I'd love. I hadn't realized that the Doctor had had well-written male companions in the past, and after reading this I kind of felt bad for the men of New Who who've been so horribly characterized. 5/5 stars
The Third Doctor & Jo: The Spear of Destiny by Marcus Sedgwick
This is another one of those stories that I felt was a bit contrived, which is a shame because Marcus Sedgwick is another of my favorite writers from my childhood. I think I would've liked Jo as a companion had I ever watched Classic Who, but there were parts of this story that were utterly bizarre. The Doctor drying his clothes using his body heat?? What? 3/5 stars
The Fourth Doctor & Leela: The Roots of Evil by Philip Reeve
An interesting concept, but another one where the ending wrapped up far too quickly and neatly to be believable. I liked the glimpse we got of Eleven in this story, though, and Four's reaction to him! I do have to wonder how the Doctor doesn't cross paths with his past/future incarnations more often given all the time-traveling... 2/5 stars
The Fifth Doctor & Nyssa: Tip of the Tongue by Patrick Ness
This was an interesting story, but it really didn't feature too much of the Doctor or Nyssa. It was almost as if Ness had an idea for a brilliant short story, then got the chance to write a short story for a Doctor Who anthology, and then chose to insert the Doctor in the smallest way possible. It wasn't a bad story by any means, but just not very Doctor Who-like. 3/5 stars
The Sixth Doctor & Peri: Something Borrowed by Richelle Mead
To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of the first-person narration by the companion (in this story or any of the others). Something about it just doesn't work for me, and although I liked both Peri and Six well enough, the plot seemed very clichéd, like the plot of every movie containing an evil villain and a wedding ever. I did like the glimpse we got of the Rani, a Classic Who villain who I don't think the revival ever plans on bringing back, but ultimately this story wasn't really for me. 3/5 stars
The Seventh Doctor & Ace: The Ripple Effect by Malorie Blackman
I really liked this story as it gets at some of the most interesting questions that Doctor Who poses, questions that are so vital to the character's core: hope and belief and fear and hate and whether or not to follow the laws of time. The idea of a world of friendly Daleks is something we've never seen in the TV series (or at least in New Who), and I'd really love to see this as an episode. Even if the physics part was super... not accurate (if any of the physics in Doctor Who can be described as accurate...), this was still a fun read. 4.5/5 stars
The Eighth Doctor & Evelyn Chan: Spore by Alex Scarrow
A really timely short story about a killer virus that threatens to destroy all of humanity. How fun. I'd be lying if I said that I probably enjoyed this one more because of its relevance to the current time, but I also thought that it was a very neat, very Doctor-y story, even if Evelyn Chan, a new companion, wasn't that well written. 4/5 stars
The Ninth Doctor & Ali: The Beast of Babylon by Charlie Higson
This was... not my favorite. Everything was off, from the characterization of Nine to the introduction of the new companion, to the way his relationship with Rose was described... and I'm not even sure what happened with regards to the plot?? Definitely my least favorite story in the collection. 1/5 stars
The Tenth Doctor & Martha: The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage by Derek Landy
While I wouldn't have said no to a good Donna story (although I doubt they'd have been able to pull it off without Catherine Tate there to voice it over), I'm so glad that they decided to focus on Martha with this one. She was really underutilized in the TV series, and I've always wanted to see more of her. As a fiction lover, I liked the idea of this one, but it was also one of those... more bizarre episodes of Doctor Who. Still, the characterization of Ten, right down to his vocal tics, was on the nose, and I enjoyed reading this one. 3.5/5 stars
The Eleventh Doctor & Amy: Nothing O'Clock by Neil Gaiman
Out of those covered in this collection, Eleven and Amy are my least favorite Doctor and companion, respectively. But Neil Gaiman is just a fantastic writer, and even though his TV scripts fell flat, I'm glad they gave him the chance to do this story. This read just like an episode of Who, and he clearly studied the relationship between Eleven and Amy and wrote it perfectly. This easily the best short story of the lot, from a craft perspective, because Neil Gaiman is simply that good. 5/5 stars
The Twelfth Doctor & Fifty-One: Lights Out by Holly Black
I was hoping that this would have the same creepy, grumpy vibe as the rest of Twelve's run. Honestly. I was just hoping that this would be good. Twelve is probably my favorite of all the incarnations I've seen, and this story... did not nail his character. I like the premise of him getting distracted on a coffee run, but it's almost directly stolen from the transition between "Deep Breath" and "Into the Dalek"—and not done as well here. He talked so much and complained so little that he hardly felt like the same cantankerous character we've all grown to know and respect through his run on Who. Still, the premise was interesting and very... Doctor-y, but it needed to be pulled off in a better way, or with a better-written Doctor. 1.5/5 stars
Averaging everything, that's 3/5 stars overall. Great ideas, inconsistent quality. On the whole, not unlike the TV series of Doctor Who.
(Note: my edition was published in 2014, prior to Jodie Whitaker's casting as 13, so it doesn't contain the short story that was commissioned for her incarnation of the Doctor. For that, check out the latest edition, [b:Doctor Who: Thirteen Doctors 13 Stories|39349798|Doctor Who Thirteen Doctors 13 Stories|Naomi Alderman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1544294230l/39349798._SY75_.jpg|61003602]).