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harleyrae's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5 Stars
I love Doctor Who, its one of my favorite tv shows, so I was very excited to get my hands on these stories. That being said I have not seen much of the first doctor so I decided to judge this based purely on my enjoyment level. I found there to be some somewhat funny parts and the story, for being only 60 pages to be really enjoyable. My favorite part had to be though the epilogue. I just loved it, even though it was only 2 pages long.
All in all I enjoyed this short story and I'm excited to read more of these stories.
I love Doctor Who, its one of my favorite tv shows, so I was very excited to get my hands on these stories. That being said I have not seen much of the first doctor so I decided to judge this based purely on my enjoyment level. I found there to be some somewhat funny parts and the story, for being only 60 pages to be really enjoyable. My favorite part had to be though the epilogue. I just loved it, even though it was only 2 pages long.
All in all I enjoyed this short story and I'm excited to read more of these stories.
ellejaoy's review
4.0
Was entertaining in parts and didn't bore me but also felt a little like I was reading a children's book which I don't necessarily associate with Doctor Who. What really saved this short story was the reference to another classic story that had me really happy when I started noticing them. I'm not sure it really needed that bit at the end though to explain as I liked the subtly of it in the story instead.
riverofhorton's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
There were a couple of things in this I liked, like the Doctor swearing in Gnomish, and the (presumably) unintentionally funny bit of him implying that the 11th Doctor was agile, but it largely just wasn't enjoyable. The infantilisation of Susan because she disobeyed the Doctor, the misogyny of the Doctor's reaction to nail polish on the temporary hand, although I do understand these things were part of the scripts of Hartnell's era. Overall, it just seemed to be there to fulfil the authors headcanon that the Doctor inspired Peter Pan, without much care for making it a fleshed out story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Drug use, Murder, Sexism, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Torture, and Violence
saroz162's review against another edition
2.0
I first read this when it was published online almost ten years ago, and if I'm honest, it put me off the whole 11 Doctors, 11 Stories concept/collection. That was a bit of an overreaction, but I have to say, coming back to it a decade later...it's still not very good.
I remember a lot of the online criticism being about it being an "action movie" for the least action-y Doctor, complete with a slightly bizarre conceit of a bio-mechanical hand that is pretty far away from anything we'd have ever got from 1960s Doctor Who. There is talk of Gallifrey and Time Lords—and I'll be honest, it puts me off a little, too. But I think if it was a good story, I'd get past it.
Instead, it's hard not to feel like Colfer as more interested in writing an homage to Peter Pan than Doctor Who, because he spends more time connecting those particular dots. The story is a "romp," which is rarely my favorite, but when you have good characters you can have fun with them. Crucially - and I think this is what really kills it for me - the first Doctor and Susan don't seem to be in character at all, despite Hartnell's Doctor historically being the easiest to put across in print. They seem to be little more than a generic Doctor, closer to the new series interpretations, and a generic female companion (would Susan "flick her nails"?) That's...fine...but there's nothing here for me to hang my hat on: it's (supposedly) a celebration of the first Doctor without anything that seems redolent of that era or those performances. What's the point, again?
I remember a lot of the online criticism being about it being an "action movie" for the least action-y Doctor, complete with a slightly bizarre conceit of a bio-mechanical hand that is pretty far away from anything we'd have ever got from 1960s Doctor Who. There is talk of Gallifrey and Time Lords—and I'll be honest, it puts me off a little, too. But I think if it was a good story, I'd get past it.
Instead, it's hard not to feel like Colfer as more interested in writing an homage to Peter Pan than Doctor Who, because he spends more time connecting those particular dots. The story is a "romp," which is rarely my favorite, but when you have good characters you can have fun with them. Crucially - and I think this is what really kills it for me - the first Doctor and Susan don't seem to be in character at all, despite Hartnell's Doctor historically being the easiest to put across in print. They seem to be little more than a generic Doctor, closer to the new series interpretations, and a generic female companion (would Susan "flick her nails"?) That's...fine...but there's nothing here for me to hang my hat on: it's (supposedly) a celebration of the first Doctor without anything that seems redolent of that era or those performances. What's the point, again?
gps1138's review
3.0
As a fan of New Who, I was looking forward this series of short stories as a way to get a quick introduction to the first eight doctors. From what little I know of the First Doctor, it seems that that story is not particularly true to his character, and is perhaps more like the Eleventh Doctor in a First Doctor wrapper. That being said, it is a quick and entertaining read. As I often say of the less than stellar episodes of the new series, bad Doctor Who is still better than a lot of things.
jules_writes's review
3.0
It was ok, maybe not the best start to the series of shorts as it felt a little incomplete and didn't entirely have me hooked.
I'm still hopeful about the rest...
I'm still hopeful about the rest...
rayne709's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Listened to the version read by Nicolas Briggs. Always love a story about the first doctor since he is usually underrepresented.
beth_books_123's review
4.0
Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic! - 4*
It has been nearly two years since the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and these eleven short stories were released to celebrate this momentous event. I personally had my eye on these ever since they were released but was unable to buy them in their original format. I downloaded them on my Kindle not long after the Christmas of 2013 but I forgot about them. No, I didn't forget about them because they weren't interesting and an exciting series but a number of exams had caused me to "forget" about them and not read them.
Yet, today. I was looking for something to read. Something short and something reliable where I know the plot, the characters and the setting will be strong. I knew these would be ideal.
The first doctor is captured beautifully in this e-short (is that what we're calling it?). His love for his granddaughter, his hope, love and optimism for Gallifrey and his critical, analytical and cynical mind is portrayed perfectly through this e-short. The plot is strong, there is not much character development but it's less than thirty three pages and the characters are already strong in my mind from the TV series.
The epilogue is fantastic. Colfer, I may have never read your books but the ending was beautiful.
Fantastic read!
It has been nearly two years since the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and these eleven short stories were released to celebrate this momentous event. I personally had my eye on these ever since they were released but was unable to buy them in their original format. I downloaded them on my Kindle not long after the Christmas of 2013 but I forgot about them. No, I didn't forget about them because they weren't interesting and an exciting series but a number of exams had caused me to "forget" about them and not read them.
Yet, today. I was looking for something to read. Something short and something reliable where I know the plot, the characters and the setting will be strong. I knew these would be ideal.
The first doctor is captured beautifully in this e-short (is that what we're calling it?). His love for his granddaughter, his hope, love and optimism for Gallifrey and his critical, analytical and cynical mind is portrayed perfectly through this e-short. The plot is strong, there is not much character development but it's less than thirty three pages and the characters are already strong in my mind from the TV series.
The epilogue is fantastic. Colfer, I may have never read your books but the ending was beautiful.
Fantastic read!