Scan barcode
A review by andrew_j_r
Doctor Who Short Trips: A Universe of Terrors by John Binns, Gareth Wigmore, Stephen Cole, Robert Shearman, David Bailey, Huw Wilkins, Juliet E. McKenna, Jeremy Daw, Lance Parkin, Alex Leithes, Marc Platt, Andrew Campbell, Trevor Baxendale, Jonathan Morris, William H. Keith Jr.
3.0
I am not a huge fan of short story anthologies, especially when they are written by several people rather than an individual. An individual can ensure that their theme is adhered to properly, whereas I am guessing that these stories have been commissioned.
The theme, a Universe of Terrors, is very loose, as though the brief was little more than the title. In one story a wartime dictator is the terror, whereas in others the terrors are what the title makes you expect, horror type stories.
Each of the first eight Doctors is represented (although the seventh only by a dreadful two page poem that has no link to the title at all). The first doctor manage three stories out of fifteen, and his stories are quite consistently good. But the story that makes the book is a fourth Doctor and Adric story called Mauritz, by Jonathan Morris. Gruesome with an awesome twist, one can't help wishing that all of the stories had been as superb as this one. Sadly, they weren't.
Update: reread this book in 2018 and enjoyed it a bit more (I originally gave it two stars but have increased it to three on this reading). I liked the fact that the stories were in chronological order by Doctor, and there were a couple of stories that really stood out. Mauritz is still the best, but Long Term is pretty good as well. And yes, the poem is still crap!
The theme, a Universe of Terrors, is very loose, as though the brief was little more than the title. In one story a wartime dictator is the terror, whereas in others the terrors are what the title makes you expect, horror type stories.
Each of the first eight Doctors is represented (although the seventh only by a dreadful two page poem that has no link to the title at all). The first doctor manage three stories out of fifteen, and his stories are quite consistently good. But the story that makes the book is a fourth Doctor and Adric story called Mauritz, by Jonathan Morris. Gruesome with an awesome twist, one can't help wishing that all of the stories had been as superb as this one. Sadly, they weren't.
Update: reread this book in 2018 and enjoyed it a bit more (I originally gave it two stars but have increased it to three on this reading). I liked the fact that the stories were in chronological order by Doctor, and there were a couple of stories that really stood out. Mauritz is still the best, but Long Term is pretty good as well. And yes, the poem is still crap!